TMS San Francisco 2000

Each autumn since 1987 I've joined the Tramway Museum Society's annual trip to look at trams (as well as to do the odd bit of sightseeing!). Well, this year the group decided to break new ground by doing a spring trip too, this time to San Francisco and Northern California. It promised to be something special.

It was. And this is what we managed to get up to…….

Saturday 18 March 2000

Here we go…….

An alarm call at 5.00am kicks off what promises to be a long day! A quick shower and breakfast are followed by a nailbiting wait for the taxi. TOA taxis are usually very reliable, but this one is late. I call TOA and while on the telephone to them, the inevitable happens: the taxi arrives!

As there's virtually no traffic, the journey to the airport is pretty quick and I'm there for 7.15. The American Airlines desk for flight AA23 to Chicago is just opening and I'm able to get my luggage checked in first. before standing at the desk wearing a "Timeline Travel" label to find the other 13 members of the party, whose tickets I happen to have. Talk about being on a busman's holiday…….

Happily they all turn up by 8.20am and it's up to the departure lounge. We take off on schedule at 10.15am.

The captain helpfully advises us that we'll be cruising at a height of approximately 31,000 feet. Feet! Of course. This is American Airlines and the US - as far as I'm aware - has made no concession whatsoever to metrication. Even less so than Britain!

Lunch appears. It's a rather nice steak. I wonder if the vegetables are genetically modified?!

Next comes the in flight movie "The World is Not Enough". I meant to go and see that at the cinema and never did. It's quite good, actually. Next time I'm doing a London tour I'll be able to talk much more freely about the MI6 HQ building at Vauxhall, which features so prominently in the early part of the film.

The "afternoon snack" turns out to be a small but delicious pizza! The tea I order with it is - I think - the weakest I've ever been served. Mum would have a fit! I vow to stick to coffee for the remainder of the trip.

The arrangements for landing customs,, immigration and transfer are neatly covered in an "Arrival Video", shown just before landing. This is very neat but can't disguise the fact that the arrangements are a trifle complex! Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Chicago, Chicago…….

We arrive in Chicago only about 15 minutes late, at 1.10pm. Customs and Immigration are far more straightforward than on my previous entry to the US and I'm soon at the baggage reclaim area. As well as my suitcase, I also spot some of our "other" group, who've just arrived from Manchester.

We've arrived at Terminal 5. Our connecting flight on to San Francisco leaves from Terminal 3, so next. we take a ride on the Airport shuttle train, which appears to use driverless "VAL" technology, like the Lille metro.

Our departure from Chicago is delayed by the aircraft concerned coming in late. In the event, we leave around 35 minutes late at 3.30pm local time.

One pleasant aspect thought is that some of the party (including yours truly and most of the Birmingham contingent, actually!) end up upgraded into Business Class. Very comfortable! I decide not to hire (at $4) the headphone which allows passengers to hear the soundtrack of the in-flight movie (this was free on the Birmingham - Chicago plane!).

California, here I come…....

We arrive in San Francisco just after 6.00pm and find our luggage and transfer coach (sorry "bus"!) quite quickly.

It isn't that far into the city centre. First impressions are a cluster of tall buildings, lots of elevated motorways (sorry, I mean "freeways") and the view across the Bay.

We check into the Renoir Hotel, on the corner of Market Street and MacAlistair Street, close to the Civic Centre in the heart of downtown San Francisco. I ought to go to bed. My body thinks it's gone 1.00am and I was up at 5.00am.

However I can't resist going for a glimpse of one of San Francisco's famous cable cars. I end up boarding one (car 25) for an amazing ride up Powell Street and across the top of the hill and down Mason Street to Fisherman's Wharf. When the song says "little cable cars, climb halfway to the stars" they're not kidding. This is one of the most magnificent tram rides possible in the world.

Fisherman's Wharf proves to be the Blackpool of San Francisco, a jumble of gift shops and restaurants. I enjoy clam chowder soup and a crab sandwich before joining the long queue for the Powell-Hyde cable car back to Market Street. This takes forever to board, due to the crowds and I'm almost falling asleep against the railings. When I arrive back at the hotel and go to bed, I realise that I've been up for 27 hours!

Sunday 19 March

A tour or two…….

