Track Work Through the Years

Track Work Through the Years
By Jeremy Menzies

San Francisco’s unique rail system brings together 150-year-old cable cars, historic electric streetcars of all shapes and sizes and modern light rail vehicles.

Many trades across the SFMTA play a critical role in keeping the system moving. This month we look back in time at the work of one such group, the Track Department. While the lines and technologies of SF’s street railway have changed over the years, some of the base-level work, tools and skills needed to maintain our tracks are the same today as they were over 100 years ago.

A decade before Muni was founded, the United Railroads Company (URR) dominated San Francisco’s transit system. URR owned and operated nearly 400 miles of street and cable car track all over the city. To keep this network in service, their track department was fully equipped to handle any possible construction or repair job.

Black and white photo of group of people moving section of tracks with cranes

All hands were on deck for this job outside the Ferry Building in 1912. Here, two special work streetcars equipped with cranes lift an entire section of track in one piece.

The Municipal Railway was built in 1912 and expanded over the next 16 years to include multiple lines and two dedicated tunnels. The city relied on its own team to maintain this system on a daily basis.

Following World War II, many streetcar lines were converted to bus routes, but Muni retained the J, K, L, M, and N streetcar lines. With those core lines still in service, the work of the Track Dept. continued.

Black and white photo of two people working on tracks. One holds a rail spike while the other strikes it with a large hammer

Taken on January 31, 1947, this photo shows Muni track workers Pat Kellerher and Con Maloney at Division and Bryant Streets.

In the 1970s, construction of the Market Street Subway transformed the city’s streetcar lines into the Muni Metro system. Miles of tracks were rebuilt to handle light rail vehicle (LRV) traffic, and an automatic train control system was introduced for subway operations.

Group of people working on tracks, one pushes a rail while the other lifts a tie into place

In this 1977 shot, a crew replaces K Line tracks on Ocean Avenue just outside Lick-Wilmerding High School.

Today the SFMTA Track Department is primarily responsible for maintaining and repairing our rail infrastructure. Outside of this, they take on other jobs moving cable cars to and from the cable car carpentry shop, hauling heavy equipment in the subway, and supporting the work of the teams that maintain and repair our stations. With the skilled labor, know-how, and equipment to do a variety of heavy jobs, the department plays a critical role in keeping Muni moving.

Photo of group of people lifting rail with a jack and pry bars

Whether it’s 1903 or 2023, track work is a team effort. This photo was taken during the March 2023 Fix-It Week when the Track team replaced sections of rail in the Van Ness Crossover.

Published April 27, 2023 at 03:53AM
https://ift.tt/xVYnJ12

Comments

FOX NEWS: Couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell.

Couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3ES5g0B

FOX NEWS: Canine influenza outbreak: What dog owners need to know A canine influenza outbreak in Los Angeles is drawing up concern among pet owners on the West Coast.

Canine influenza outbreak: What dog owners need to know A canine influenza outbreak in Los Angeles is drawing up concern among pet owners on the West Coast. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/lTOH3qM

FOX NEWS: Boy bullied for Tony Stark Halloween costume goes viral: ‘He’s just brave’ Jill Struckman told Fox News about how her 10-year-old son Evan returned to school after being bullied for his Tony Stark Halloween costume.

Boy bullied for Tony Stark Halloween costume goes viral: ‘He’s just brave’ Jill Struckman told Fox News about how her 10-year-old son Evan returned to school after being bullied for his Tony Stark Halloween costume. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3vX5j80

New top story from Time: I Left Poverty After Writing ‘Maid.’ But Poverty Never Left Me

https://ift.tt/3kXte3r I signed my first book contract without paying much attention to what it said. I didn’t know at the time that the book would be a best seller or that it would one day inspire a Netflix series . I just needed the money. I was a single mom with a 2-year-old and a 9-year-old, living in low-income housing, and because of a late paycheck, I hadn’t eaten much for a few weeks, subsisting on pizza I paid for with a check I knew would bounce. This wasn’t my first bout of hunger. I had been on food stamps and several other kinds of government assistance since finding out I was pregnant with my older child. My life as a mother had been one of skipping meals, always saving the “good” food, like fresh fruit, for the kids I told myself deserved it more than I did. The apartment was my saving grace. Housing security, after being homeless and forced to move more than a dozen times, was what I needed the most. Hunger I was O.K. with, but the fear of losing the home wher

