J Church

Prolific San Francisco punk-pop trio J Church was formed in 1991 by singer/guitarist Lance Hahn and bassist Gardner Fusuhara, longtime friends who previously teamed in Cringer. Named in honor of a local bus route, the group went through a series of drummers before and after the 1993 release of their full-length debut, Quetzalcoatl; the album was quickly followed by Camels, Spilled Corona and the Sound of Mariachi Bands, a collection of early singles. Upon completing 1994's Prophylaxis, J Church added drummer Reed Burgoyne, who made his recorded debut on the single "Ivy League College"; the continued flurry of 7"s, split singles, and compilation appearances soon yielded a second compilation, Nostalgic for Nothing. After issuing 1995's Arbor Vitae on Hahn's own Honey Bear label, J Church caused much consternation among fans by signing to Honest Don's Hardly Used Recordings label for 1996's The Drama of Alienation; Burgoyne left the lineup a year later and was replaced by A Minor Forest drummer Andee Connors. Yet another singles collection, 1998's Altamont 99, preceded the exits of Fusuhara and Connors, with bassist Jeff Bursley and ex-Jawbreaker drummer Adam Pfahler joining Hahn for 2000's One Mississippi. The round-up compilation Meaty, Beaty, Shitty Sounding appeared in 2001 and gathered together a bunch of the band's 7" singles dating back to 1993; Palestine was released a year later. A split with Storm the Tower followed in the fall of 2003 before J Church officially debuted on Gainesville's No Idea Records with Society Is a Carnivorous Flower in August 2004. By that point, Hahn was rocking out alongside guitarist David DiDonato, bassist Ben White, and drummer Chris Pfeffer. Horror of Life appeared in the spring of 2007 minus DiDonato.

from Wikipedia:

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The J Church is a Muni Metro railway line in San Francisco, California mainly serving the Noe Valley and Balboa Park neighborhoods, connecting them to downtown. It began as one of San Francisco's streetcar lines in 1917, and was converted to modern light rail operation with the creation of the Muni Metro system in the late 1970s. While many streetcar lines were converted to bus lines after World War II, the J Church remained a streetcar line due to the private right-of-way it uses to avoid the steepest grades on Church Street, between 18th Street and 22nd Street. Buses can not negotiate the grades, and the right-of-way is too narrow to accommodate anything wider than the streetcar tracks.

Route description

The line runs from Embarcadero Station in the Financial District to Balboa Park Station and the Balboa Park neighborhood near City College of San Francisco. The downtown portion of the line uses the Market Street Subway, along with four other Muni Metro lines (K, L, M and N lines). The J exits the tunnel at Duboce Avenue along with the N Judah and turns onto Church Street. Between 18th and 20th Street, the line cuts through Dolores Park on a private right-of-way. After crossing 20th Street, it cuts across the blocks east of Church, around a steep hill and returns to Church Street at 22nd Street in Noe Valley. The J then follows Church to 30th Street, then to San Jose Avenue and Geneva. Between Randall and Cotter Streets, there is a right-of-way in the middle of San Jose Avenue. At the end of the line, the J loops around the Metro yard at San Jose and Geneva.

The J Church line stops at large stations for the downtown section of the route and at smaller stops on the rest of the line. Most of the smaller stops are designated by a sign on the sidewalk, while a few have concrete 'islands' in the middle of the street next to the tracks that provide access for wheelchairs.

While most other lines in the rail system can be run in 2 car configurations. The J line is always run with a single car in order to accommodate the stops in the right-of-ways, which are not long enough to have 2 light rail cars with open doors simultaneously.

Operation

The J Church begins service at 5 a.m. weekdays, 6 a.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m. Sundays and continues until 12:15 a.m. every night. Headways range from 7 to 15 minutes during the day, and 15 to 20 minutes at night. There is no late night service along the entire J line. Some of the route is covered by the L-Owl and N-Owl service provided by diesel buses run on Market Street between Church Street and Steuart Street. Owl service on the 24 Divisadero line runs near the portion of the J line north of 30th Street, and 14 Mission owl service runs near the portion of the line south of 30th.

Extension to Balboa Park Station

The outbound end of the line was originally at Church and 30th Streets, but was extended to the Balboa Park Station in 1991. This extension allowed the J-line to connect to the Green Light Rail Center, and now provides vintage F Market cars a route to the Geneva Yard, where they are stored when not in service. Some J Church trains still use the wye at 30th and Church as a terminus during rush hours.