Jet lag can be very handy sometimes. Despite the way I felt last night, I awake feeling remarkably refreshed at around 6.30am. The only problem is. everyone else is feeling the same and we all descend on the hotel's tiny restaurant for breakfast. Needless to say, it can't cope, so we cast principles to the wind and end up in McDonald's. Not eating eggs is - I discover - problem when ordering a McDonald's breakfast. Still pancakes and syrup (and a lovely strong coffee) suffice and I just have time to call Mum back in England (the time difference necessitates calling earlier rather than later here, of course).

Soon we're hopping aboard an ex-Cincinnatti PCC tramcar for the short journey along Market Street to Market and 11th. The driver is incredibly jovial and shows us where to get off to meet the trams hired for the prearranged tour. I hope they'll all be like this.

The trams hired are San Francisco Municipal Railway ("Muni") 1 of 1912 and "boat" car 228 all the way from Blackpool!

I begin the tour on Muni 1, which has some lovely rattan seating.

On the way along north east Market Street we catch a glimpse of the California Street Cable line away to the left, before travelling around the palm tree lined Embarcadero for a photo stop among the palm trees in from of the wonderful Ferry Building. Before the days of the bridges and the BART rail system, all commuters into San Francisco from the East Bay had to pass through here. There's a lot of "improvement" going on at the moment, part of which is the new tram line around to Fisherman's Wharf. This only opened on 5 March and we get to ride on it now.

All the time, various members of the PCC "heritage fleet" trams keep appearing.

At Fisherman's Wharf the sun comes out in very Californian fashion and it's time to start discarding coats and sweaters. I take the opportunity to transfer to the Blackpool "open boat" car which proves ideal for the sunshine which follows.

Then it's back along Market Street then head south along route J which proves to be one of the most exhilarating tram rides anywhere, with amazing gradients and superb vistas of the city. Doing it on a Blackpool boat is a special bonus! (It contrasts markedly with the modern silver-painted Breda trams which provide the normal service on route J.)

The architecture of the area is charming and exactly what you'd expect of early 20th century suburban America. There are quite a few pavement cafes, too, with people smiling and waving back at us. Blackpool 228 is obviously something special here.

We managed to get stuck on one gradient near the depot, apparently due to pine needles on the track. It make a change from leaves, I suppose. Judicious sanding and most of the party climbing off and walking up one stretch solves the problem. It has to happen in front of the depot, though!

We continue along Ocean Avenue and the K route. The Twin Peaks tunnel is closed today for overhead line repairs and in any case is closed permanently to the "heritage fleet", so we fork left at the Western Portal of the tunnel to sample the roller coaster ride of route L.

Realising that we have to be back at the hotel for 1230, Walter the (charming) tram driver decides to engage Warp Factor 8! This takes us via the San Francisco State University and the more southerly route M, before we return via that picturesque part of route J and Market Street to the hotel.

On the way Walter the motorman points out a fire hydrant which is repainted gold each year on April 18, the anniversary of the 1906 earthquake which devastated the city. Apparently, this was the only hydrant still working in the area and enabled the area around the Mission Dolores to be saved.

It really has been a wonderful tour, with the sun shining and lots of people waving and shouting out friendly comments. I think of some of the things that I've had shouted at my groups in England by locals and they don't compare very favourably.

Back at the hotel, a brief pause allows a visit to the (incredibly inefficient) McDonald's next door, before the group boarded two waiting coaches for the 90 minute journey to the Western Railway Museum at Rio Vista.

This begins with a journey across the Bay Bridge, curiously with two decks. The lower carries eastbound traffic (like us) and the upper deck westbound vehicles.

The bridge affords views of San Francisco itself, clinging to hillside and with the skyscrapers of the Financial District providing a glimpse of modernity. In the distance, memories of an earlier period come into view in the form of the island of Alcatraz, with its onetime infamous prison. Beyond, perhaps San Francisco's most famous landmark the Golden Gate Bridge can be seen. To be honest, it doesn't seem that big, but it is beautifully proportioned and its easy to see why it is so well loved.

I notice that this coach, like the one used on the airport transfer last night, doesn't have seatbelts, odd in a country supposedly so obsessed with safety.

We encounter a tollgate (for a bridge near Vallejo) where the toll varies depending on the umber of axles the vehicle has. I find myself wondering how they charge motorcycles.......

Beyond here it becomes rural surprisingly quickly, with some quite lush hillsides. Not exactly the Cotswolds, but pleasant enough all the same.

