Re: Munisides

07/22/09 - posted by Frank Dunnigan

Ah, jb, you've been in the hinterlands waaaaaaaayy too long...

MUNI's first attempt at a new color scheme occurred exactly 40 years ago this month when they bought a few new GM diesel buses & went with a maroon and gold color scheme. As the light rail vehicles began to be rolled out in the late 1970s & early 1980s, it was white with orange and brown trim for the LRVs and also for most of the newer buses. Then the new Breda LRV cars came on the scene in the 1990s, and it was the gray color scheme. Every time, there was much talk of the "improved" look, but I, too, still think of green and cream as "MUNI" colors.

This whole thing is similar to the time in the late 1970s that SFPD cars were painted baby blue because the then-Chief (Hongisto? Gain?) thought it made them seem "friendlier". Here in Sonoma County, the big debate is still whether fire engines should be red or flourescent yellow/green.

Hey, if I really need any one of these vehicles, I just want them to show up on time, and I DON'T CARE what color they are!