Oct 7, 2009 1:45 pm US/Pacific
Historic Australian Street Car Joins SF Muni Fleet
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
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The refurbished streetcar made its inaugural San Francisco trip Wednesday.
CBS
San Francisco Municipal Railway is welcoming a new arrival from Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday morning -- a 63-year-old tram that will run along the city's F-Market streetcar line.
Streetcar No. 916 is the second tram from Melbourne to join the F-Market fleet, which consists of historic trams from around the U.S. and the world.
Wednesday morning, representatives from the Australian state of Victoria, of which Melbourne is the capital, joined Muni officials to debut the streetcar and take an inaugural ride down to Fisherman's Wharf.
Muni spokesman Judson True said the donated 1946 streetcar represents "the commonality between San Francisco and Melbourne."
Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city, is also located on a large natural bay, flourished during an 1850s gold rush and is known as a cultural capital.
Melbourne operates the largest streetcar network in the southern hemisphere, Muni officials said. It has a longer length of track than any tram system in the world, according to the Victoria Department of Transport.
True said adding a historic tram is a noteworthy event for the city.
"I can't remember the last time we got a new one," he said.
Muni's F-Market fleet includes cars from cities including Philadelphia, Milan and, of course, San Francisco.
The other train from Melbourne, tram No. 496, dates back to 1929 and was refurbished this January in green and gold.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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