The Museum at Rio Vista turns out to be a very pleasant and very friendly place We're welcomed by a chap who's the spitting image of Frank Dobson who explains that they've held a tram for our party. We all pile on to the said vehicle to be greeted by lots of locals, who are equally happy and smiling, too, considering we've held them up! One of them remarks that I have "neat" accent, which is a bit odd, considering that they have accents and we don't!

The tram is an interurban which used to run on the "Key System ", a network of lines around the Bay Area (as greater San Francisco is called). In fact, it's effectively two trams (182 and 187) permanently coupled with an articulation. Built in 1936, they were used on the service across the Bay Bridge, linking San Francisco with the East Bay. The lower deck of this bridge (over which we travelled to get here) use to have interurban tracks, until the service was withdrawn in 1958.

The Museum operates "long" and "short" runs on its demonstration line. Cars 182 and 187 take us "all the way" on a "long" run, through some pleasant. if unremarkable countryside. Certainly those clients I have who say that the USA isn't green have never been here.The weather is very warm and sunny now and several of the party are very overdressed. I'm glad I left my coat on the coach.

Next, we tour the depot (or "car barn" as Americans call it; I love that term!) on foot. There, in all her glory is Melbourne W2 tramcar 648. It's the first Melbourne tram I've ever seen "in the flesh" as it were and it's even more beautiful than I'd imagined. I make a mental note to hurry up and visit Australia.......

Another Blackpool "boat" tram appears next, car 226. We're seeing more of them here today than you often do in Blackpool! Our Frank Dobson lookalike explains that this car is incredibly popular with visitors but that it can no longer run due to a defective armature which will cost $17,000 to put right, which sounds a bit excessive.

Time for another ride, this time on car 271, originally built for use in the Lehigh Valley around Allentown in Pennsylvania but quickly sold for use in Oakland. The car is unrestored and only operates occasionally, so we're quite lucky!

A visit to the shop comes next before the afternoon is rounded off with a ride on the luxurious 751 of the "Salt Lake & Utah Railroad". This boasts armchairs and even a working gramophone! On board I meet the wife of one of museum volunteers. In response to the question "So do you live in the Bay Area", she tells me the population of her town, the surface area of her house, that it has four bedrooms, four bathrooms and two kitchens!

On returning to the coach we discover that one of the vehicles has an air leak, so 60+ people crowd into one 49 seater vehicle. We decide to drop off anyone that wants it at the local BART ("Bay Area Rapid Transit", effectively the regional underground system) station. This is about 30 minutes away and is called "Concord". We discover that BART has a quite complicated ticketing system but eventually solve it and ride in speed and comfort, though without much character, to Embarcadero in San Francisco. From there I take one of the historic PCC trolleys along Market Street back to the hotel.

After taking the opportunity to check my e-mail, a group of use dine together in the hotel's Brazilian restaurant before sinking several brandies!

The jet lag (which strangely enough isn't as severe as I was when I visited the East Coast in 1994) starts to take effect, though, and it's time for bed!

Monday 20 March

A free day in San Francisco

Well, the jet lag is kicking in, after all. I'm up at 5.45am, with enough energy to run several times around the block. Well, enough to write some postcards and catch up on my diary, anyway.

Before breakfast I head out onto Market Street to "survey the scene"! I partake of a coffee at a (rather sleazy) Chinese place across the road.

A group of us begin the day with a walk up to Union Square, from where we take a cable car (hanging off the side!) up over the hills to Fisherman's Wharf. We enjoy a lovely (and very American) breakfast at "Franchesi's", not far from the Hyde cable car terminus.

A quick ride on San Francisco electric trolley 103 brings us to the terminus of the Powell-Mason cable car, which we take to visit the Cable Car Museum.

Here you can see the machinery which winds the cable propelling the trams through the streets at a constant speed of 9.5mph. There are also lots of good stories about the history of the cable system, designed by Scotsman Andrew Hallidie who (typical Brit.!) was appalled by the fate of the horses struggling up San Francisco's notorious hills puling the earliest trams.

The Museum also has a shop from which I make several purchases. Sadly, though, it lacks a decent book on the history of the system.

I leave the Cable Car Museum and take a car down to Powell & Market Streets, actually managing to sit down on one for the first time!

More modern transport in the form of the Muni Metro N line takes us to the Caltrain depot.

