On Saturday afternoon, one of Muni's "museums in motion" known as the F-Market streetcar #162 collided with a big rig on the Embarcadero, just as it was set to celebrate its 100th year of existence. The ancient, Ohio-built machine reportedly Two train operators, one passenger and the driver of the semi-truck all had to be taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for minor injuries.
According to the railway historians at Market Street Railway, the damage to the vehicle was "grossly overstated" in the Chronicle's account of the report, which originally claimed the streetcar was "totaled" in the incident. In fact, the streetcar plowed into the back of the tractor trailer heading south along the Embarcadero near Bay Street. The bottom frame of the streetcar slipped under the trailer, crushing the top cab structure and bending the controls in the process — apparently what the streetcar was designed to do in the event of a collision with a semi-truck, even though those didn't exist when it was built in 1914.
Traffic along the Embarcadero was backed up for about an hour Saturday afternoon while a tow vehicle took the vintage machine back to the rail yard. According to Muni spokesman Paul Rose, the injuries were minor at the time and the worst of it appears to be a twisted ankle.
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