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The San Francisco cable car system is the world's last manually operated
cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems: * Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable ** Aerial tramway ** Chairlift ** Gondola lift *** Bi ...
system and an icon of the city of
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. The system forms part of the intermodal urban transport network operated by the
San Francisco Municipal Railway The San Francisco Municipal Railway (SF Muni or Muni), is the public transit system for the City and County of San Francisco. It operates a system of bus routes (including trolleybuses), the Muni Metro light rail system, three historic cable ...
, which also includes the separate
E Embarcadero The E Embarcadero is a historic streetcar line that is the San Francisco Municipal Railway's second heritage streetcar line in San Francisco, California. Trial service first ran during the Sunday Streets events on The Embarcadero in 2008. The l ...
and
F Market & Wharves The F Market & Wharves line is one of several light rail lines in San Francisco, California. Unlike most other lines in the system, the F line runs as a heritage streetcar service, almost exclusively using historic equipment both from San Franc ...
heritage streetcar Conservation and restoration of rail vehicles aims to preserve historic rail vehicles. Trains It may concern trains that have been removed from service and later restored to their past condition, or have never been removed from service, like UP ...
lines, and the
Muni Metro Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, United States. Operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), a part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Muni Metro served an average of 157 ...
modern light rail system. Of the 23 cable car lines established between 1873 and 1890, only three remain (one of which combines parts of two earlier lines): two routes from downtown near
Union Square Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
to Fisherman's Wharf, and a third route along California Street. While the cable cars are used to a certain extent by commuters, the vast majority of the millions of passengers who use the system every year are tourists, and as a result, the wait to get on can often reach two hours or more. They are among the most significant tourist attractions in the city, along with
Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...
, the
Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...
, and Fisherman's Wharf. San Francisco's cable cars are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
and are designated as a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
.


History


Beginnings

In 1869,
Andrew Smith Hallidie Andrew Smith Hallidie (March 16, 1836 – April 24, 1900) was the promoter of the Clay Street Hill Railroad in San Francisco, USA. This was the world's first practical cable car system, and Hallidie is often therefore regarded as the inventor of ...
had the idea for a cable car system in San Francisco, reportedly after witnessing an accident in which a streetcar drawn by horses over wet cobblestones slid backwards, killing the horses. Hallidie solicited financial support in 1871 and 1872, and his primary backers were Henry L. Davis, Joseph Britton, and James Moffit. The first successful cable-operated
street running A street running train is a train which runs on a track built on public streets. The rails are embedded in the roadway, and the train shares the street with other users, such as pedestrians, cars and cyclists, thus often being referred to as r ...
train was the
Clay Street Hill Railroad The Clay Street Hill Railroad was the first successful cable hauled street railway. It was located on Clay Street, a notably steep street in San Francisco in California, United States, and first operated in August 1873. History The promoter of ...
, which had its inaugural run on August 2, 1873. The promoter of the line was Hallidie, and the engineer was
William Eppelsheimer William Eppelsheimer (January 26, 1842– June 9, 1920) was a tramway engineer known for his work on cable car systems. He was born in Alzey in Germany and studied engineering at the Polytechnikum Karlsruhe. in 1868 he left Germany by ship f ...
; both Hallidie and Eppelsheimer obtained several patents for their work on the Clay Street line. The line involved the use of grip cars, which carried the grip that engaged with the cable, towing trailer cars; the design was the first to use grips. The term "grip" became synonymous with the operator. The line started regular service on September 1, 1873, and its success led it to become the template for other cable car transit systems. It was a financial success, and Hallidie's patents were enforced on other cable car promoters, making him wealthy. Accounts differ as to the precise degree of Hallidie's involvement in the inception of the line, and to the exact date on which it first ran. According to the franchise granted by the city, operations were required to begin by August 1, 1873. A retrospective published in 1895 stated that a single car was run over the line at 4 AM on the morning of August 1 with few witnesses to ensure the franchise would not expire. Eppelsheimer would later bring a suit against Hallidie and the Clay Street Hill RR in June 1877 over patents, but dismissed it voluntarily the following March.