It's time perhaps to explain some of these terms:

"Muni" is the popular abbreviation for the San Francisco Municipal Railway, which operates buses, trolleybuses, trams ("trolleys" to Americans) and the famous cable cars.

The only significant local transport not run by Muni is BART, the "Bay Area Rapid Transit" system, the underground service serving San Francisco and the whole of the "Bay Area", including places like Oakland and Richmond.

Beneath Market Street are two tunnels, one above the other. The lower carries BART, the upper the "Muni Metro", Muni's electric tramway system which serves the streets in the suburbs then dives under Market Street. On the surface of Market Street are a whole group of motor and trolley bus services, as well as the surface F-line tram. These latter tracks, seldom used for many years after the building of the Muni Metro, were used first of all for an irregular "trolley festival", with visiting trams from all over the world in the 1980s and in more recent times have become the route for a regular "vintage trolley" service, provided mainly by "PCC" trams.

The PCC was designed to the requirements of the "Presidents' Conference Committee", established by the Presidents of transit operators throughout North America as a counter to the motor car, rivalling it in comfort, capable of running t high speeds and able to transport vast crowds. It prove a real winner and can be credited with saving the tram in many North American cities long enough for the coming of the "second generation" of trams in the late twentieth century.

The Muni network is being expanded. too. Only a few weeks ago an extension opened from the Ferry Building at the end of Market Street along the Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf. Another recently opened south from Embarcadero Metro to the Caltrain Depot; this is due to be extended further soon to Mission Bay.

To return to today, we take the Muni Metro subway line N to sample the new extension to the Caltrain Depot before returning through the subway to Balboa park along the charming J-line. From here, the M-line takes us back via the south-western suburbs to the hotel.

A group of six of us decide to take a quick lunch at "Taco Bell", a fast food chain with a (supposed) Mexican slant. It's pretty horrible and I vow not to moan about McDonald's in the future.

I spend the afternoon doing my own thing, beginning with a ride on the Powell-Mason cable car to Green Street. I walk through Washington Square (good for people watching) and up (and I mean up!) to the Coit Tower. Built in the 1930s as a monument to the fire-fighters who tackled the blazes resulting from the 1906 earthquake, it stands on Telegraph Hill in the middle of a pleasant park. There's a lift to the top, but to be honest it's the climb to the bottom of the tower that takes it out of you!

Anyway, it's worth it for the spectacular views: the Golden Gate and Bay bridges, Alcatraz, the Financial District with its skyscrapers and the Transamerica Pyramid and the endless low houses.

I descend eastwards from the park, down an amazing series of staircases past and almost through people's gardens (on Filbert Street) to the Embarcadero. A brief ride on one of the ex-Milan trams brings me to "Pier 39".

This is a very touristy area, a selection of shops built (as the name suggests) on one of the old piers. These include a chocolate shop and several selling T-shirts and cable car souvenirs.

An unexpected bonus, though, is the chance to see the basking Sea Lions out on some platforms (presumably) left here for the purpose net at the end of the pier. Some of them obviously know how to show off and impress the tourists, while the majority seem to prefer to snooze in the sun!

I continue walking westwards into Fisherman's Wharf proper, through the crowds and past the street entertainers. This is really my first proper look at the place. It's rather like Times Square or Tottenham Court Road for electronics shops.

The sun is beating down still and I enjoy a beer at Franchesi's, where we had breakfast earlier today. They're about to close, but serve me anyway.

Even walking a stop or so up Mason Street, I can't get on a cable car so take trolleybus 30 instead. This incredibly squalid vehicle wends its way through Chinatown.

That night a couple of us decide to sample the food at the "Steelhead Brewery" on Fisherman's Wharf. I choose the Jambalaya (which turns out to be very spicy but delicious) and a selection of six sample beers. Yes, I find that I still hate stout.......

The combination of beers and the residual jet lag means that I snooze on the PCC tram back to the hotel

Tuesday 21 March

Over to Alcatraz

I awake to another bright, sunny Californian day.

Remembering how nice it was there yesterday, a couple of us decide to breakfast at Franchesi's again. Oh dear! The service is lousy and we have to wait for ages.

Then it's a quick dash to Pier 41 to meet the rest of the group for the ferry across to the famous ex-prison island of Alcatraz.

In the beating sunshine, the boat gives some wonderful views of the Bay, especially the famous Golden Gate Bridge.