New top story from Time: We Have No Idea What We’re Fighting For Anymore

https://ift.tt/3ymywZs Once again, we are we seeing Americans being airlifted to safety amidst chaos and defeat, abandoning many of those who helped us. There will be much finger-pointing and political posturing about who is to blame . We can have those conversations. But the question no one is discussing is why for decades successive administrations of both parties continue to involve us in wars that not only we don’t win, but that for years we keep on fighting even when we know we can’t win and our objectives in those wars are confusing and malleable. If you look back over the history of our war in Afghanistan, it was clear as early as 2002 that we didn’t fully understand what we were doing there anymore or how to go about doing it. Yet we remained for nearly 20 more bloody years. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Why do we keep doing this? How can we stop? We get into these wars on the recommendations of presidents who are influenced by their staffs, most of whom are s

New top story from Time: The Security Perimeter Around the Capitol Starts to Recede — and Washington Feels a Little More Normal

https://ift.tt/3ssgaEo This article is part of the The DC Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox every weekday. Washington isn’t a city particularly known for its rationality. We do overreaction better than most, and that talent is rivaled only by underreaction. Passions fuel far too much public policy, personalities dictate what is possible and personal relationships often triumph over pragmatism. It’s something I usually bemoan and curse under my breath — or, increasingly, in this newsletter. So you’ll forgive a moment of indulgent irrationality and some merriment. For, you see, the fencing around the U.S. Capitol has come down. Well, not all of it. And the barriers that remain don’t have an expiration date and may never get one. But at least some of the garish barricades that went up in response to the deadly failed insurrection on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 have been dismantled. The razor-wire on its top is gone, too

New top story from Time: U.K. Authorizes Oxford University-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine

https://ift.tt/37YB4mR (LONDON) — Britain has authorized use of a second COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the first country to greenlight an easy-to-handle shot that its developers hope will become the “vaccine for the world.” The United Kingdom government says the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has made an emergency authorization for the vaccine developed by Oxford University and UK-based drugmaker AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said “today is an important day for millions of people in the U.K. who will get access to this new vaccine. It has been shown to be effective, well-tolerated, simple to administer and is supplied by AstraZeneca at no profit. He added: “We would like to thank our many colleagues at AstraZeneca, Oxford University, the UK government and the tens of thousands of clinical trial participants.”

New top story from Time: Deaths and Blackouts Have Hit the U.S. Northwest Due to the Unprecedented Heat Wave

https://ift.tt/2UgzckI SPOKANE, Wash. — The unprecedented Northwest U.S. heat wave that slammed Seattle and Portland, Oregon, moved inland Tuesday — prompting a electrical utility in Spokane, Washington, to resume rolling blackouts amid heavy power demand. Officials said a dozen deaths in Washington and Oregon may be tied to the intense heat that began late last week. The dangerous weather that gave Seattle and Portland consecutive days of record high temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees Celcius) was expected to ease in those cities. But inland Spokane saw temperatures spike. The National Weather Service said the mercury reached 109 F (42.2 C) in Spokane— the highest temperature ever recorded there. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] About 9,300 Avista Utilities customers in Spokane lost power on Monday and the company said more planned blackouts began on Tuesday afternoon in the city of about 220,000 people. “We try to limit outages to one hour per

New top story from Time: ‘Medical Populism’ Has Defined the Philippines’ Response to COVID-19. That’s Why the Country Is Still Suffering

https://ift.tt/2SwLHIx Nurse Delta Santiago (not her real name) has reached the top of her field. She works at one of the Philippines’ top hospitals, frequented by billionaires and celebrities. But the 32-year-old can’t wait to leave. Santiago makes just $520 a month working 12-hour days and she’s desperate to land a job overseas. Because of the pandemic, the authorities have imposed restrictions on public transport, and Santiago’s 15-mile (24-kilometer) commute to work in the center of the capital Manila is a time-consuming ordeal. She wants to rent a room closer to her workplace, to cut down on the exhausting traveling, and to avoid the risk of bringing COVID-19 home to her family, but she can’t afford to. So, for the past eight months, she has been sleeping in a utility room at the hospital, just steps away from the plush, private medical suites where high-paying patients recline in relative comfort. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] There, on a thin mattress spread betwe

Covid-19: Govt to use mathematical model to monitor coronavirus transmission It will aggregate successful evidence-based mathematical and statistical forecasting models and include the best predictive analytics for robust forecasting of the spread of the disease

It will aggregate successful evidence-based mathematical and statistical forecasting models and include the best predictive analytics for robust forecasting of the spread of the disease from Livemint - Science https://ift.tt/2TY2QIO https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

My precise view

Search This Blog