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San Francisco circa 1918. "Franklin touring car." Latest specimen in the Shorpy Sideshow of Air-Cooled Oddities. 5x7 glass plate by Chris Helin. View full size.
Those aren't the SP yards in the background. Actually the two brick buildings are part of the old Gashouse Cove powerhouse complex at the foot of Laguna Street in today's Marina District.
The first photo below shows the buildings surrounded by the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. The comparison detail from the Franklin portrait shows the same buildings. The rooflines and arched windows are unmistakable.
Also, those gable-end warehouse buildings to the right are part of present-day Fort Mason.
Apparently front bumpers were an option on Franklins. That's a beautiful car though. He looks very proud of it.
Looks like the old SP railyard off in the distance. The buildings at lower left look like the old repair structures for locomotives. Also the hills in the background. Behind the car their is a long row of white trolley poles. This appears to be the old white front Market Street Railway line to San Mateo County. Pretty cool image. I may be wrong, but there is a lot of evidence to point me in this direction.
Franklins were Different in several ways. Besides the air cooled engine they had an aluminum body and a frame (chassis) made from white ash up into 1928. The flexible frame was considered an advantage by Franklin to dampen vibrations. Also the air cooled engine was preferred by doctors who often made house calls, sometimes in freezing weather.
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