On the island, we're met at the Quayside by a guide who explains that Alcatraz began as a military barracks before being concerted and extended into a maximum security prison which, in its time, houses such infamous characters as Al Capone. Amazingly enough, today turns out to be the 37th anniversary of Alcatraz's closure in 1963!

We walk up a quarter mile path to the cellhouse proper where we pick up tape sets which play as (fascinating) commentary as we walk around the cells. The inmates nicknamed the main corridor "Broadway" and the space at the end beneath the clock "Times Square"!

Alcatraz was the only prison in the US where inmates were allowed warm showers, to prevent them from becoming accustomed to cold water (which could of course have been useful in an escape attempt! No one is known for certain to have escaped from the island. Two people managed to get out of their cells but vanished, and in 1962 there was a shoot out resulting in deaths of both guards and prisoners.

The cells have no keys, but are controlled on a central locking mechanism. The entire cellblock is overlooked by the so-called "Gun Gallery", up on the second an third floor and enclosed by iron bars.

The tour of the cells is followed by a surprisingly interesting film show about Alcatraz, including footage of the guards' families who lived on the "Rock" (and whose houses were unfortunately demolished after the prison's closure). The show also makes reference to the 19 month occupation of Alcatraz by Native American Indians in 1969-70. Indeed, one of their number is present today, signing a book he's written on the subject. He's in full ceremonial dress, too, so at least I can say I've seen a true native American in America!

All done, we cruise back to the mainland in brilliant sunshine for lunch (and beer) at the Steelhead Brewery. Tram service on n the F Line has been interrupted., though we eventually manage to ride back downtown on one off the trams imported from Milan, driven by a huge, smiling black lady driver who's noticed the sudden British "invasion" of her city and seems to love every minute of it! Her love for the Milan trams is noticeable, too!

Next I take the California cable car (the only one of the three routes I've not yet sampled) all the way to the terminus at Van Ness. The cable cars used on this lie are double ended and allegedly harder to work. En route we pass the city's Grace Cathedral, as well as some very pleasant residential property.

Returning to Powell & California Streets, we take a cable car to Russian Hill to get some photographs of the bay with Alcatraz in the distance. Russian Hill is a lovely quiet neighbourhood, ideal walking territory, despite the hills. Lombard Street ("The crookedest street in the world") is built on a curious zig-zag pattern and is also very photogenic.

We walk from the bottom of Lombard to Mason Street where we step on a short working car to Washington Street before catching another back to the hotel with a change from a short working depot car at.

Dining out in style…….

In the evening I'm treated to a meal by the tour leader as a thank you for helping with the check in at Birmingham Airport. Our destination is the celebrated "Cliff Tops" restaurant overlooking the Pacific and reached (of course) from the hotel by taking trolleybus 5 and then bus 18.

The food (and company) are excellent. I enjoy a Clam Chowder (!) followed by Lamb Shanks and a vast chocolate fudge cake. I'm sure no Americans suffer from malnutrition! Some of the rest of the party share a Baked Alaska almost the size of the Matterhorn!

A thoroughly enjoyable evening: good food and good company. We return to the hotel by trolleybus again, after a wait in the (relative) cold.

Wednesday 22 March

Out of town again.......

Today we have organised a trip to Sacramento, the State Capital and former railway centre.

We leave the hotel by coach and head again across the Bay Bridge. For the first time sine we've been here it's a little misty. Apparently this is quite a common occurrence in San Francisco |(there's even a radio station with the callsign KFOG!), but this is the first evidence we've seen of it.

Our destination today is California's State Capital, Sacramento which boasts a modern light rail system as well as the California Railroad Museum.

The coach air conditioning is so effective I'm actually quite cold as I ride along a sunbaked freeway writing this!

We arrive in Sacramento (right outside the Railway Museum, as it happens) and I get my first glimpse of the "historic" part of the town, a range of wooden fronted shops above a proper wooden "sidewalk". It's very touristy but pleasant too.

Sacramento was founded in 1839 by a Swiss immigrant called John Sutter (who has a street named in his honour in San Francisco, too). The discovery of gold nearby robbed the infant town of its workers, but it later became a staging post for people (and gold) and old Sacramento has something of a frontier town feel about it. I expect Doc Holliday to come round the corner!

A walk though a more modern shopping centre is followed by a short ride on the tramway (termed "Light Rail" here) before I indulge in an unexpected delight of the day: a visit to the California State Capitol, California's parliament building.

