Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
They used to do this, y’all. Back in the 1950s. This image is from December 1959.
Also, too: Look at West Portal back in the day!
Via Outsidelands courtesy of Jack Tillmany. SFMTA Photo Archives has a great black and white image of the station decorated for Christmas.
Photo by Daniel Hoherd
Found this incredible photo on Flickr of the West Portal station by Daniel Hoherd. Click here to see a larger version of the photograph.
p.s. Is that a little child ninja photobombing on the left?
@manueldrod wasn’t aware this existed. “I didn’t know crust punks owned smart phones. Sure do stink though. @ West Portal Muni Metro Station.” Now he has proof.
Photo by Flickr user Whole Wheat Toast
Rider Chris saw something “indelibly strange” at the West Portal station last night:
Around 10:30 p.m., a full film crew (lighting, boom mics, folding chairs chairs; the whole shmear) was shooting a T-Mobile commercial on the inbound platform of West Portal station. Apparently some high-caliber “account executives” were on-scene to watch the filming take place, explained a production assistant (who was very clearly amped on something stronger than mere caffeine.)
Now, as this film shoot was happening, passengers and trains kept filing onto the platform as normal. Grandmothers with laden grocery bags consistently strode stolidly past the unmoving security guys and directly through the shoot. Utter chaos.
I have no idea how this concept got OK-ed by anyone (both on the commercial “creatives” side and in MUNI) but the pure and obvious silliness of the logistical problems posed by the outgoing trains and the waves of passengers still issuing through the station made for depths of absurdity that even Muni rarely reaches.
Alas, Chris was caught without a camera (dude, camera phone!). If you captured this silliness (which I would loved to have witnessed), send us the photos, please!
Goddammit, Muni! Please start working again, so we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming.*
Muni rider Christian reports on the scene this morning at Castro Street Station:
Everyone looks jaded as they experience more ‘inbound delays’ in the Castro.
The announcer says: “Trains are moving, but moving slowly!”
MTA released a statement indicating that, as of 7:55 a.m., N-Judah trains were backed up in the Sunset due to a “non-Muni accident” at Irving and Arguello. And the dominoes, they fall …
No word from MTA on reported backups at West Portal. At least it’s not raining? Yet.
* of course the irony here is that, were Muni to, you know, “work,” we’d lose half our content, especially lately.
That’s the scene this morning at West Portal. 511/MTA report a derailment of the L-Taraval somewhere between West Portal and Castro stations. We’ll report more as we learn it. If you were there, share stories and photos please. Form or email.
Photos by @wirelesschunk