Expansion

The next cable car line to open was the
Sutter Street Railway The Sutter Street Railway was originally a horsecar line in San Francisco. The railway began service on May 1, 1866 as the Front Street, Mission and Ocean Railroad. Shortly after it had become known as the Sutter Street Railroad. In 1877 the li ...
, which converted from horse operation in January 1877. This line introduced the side grip, and lever operation, both designed by Henry Casebolt and his assistant Asa Hovey, and patented by Casebolt. This idea came about because Casebolt did not want to pay Hallidie royalties of $50,000 a year for the use of his patent. The side grip allowed cable cars to cross at intersections. In 1878,
Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American industrialist and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 8th governor of California from 1862 to 1863 and represented California in the United States Se ...
opened his
California Street Cable Railroad The California Street Cable Railroad (Cal Cable) was a long-serving cable car (railway), cable car operator in San Francisco, founded by Leland Stanford. The company's first line opened on California Street in 1878 and is the oldest cable car li ...
(Cal Cable). This company's first line was on California Street, and is the oldest cable car line still in operation. In 1880, the
Geary Street, Park & Ocean Railway The Geary Street, Park and Ocean Railway was a street railway in San Francisco. History The company received a franchise from the city to operate a cable railway on November 6, 1878. Operations commenced on February 16, 1880 as a Rus ...
began operation. The Presidio and Ferries Railway followed two years later, and was the first cable company to include curves on its routes. The curves were "let-go" curves, in which the car drops the cable and coasts around the curve on its own momentum. In 1883, the Market Street Cable Railway opened its first line. This company was controlled by the
Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
and would grow to become San Francisco's largest cable car operator. At its peak, it operated five lines, all of which converged on Market Street to a common terminus at the Ferry Building. During rush hours, cars left that terminus every 15 seconds. In 1888, the Ferries and Cliff House Railway opened its initial two-line system. The Powell–Mason line is still operated on the same route today; their other route was the Powell–Washington–Jackson line, stretches of which are used by today's Powell–Hyde line. The Ferries & Cliff House Railway was also responsible for the building of a car barn and powerhouse at Washington and Mason, and this site is still in use today. In the same year, it also purchased the original Clay Street Hill Railway, which it incorporated into a new Sacramento–Clay line in 1892. In 1889, the Omnibus Railroad and Cable Company became the last new cable car operator in San Francisco. The following year the California Street Cable Railroad opened two new lines, these being the last entirely new cable car lines built in the city. One of them was the O'Farrell–Jones–Hyde line, the Hyde section of which still remains in operation as part of the current Powell–Hyde line. In all, twenty-three lines were established between 1873 and 1890.


Evolution of motive power

Originally, the cables were powered by stationary steam engines. For its initial three cables, the Ferries & Cliff House Railway constructed a three-story structure to house two coal-burning steam engines. The building was complete with a smokestack to vent away the heavy black smoke created by the Welsh
anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...
coal that the company burned. Expansion of service required two additional coal-fired steam engines in 1890. Coal consumption in 1893 was about 10 tons per day. The system was converted from coal to oil burning in 1901, and the lessened amount of smoke allowed the smokestack to be shortened to . This shortened smokestack still stands at Washington-Mason car barn today. Electric energy was introduced in 1912, when a General Electric motor came online. By 1926, all steam operation of the cable ended when a second electric drive was installed, a General Electric motor. With the reduction in the number of cable car lines, the single 750-horsepower electric motor was eventually able to take over the job of running all of the lines. The limitation with that configuration was that if one cable car on one line broke down, all lines had to be stopped. Consequently, during the 1984 reconstruction, each of the four cables (California, Hyde, Mason and Powell) was separately powered by its own electric motor.