This is very grand, especially since a multi-million dollar restoration and repair programme achieved the joint benefits of making it earthquake proof and returning it to its original condition. I'm astonished at how free and easy access is; I don't even have my bag searched. I head upstairs to the Senate Chamber. This is decorated in red (just like the House of Lords). In contrast to the British system, though, all the seats face forwards and are equipped with desks and microphones. Voting in the Seante, I learn, is done by voice.

Next I head to the Assembly, the chamber where California's lower house (80 members) meets. Sure enough, it's done out in green, just like our House of Commons. There are still desks, though and all the seats face forwards. Members are intermingled, irrespective of party, a recent change.

The highlight of the building, indeed, the highlight of the day - though is to meet the tour guide in the assembly, the lovely Lynis Johnsan. We spend ages discussing the differences and the similarities between the British and US systems. Californians tend to be friendly anyway, but Lynis was someone special. I'll remember the visit for a long time! (I hadn't been sure about today and whether or not Sacramento was really worth visiting, but this proved beyond doubt that it was.)

Next I take a ride out to the northern suburbs on the Light Rail system. En route we pass some very American looking weatherboarded suburban houses. Straight out of a film (sorry "movie"!) Still, if you can't find American suburban housing in American suburbs, where can you find it?!

The Central Pacific Railroad, founded by four local businessmen (the so-called "big four") was founded in Sacramento and enjoyed a powerful monopoly position for much of the state's transport system for half a century. As a result, Sacramento is now the home to the California State Railroad Museum.

I round off the day with a visit here and am pleasantly surprised. As well as some enormous (and I mean enormous) steam locomotives, there's an interesting selection of rolling stock telling the story of the golden age of rail travel. A Canadian Pacific Sleeping Car actually "rocks" and lights flash past the windows as you walk through it. The sleeping berths are "cosy" and the friendly attendants explain that people had to count carefully which curtain they were sleeping behind if they went to the bathroom in the night. A black eye was often referred to as a "berth mark"; "I got it when I climbed into the wrong berth"!

There's also an elegant dining car, complete with tables laid with crockery from several different railroads; and a Travelling Post Office, rather larger than the one's I've ever seen in Britain.

Back in town.......

Returning to San Francisco, a group of us enjoy an evening meal at the "Chinatown" restaurant in, er, Chinatown. It is a good meal; I especially enjoy Chinese pork chops, which is something of a new one on me!

We travel home on a cable car. This is a very special experience, hanging off the side running board right at the front going down Powell Street hill.. Wonderful.

Bed!

Thursday 23 March

Another free day in San Francisco

We awake to cloud (which makes a change if nothing else) and I find that I actually need a coat and jumper. Amazing!

I take an L tram through the Muni Metro and the Twin Peaks tunnel towards the terminus near San Francisco Zoo. Along the way I notice that for some strange reason there are an inordinate number of shops doing manicures! This isn't something I've ever noticed in Britain (although I admit it's not something I've searched for much!)

After West Portal there are some very nice houses, then the area becomes a bit run down before picking up again a bit at the end

The Zoo terminus gives the first "proper" look at the Pacific in daylight.

Breakfast is taken in "John's Ocean View Diner", a place so American and straight out of a movie you wouldn't believe!

From here it's bus route 18 northwards, passing more of the pastel-painted beach type houses. They vary in quality and have different designs but almost all are joined together, terrace style and have garages occupying the ground floor. On the bus I hear Spanish spoken (the first time I've heard it since we arrived).

Alighting at 46th and Judah, walk down to the N terminus, which has a very tight turning circle and walk up onto beach. This must have been a popular Sunday and holiday destination once and maybe it still is. There are actually loos at the terminus, too!

One of the new silver painted "Breda" trams is taken back to the hotel. Why return? Well, the weather has changed completely and the sun is now beating down. Oh, and I've had one of my sudden impulses about what to do in the afternoon.......

Abandoning my sweater, I make a couple of quick visits: first to Border Books on Powell Street, where I acquire a book about cable cars across America and then the Cable Car Museum to get a tie for the collection!

I then take the cable car down Mason and on tothe wonderfully-named "Blazing Saddles", on Columbus Avenue, as I've decided to hire a bike for the afternoon and cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge!

The friendly shop staff provide me with a 21 peed mountain bike and a suggested route arcross the bridge to Sausalito, with instructions on how to take the ferry back to San Francisco.

