In 1972 the Flying Scotsman and two wagons went back and forth on the State Belt RR between Jefferson St. and The Embarcadero to where the SP began at Townsend St. NIMBYs shut that down after a few weeks. The train remained steamed up and open to visitors at the northern terminal, but it didn't move. The Devon Belle observation car remained nearby alongside an office building until a couple of years ago.

The American Freedom Train parked at Crissy Field in the Presidio. It was the last train to go through the Fort Mason tunnel. It's locomotive, 4449, wouldn't fit, so it stayed at Aquatic Park. Recent news articles about extending streetcars through the tunnel to Fort Mason mistakenly talk about "restoring" streetcar service. The tunnel never had trolleys. My dad rode a troop train to Fort Mason on his way to Japan during the Korean Conflict.

There WERE electric streetcars on the State Belt though. Two little demonstration trolleys pulling generators on small trailers were a run-up to the Trolley Festivals. The water treatment plant served as a carbarn. The two-track garage that once held chlorine tank cars was perfect for the job.

One edition of the Caltrain timetable from the last time Jerry Brown was Governor listed three AM and three PM trains to Market St. It never actually happened. NIMBYs and real estate people again. The trains would have dwelled under the Embarcadero freeway in front of the Ferry Building.

There was the aforementioned Rail Fair. I rode in a WP caboose to the event with Paul Gordenev of WP's P.R. department. The Amtrak equipment included a diner. The crew had the coffee urn fired up, so I maintain to this day that I got real diner service on the State Belt. How rare is that?

Someone should write a book about the State Belt. Too much of its history is obscure, even to native San Franciscans and railfans.