Decline

The first electric streetcars in San Francisco began operation in 1892 under the auspices of the
San Francisco and San Mateo Electric Railway The San Francisco and San Mateo Electric Railway (SF&SM) was the first electric streetcar company in San Francisco, California. The company was only in business for ten years, starting from 1892 until it was merged into the United Railroads of San ...
. By the beginning of 1906 many of San Francisco's remaining cable cars were under the control of the
United Railroads of San Francisco United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * United (2003 film), ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * United (2011 film) ...
(URR), although Cal Cable and the Geary Street Company remained independent. URR was pressing to convert many of its cable lines to overhead electric traction, but this was met with resistance from opponents who objected to what they saw as ugly overhead lines on the major thoroughfares of the city center. Those objections disappeared after the
1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...
. The quake and resulting fire destroyed the power houses and car barns of both the Cal Cable and the URR's Powell Street lines, together with the 117 cable cars stored within them. The subsequent race to rebuild the city allowed the URR to replace most of its cable car lines with electric streetcar lines. By 1912, only eight cable car lines remained, all with steep grades impassable to electric streetcars. In the 1920s and 1930s, these remaining lines came under pressure from the much-improved motor buses of the era, which could now climb steeper hills than the electric streetcar. By 1944, five of those cable car lines had survived: the two Powell Street lines – by then under municipal ownership, as part of Muni – and the three lines owned by the still-independent Cal Cable.


Fight to remain open

In 1947, Mayor
Roger Lapham Roger Dearborn Lapham (December 6, 1883 – April 16, 1966) was a shipowner and businessman who served as the 32nd mayor of San Francisco from 1944 to 1948. Life and career Lapham was born in New York City, the son of Antoinette N. (née Dearbo ...
proposed the closure of the two municipally owned lines. In response, a joint meeting of 27 women's civic groups, led by
Friedel Klussmann Friedel Klussmann (1896 – 1986) was a prominent member of San Francisco society. She is credited with leading the campaign that saved the San Francisco cable car system in the 1940s and 1950s, and the foundation of the San Francisco Beautiful o ...
, formed the ''Citizens' Committee to Save the Cable Cars''. In a famous battle of wills, the citizens' committee eventually forced a
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
on an amendment to the city charter, compelling the city to continue operating the Powell Street lines. This passed overwhelmingly, by 166,989 votes to 51,457. Klussman led another campaign in 1948 to have the city acquire Cal Cable, but the referendum fell short of the required majority, with 58% in favor of acquisition; a second referendum in 1949, requiring a simple majority, passed and the city began negotiations with Cal Cable. In August 1951, the three Cal Cable lines were shut down when the company was unable to afford insurance. The city purchased and reopened the lines in January 1952, but another referendum that would have funded maintenance for the California Street tracks and the powerhouse and car barn at Hyde and California failed in November 1953. The amendment to the city charter did not protect the newly acquired Cal Cable lines, and the city proceeded with plans to replace them with buses; in addition, businesses in Union Square and downtown began advancing plans to convert O'Farrell to automobile traffic, which would remove service through the Tenderloin district via the inner section of the O'Farrell Jones & Hyde line. The result was a compromise that formed the current system: the California Street line from Cal Cable, the Powell–Mason line already in municipal ownership, and a third hybrid line formed by grafting the Hyde Street section of Cal Cable's O'Farrell-Jones-Hyde line onto a truncated Powell–Washington–Jackson line, now known as the Powell–Hyde line. This solution required some rebuilding to convert the Hyde Street trackage and terminus to operation by the single-ended cars of the Powell line, and also to allow the whole system to be operated from a single car barn and power house. Despite the changes, much of the systems infrastructure remained unchanged from the time of the earthquake.


Rebuild

By 1979, the cable car system had become unsafe; it needed to be closed for seven months for urgently-needed repairs. A subsequent engineering evaluation concluded that it needed comprehensive rebuilding at a cost of US$60 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Mayor
Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...
, who took charge of the effort, helped win federal funding for the bulk of the rebuilding job. In 1982, the cable car system was closed for the rebuild which involved the replacement of 69 city blocks' worth of tracks and cable channels, a rebuilding of the car barn and powerhouse within the original outer brick walls, new propulsion equipment, and the repair or rebuild of 37 cable cars. The system reopened on June 21, 1984, in time to benefit from the publicity that accompanied San Francisco's hosting of that year's
Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...
.


Recent history

Since 1984, Muni has continued to upgrade the system. Work has included rebuilding historic cars, building brand new replacement cars, building a new terminal and
turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
at the Hyde and Beach terminus, and a new turntable at the Powell and Market terminus. Between 2017 and 2019, the system received a second, but less extensive rebuild. Over the two-year project, Muni rehabilitated the cable car system's gearboxes, which had been in service since the last rebuild in 1984. The system was shut down in March 2020 to protect operators during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, as cable cars do not offer a compartment separating them from passengers (unlike Muni buses, which kept running). Limited service on all three lines resumed on August 2, 2021. Full revenue service began on September 4. On September 9, a valve failure caused the fire suppression system in the carbarn to activate, shutting down electric power to the powerhouse. Service resumed on September 18.