So off I go. Down Columbus Avenue, past the Cable Car terminus at Hyde, around the bay with some great views of Alcatraz the Bridge. I go slightly wrong in the "Golden Gate Recreation Area", which is er, "under development" and looks like a battle ground and then visit the remains of Fort Point, an old military station. Then comes the hard part. Up, up and up towards the Golden Gate. Then, part way up the hill, near the Presidio, the chain comes off!

A quick roadside repair sees me off (and up!) again, and I'm soon cycling across one of the most famous bridges in the world. What a wonderful experience!

Beyond the bridge comes a precipitous descent down into the little harbour of Sausalito. This seems a world away from San Francisco. It's quite touristy but very neat and tidy. I see a present for Mum and enjoy a huge "Peaches & Cream" ice cream in a chocolate cone.

I had intended to take the ferry, but, feeling adventurous and remembering that I'd cycled into the wind, I decide to cycle back the way I came. The climb out of Sausalito is pretty hard going and (aaagh!) the chain comes off again. Still, I eventually make it to the bridge to find that the wind has changed direction and I'm cycling into it again! Still, the descent on the San Francisco side is good and, after mingling with some "proper" rush hour traffic, I return the bike, having had a great afternoon.

I head next for Pier 39, a collection of shop and bars which is apparently the second mot popular a tourist attraction in California, after Disneyworld. I enjoy a much needed Coca Cola, decline the offer of a free refill and head back to the hotel on a PCC trolley car on the F-Line.

A British couple on board ask for directions (which I can give!) but the lady then loses points by describing the tram to her offspring as a "Bus Train"! Said child then proceeds to scream loudly all the way to Embarcadero BART station where the family (happily) depart.

Just before Kearney Street we suffer a dewirement, though this is swiftly put right by the motorman.

In the evening a group of us dine at Pompei's at Fisherman's Wharf, travelling back to the hotel in style on a PCC.

And so to bed!

Friday 24 March

Do you know the way to San Jose?

Back to normal! We awake to sunshine again. Our destination today is San Jose, somewhere I've been unable to mention I'm going to lately without people immediately breaking into that old Burt Bacharach song.

The town is home to modern(ish) Light Rail system (on which they periodically run vintage trolleys) and has a heritage park with a short streetcar line in one of the city's parks.

We're going there on the Caltrain, the commuter service into San Francisco from the south, operated with enormous double decker aluminium-bodied trains. We board to 0900 service.

The double decker train has a very curious configuration: upstairs are two long rows of seats on balconies, from where you can look through the centre of the floor down into the lower deck.

The train ambles in a shall we say "leisurely" fashion, taking 1 hour 36 minutes to complete a 49 mile journey to Tamien. Remind me never to complain about Central Trains again.

The ticket checking system is even more bizarre, involving one conductor per carriage punching tickets and then leaving little green cards in clips near each seat to show which passengers have been checked!

We take the modern Light Rail system from Tamien to the centre of San Jose (having caused chaos at the self-service ticket machines, with more than 60 people all trying to buy tickets at the same time!

From "downtown", a short bus ride on route 73 (where we see one of the ubiquitous front-mounted cycle racks used for the first time) brings us to Kelley Park. This is a quite charming spot where group of us begin by wandering around a lovely Japanese Garden. As well as a bridge this has a pool well-stocked with large golden carp (which my Dad would have loved!).

The park also contains a heritage centre, with a collection of delightful old buildings rescued from elsewhere These include a printer's shop, dentist's, several cottages and the "Pacific Hotel", which does a nice line in ice cream. This is especially welcome a the sun is now beating down.

No fewer than three vintage trams run up and down the main street here, including a San Jose bogie car, a "Birney" and a charming little tram from Oporto in Northern Portugal.

Lunch is a quick potato soup and turkey sandwich at the aforementioned "Pacific Hotel". I explain to the lady serving that we find the helpings in America enormous. "That" she explains wryly "is why we're the size we are!"

Behind the car barn I find the forlorn remains of Melbourne tram 403, minus windows and much else.

In the afternoon a special tram service using historic trams has been arranged just for us on the modern city centre line. We return "downtown" on bus route 73. It's now very hot indeed.