Controversies

The cable cars are an iconic part of San Francisco and are protected National Historic Landmarks, but they are not without their critics. Most complaints center around the high cost of operating a system that mostly serves tourists, and the large number of accidents involving the cable cars. The cable car lines serve around seven million passengers per year, but the vast majority are tourists, rather than commuters. The area where the cable cars operate is well-served by a large number of buses and
trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
es that often give residents better options for their trips. Also, during busy times, the wait to board a cable car can often reach two hours or more. While Muni does allow monthly passholders to ride the cable cars at no additional charge, single-ride fares are more than triple the fares charged on other Muni routes. The high fares led the San Francisco Chronicle to describe the cable cars in 2017 as a "cash cow" for Muni, yielding a yearly revenue of around $30 million. Still, according to
Mission Local Mission Local is a bilingual local independent online news site that also publishes a semiannual printed paper that covers the Mission District of San Francisco. Early history The Mission Local began as a hyperlocal project of UC Berkeley's G ...
, the cable car system had a $46 million operating deficit in 2019. In 2006, then-Mayor
Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fr ...
reported that he had observed several conductors pocketing cash fares from riders without receipt. The following year, the San Francisco auditor's office reported that the city was not receiving the expected revenue from cable cars, with an estimated 40% of cable car riders riding for free. Muni's management disputed this figure and pointed out that safe operation, rather than revenue collection, is the primary duty of conductors. In 2017, after an audit showing that some conductors were "consistently turn ngin low amounts of cash", as well as a sting operation, one conductor was arrested on charges of felony embezzlement. Among U.S. mass transportation systems the cable cars have the most accidents per year and per vehicle mile, with 126 accidents and 151 injuries reported in the 10 years ending 2013.Paul Elias/The Associated Press
San Francisco's iconic cable cars cost city millions of dollars in legal settlements
Yahoo! News, April 15, 2013
In the three years ending 2013 the city paid some $8 million to settle four dozen cable car accident claims. File:Uss-ca-sanfran-cablecar.jpg, A cable car on the Powell & Market
turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
. See a
video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
of a cable car turnaround. File:Cable car turnaround, San Francisco, California LCCN2011630099.tif, A Powell-Mason car at the Friedel Klussmann Memorial Turnaround File:Cable car 04 2015 SFO 2411.jpg, Cars at the California Street line terminus File:Empty California Street cable car terminal, July 2020.JPG, The terminal, empty of cars, in 2020 during the COVID-19 shutdown


Operation


Cables and grip

The cable cars are pulled by a cable running below the street, held by a grip that extends from the car through a slit in the street surface, between the rails. Each cable is in diameter, running at a constant speed of , and driven by a electric motor located in the central power house (see below), via a set of self-adjusting sheaves. Each cable has six steel strands, with each strand containing 19 wires, wrapped around a
sisal Sisal (, ) (''Agave sisalana'') is a species of flowering plant native to southern Mexico, but widely cultivated and naturalized in many other countries. It yields a stiff fibre used in making rope and various other products. The term sisal ma ...
rope core (to allow easier gripping). The cable is coated with a synthetic lubricant to reduce wear and friction. Historically, pine tar was used to lubricate the cable. To start and stop the movement of the car, the grip operator (see below) closes and opens the grip around the cable (similar to the
clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...
of a conventional car). The grip's jaws exert a pressure of up to on the cable. Due to wear and tear, a grip's dies have to be replaced after three days of usage. There are four separate cables: one length and one length for the Hyde and Mason segments, a length for their common Powell section, and one length for the California Street line. Cable section of the Hayes Cable Car line (pre 1906) - detail.jpg, Section of a cable used around 1900 on the now-defunct Hayes line Grip of a cable car, jaws closed (at the SF Cable Car Museum).jpg, The grip that encloses the cable (here shown without cable, and closed jaws) SF cable car grip.jpg, A grip mechanism removed from a car File:PULL CURVE RECONSTRUCTION- Photocopy of a September 1907 photograph showing the reconstruction of a pull curve at Sacramento and Larkin Streets following the earthquake and HAER CAL,38-SANFRA,137-13.tif, Tracks during reconstruction in 1907, showing the cable slot between the two running rails