In the centre of San Jose we wait for the special historic trolley service which has been specially arranged for us for the afternoon. For a while, it looks as though the service isn't running as we all hang around aimlessly at the Santa Clara southbound stop. However, vintage trolley car 73 eventually appears, crewed by a friendly motorman and conductor and we cruise our way southwards through the streets to Convention Centre (oops, "Center"!).

We return north on the same car, the open vestibules providing some welcome ventilation. This service is supposed to run only to Civic Center, but we're invited by the crew to remain on board to the depot to have a look at the other historic trolleys in the collection. This we do, finding a couple of pleasant surprises there.

One is a curious Santa Cruz car which, although electric, has a cable car style handbrake. The other is yet another Melbourne W2, this one in chocolate livery. Cars from the banks of the Yarra are becoming almost ubiquitous in California, it would appear (though I seem doomed not to ride on any of them).

We then travel by the modern Light Rail system northwards to rejoin the Caltrain at Mountain View. The journey north involves changing at Baypointe. It is an almost unremittingly dull journey, too, passing endless office buildings and "parking lots", all totally devoid of character, a never-ending landscape of suburban sprawl and with housing estates hidden behind protective walls. This, the "Silicon Valley" might well be one of the most wealthy and influential areas on Earth; it's certainly one of the most boring, too, despite the presence of the "Great America" theme park on the left and later a complex belonging to NASA, over on the right. I wonder how many people reach either by public transport here in the land of the automobile? The Light Rail system is sanitised, too: "The doors are now closing" announces an anonymous voice at each stop. I suspect that it was designed by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. The cabs make it difficult to get any view forward, as well.

The Caltrain returns us to San Francisco in just as "leisurely" a fashion as it brought us. En route back to the hotel I go and try to try to get Muni guide. A rather unfriendly "Station Agent" is quite short with me about it, saying that they're not available over the counter as "people kept abusing them". How can you "abuse" a bus and tram timetable?!!

Still, I manage a quick cable car ride and a final visit to Border Books, just off Union Square, before hopping on one of the double ended San Francisco PCCs for the two stops back to the hotel.

It's time to start packing (no easy business when you've acquired a huge model cable car!) before a group of us go out for a meal. We end up at a place called "Original Joe's", where I have the inevitable clam chowder followed by the most enormous three pork chops with ravioli. Once again, I can't finish the meal; in America, I'm losing my touch!

We then take a "lively" farewell cable car ride to Mason Street, singing bits of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and "Riding on Top of the Car" as we go!

From there we walk to Pier 39 and return to the hotel (yawn) on a PCC held up by a problem with the car in front and driven in a none too efficient manner, sadly.

And so to bed!

Saturday 25 March

Homeward bound…….

I awake tired, the first time I've done that all week!

After a final throwing of things in bags and a quick breakfast we all board the coach, heavily laden with luggage at 8.15am.

Flying from San Francisco at 10.36am I find that I'm in Business class again on this leg. Guess what? The in flight movie is "The World is Not Enough" (again)!

We arrive in Chicago 4.44pm and this is some steep and bumpy landing! (We get a brilliant view of the city and the lakefront, though.) There's time for some quick goodbyes to the people going on to Manchester and London before I board the 6.40pm plane to Birmingham. For the first time in a week, I hear Brummie accents as we board the plane!

What a let-down! I'm in ordinary class (and therefore relatively cramped) seats again. Oh well!

Oops!

Just before take-off, one poor passenger was called forward to attend to his suitcase "because" explained the flight attendant to the whole plane over the PA system "there's something vibrating in it"! When the poor chap concerned was on his way back, she added that it was a toothbrush and that he was very hygienic! Hysterics all round, as you might expect. He was treated to applause from the whole plane when he re-entered the cabin!

We settle down to a meal of steak (lovely) and some film or other which I can't be bothered with as I'm too busy perusing some of the books I acquired in San Francisco before having a rather fitful nap.

Sunday 26 March

Welcome to Birmingham

Air travel with the direction of the Earth's rotation can do some odd things; the night is very short (and in this case a bit restless). Before I know it, we're flying across a beautiful sunlit "cloudscape", if there is such a word.

Breakfast is very welcome, even if it is Kellogg's Crisbix (what?!). We arrive in Birmingham at 0915 BST, the clocks having gone forward in Europe (though not the US) during the night.

My suitcase is almost the first off and I'm soon in a taxi on my way home.

On the Small Heath Highway I catch a glimpse of the Rotunda and the Telecom Tower. I'm home!

© Ian Jelf 2000