Brakes

Apart from the cable itself (which limits the speeds of cars when going downhill), the cable cars use three separate braking systems: * Metal
brake shoe A brake shoe is the part of a braking system which carries the brake lining in the drum brakes used on automobiles, or the brake block in train brakes and bicycle brakes. A device that is put on a track to slow down railroad cars is also called b ...
s on the wheels. The single-ended cars used on the Powell–Mason and Powell–Hyde lines have a foot pedal, controlled by the grip operator, that applies the brakes on the front wheels and a handle, operated by the conductor, that applies the brakes on the rear wheels. On the double-ended cars used on the California St. line, there are pedals near both grips, one controlled by the grip operator, the other by the conductor. * Wooden brake blocks pressed against the track when the gripman pulls a lever. The four blocks are made of Monterey Fir and can produce a smell of burning wood when in operation. They have to be replaced after just a few days. * An emergency brake consisting of a piece of steel, around 1.5 inches thick and 18 inches long, suspended beneath the car and pushed into the track slot when the gripman pulls a red lever. It wedges tightly into the slot and often has to be removed with a
cutting torch Principle of burn cutting Oxy-fuel welding (commonly called oxyacetylene welding, oxy welding, or gas welding in the United States) and oxy-fuel cutting are processes that use fuel gases (or liquid fuels such as gasoline or petrol, diesel, ...
.


Electrical system

Over the years, the cable cars have been retrofitted with several electrical components, including
headlights A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for ...
, interior lighting, a GPS tracking system and cameras. However, unlike most modern trains, the cable cars have no method to generate power on board and instead must use large batteries that are recharged in the car barn. In 2018, the incandescent bulbs used for the headlights and interior lighting were replaced with LED bulbs which increased visibility for operators and had a lower drain on the batteries.


Network

The current cable car network consists of three routes: * The Powell–Mason (Line 59 or PM) line, follows a common route with the Powell–Hyde line, running north and steeply uphill from a terminal at Powell and
Market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...
Streets, before crossing the California Street line at the crest of the hill. Once California Street has been crossed, cars coast downhill, off the cable, for three and a half blocks until the lines split as they turn left onto Jackson Street (as this is one-way, cable cars in the opposite direction use the parallel Washington Street). The cars on this line turn right and downhill along Mason Street, briefly half left along Columbus Avenue, and then down Taylor Street to a terminal at Taylor and Bay. This terminus is two blocks south of Fisherman's Wharf and is the closest to
Pier 39 Pier 39 is a shopping center and popular tourist attraction built on a pier in San Francisco, California. At Pier 39, there are shops, restaurants, a video arcade, street performances, the Aquarium of the Bay, virtual 3D rides, and views of Cali ...
. As with the Powell–Hyde line, there are manually-powered
turntables A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
at each end to reverse the cars. The Powell–Mason line has been in operation since 1888. * The Powell–Hyde (Line 60 or PH) line, follows a common route with the Powell–Mason line, running north and steeply uphill from a terminal at Powell and
Market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...
Streets, before crossing the California Street line at the crest of the hill. Once California Street has been crossed, cars coast downhill, off the cable, for three and a half blocks until the lines split as they turn left onto Jackson Street (as this is one-way, cable cars in the opposite direction use the parallel Washington Street). The cars on this line continue uphill on Jackson/Washington to a crest at Hyde Street. Here it turns right and steeply downhill (at 21%, the steepest
grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also ref ...
in the cable car system) along Hyde Street, past the "crooked" Lombard Street to the Hyde and Beach terminal, which is adjacent to the waterfront at the San Francisco Maritime Museum and
Ghirardelli Square Ghirardelli Square is a landmark public square with shops and restaurants and a 5-star hotel in the Marina area of San Francisco, California. A portion of the area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as Pioneer Woolen ...
. As with the Powell–Mason line, there are manually-powered turntables at each end to reverse the cars. The line was spliced together in 1957 using portions of the O'Farrell, Jones & Hyde line and the Washington–Jackson line. Because this line offers iconic views of Alcatraz Island, passes Lombard Street and terminates near popular tourist destinations, it is the most popular with tourists and often has long waits to board. * The California Street (Line 61 or C) line runs east and west on California Street from a terminal at California and Market Streets, close to the famed Embarcadero to Van Ness Avenue. The California Street cable cars use double-ended cars with "grip" levers at either end of the longer cars which are operated in each direction without the cars being turned at the ends of the line, where the double tracks converge into a single "stub-end" track. The line once ran a much longer distance from Presidio Avenue to Market Street but service west of Van Ness Avenue was discontinued in 1954. Calls to restore the route to its original length are heard from time to time but nothing serious towards this end has been proposed. This route runs only on California Street, running at first uphill to the summit of
Nob Hill Nob Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States that is known for its numerous luxury hotels and historic mansions. Nob Hill has historically served as a center of San Francisco's upper class. Nob Hill is among the highes ...
, then more gently downhill to a terminus at Van Ness Avenue. This line is used to a greater extent by commuters, with the majority of passengers on weekdays being commuters. There is also a set of
non-revenue track Non-revenue track (or trackage), or a non-revenue route, is a section of track or transport route that is not used to carry revenue-earning freight or goods nor for scheduled passenger services. The term is used to refer mainly to sections of track ...
s from the California Street line along Hyde Street to join the Powell–Hyde line at Hyde and Washington. This connection exists to enable California Street cars to reach the car barn. A small signal tower controls the crossing of the lines at the intersection of California Street and Powell Street. It has been rebuilt in 1907, 1937, 1967, and 2020–2021. The system generally starts operating at 5:30 am each day and shuts down at 1:30 am. The cable car system connects at both its terminals on Market Street with the
F Market The F Market & Wharves line is one of several light rail lines in San Francisco, California. Unlike most other lines in the system, the F line runs as a heritage streetcar service, almost exclusively using historic equipment both from San Franc ...
heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...
streetcar line. The Taylor and Bay terminal, and the Hyde and Beach terminal, are both short walks from the F Market line. The system connects with other
Muni Muni may refer to: Municipal * A common US abbreviation for municipal, municipal services, and the like *Municipal bond *Municipal Bridge, the former name of the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky *"Muni", slang for a mu ...
lines and
BART Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc. Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Barthol ...
at the Powell & Market and California & Drumm terminals.


Fares

As of January 1, 2020, riding a cable car costs $8 for a single ride, except for seniors riding before 7 am or after 9 pm when the fare is $4. Cable car rides are included in monthly Muni passes, as well as 1-day, 3-day, 7-day passes, and the
CityPASS CityPASS (formerly styled as "CityPass") is an American company that produces and sells discounted ticket packages to top tourist attractions in various North American metropolitan areas.Clipper card The Clipper card is a reloadable contactless smart card used for automated fare collection in the San Francisco Bay Area. First introduced as TransLink in 2002 by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) as a pilot program, it was rebrand ...
can be read by the conductor with a
mobile device A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...
. Transfers or fare receipts are not accepted. In the 1960s, the fare for a single ride was 15 cents.


Cars

There are 27 cars in rotation when the system is operating. They come in two kinds: * Single-ended cars serve the Powell–Hyde and Powell–Mason lines. These cars have an open-sided front section, with outward-facing seats flanking the gripman and a collection of levers that actuate the grip and various brakes. The rear half of the car is enclosed, with seats facing inward and entrances at each end and the car has a small platform at the rear. These cars are long and wide and weigh . They have a passenger capacity of 60, 29 of them seated. These cars must be rotated to reverse direction at each end of the line, an operation performed on turntables. Most of these cars were built or rebuilt at
Muni Muni may refer to: Municipal * A common US abbreviation for municipal, municipal services, and the like *Municipal bond *Municipal Bridge, the former name of the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky *"Muni", slang for a mu ...
's Woods Carpentry Division. * Double-ended cars serve the California Street line. These cars are somewhat longer, having open-sided grip sections at both ends and an enclosed section in the middle. These cars are long and wide and weigh . They can hold 68 passengers, 34 of them seated. The California Street line lacks turning capabilities at each end, resulting in the necessity of the double-ended cars. Some of these cars are former O'Farrell, Jones, and Hyde Street cable cars, while some cars were built at Muni's Woods Carpentry Division. There are 28 single-ended cars available for operation on the Powell lines and 12 double-ended cars on the California Street line. Both types of car ride on a pair of four-wheel
trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
, to fit the track's
narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
. The term ''California Street car'', as in a car running on the California Street line, should not be confused with the term '' California Car''. The latter term applies to all the cable cars currently operating in San Francisco and is a historical term distinguishing this style of car from an earlier style where the open grip section and the enclosed section were separate four-wheel cars (known as the grip car and trailer). The cable cars are occasionally replaced with new or restored cars, with the old cars being moved to storage for later restoration. There are two historic cable cars in storage in the cable car museum: car numbers 19 and 42, which were used on the Sacramento-Clay and O'Farrell, Jones and Hyde Street lines, respectively.


Car barn, power house, and museum

The cable-car barn is located between Washington and Jackson Streets just uphill of where Mason Street crosses them. Cars reverse into the barn off Jackson Street and run out into Washington Street, coasting downhill for both moves. To ensure that single-ended cars leave facing in the correct direction, the car barn contains a fourth turntable. Cars are moved around the car barn with the assistance of a rubber-tired
tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
. As of 2018, the cable-car barn was staffed with 17 mechanics, six custodians, three carpenters, two painters, two supervisors and one superintendent. The car barn is situated directly west of the power house and the Cable Car Museum. The museum's entrance is at Washington and Mason. It contains several examples of old cable cars, together with smaller exhibits and a shop. Two galleries allow the visitor to overlook the main power house, and also to descend below the junction of Washington and Mason Streets and see the large cavern where the cables are routed out to the street via huge
sheave A sheave () or pulley wheel is a grooved wheel often used for holding a belt, wire rope, or rope and incorporated into a pulley. The sheave spins on an axle or bearing inside the frame of the pulley. This allows the wire or rope to move fre ...
s.


Crew

The car is driven by the ''grip'', whose job requires strength, coordination, and balance. The grip must smoothly grip and release the cable, know the points at which the grip must be released to coast over intersecting lines or places where the cable does not follow the tracks, and maintain clearance from other traffic. The ''conductor'' collects fares, manages crowding, and controls the rear-wheel brakes on some hills. On the second or third Thursday of each July, a cable car bell-ringing contest is held in Union Square between cable car crews, following a preliminary round held during the second to last or the last week of June. The preliminary round determines which contestants go on to the finals in Union Square, by a process of points awarded by a panel of judges.


See also

*
49-Mile Scenic Drive The 49-Mile Scenic Drive is a designated scenic road tour highlighting much of San Francisco, California. It was created in 1938 by the San Francisco Down Town Association to showcase the city's major attractions and natural beauty during the 19 ...
*
List of heritage railroads in the United States This is a list of heritage railroads in the United States. There are currently no such railroads in the states of Mississippi or North Dakota. Heritage railroads by state Alabama * Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum, Shelby & Southern Railroad and ...
* San Francisco Railway Museum *
St. Charles Streetcar Line The St. Charles Streetcar Line is a historic streetcar line in New Orleans, Louisiana. Running since 1835, it is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world. It is operated by the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA). ...
, a streetcar line in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
with National Historic Landmark status


References


Notes


Further reading

* Val Lupiz and Walter Rice (2004). "San Francisco: cable cars are here to stay". ''
Tramways & Urban Transit ''Tramways & Urban Transit'' ''(TAUT'' or ''T&UT)'', also known as ''Modern Tramway'', is a British monthly magazine about tramways and light rail transport, published continuously since 1938. Its content is orientated both to tramway enthusi ...
'', October 2004, pp. 376–378.
Light Rail Transit Association The Light Rail Transit Association (LRTA), formerly the Light Railway Transport League (LRTL), is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to advocate and encourage research into the retention and development of light rail and tramway/street ...
and Ian Allan Publishing Ltd. * *


External links


Cable Car Museum website

Cable Cars
Information on the official SFMTA website
Market Street Railway Cable Car Page