Happy September everyone! Today's photo comes from San Francisco. San Francisco is known for its hills, and to get people over these hills the city employs a small army of cable cars that run all over the area between Market Street and Fisherman's Wharf on three different lines. There is also a cable car museum inside the powerhouse, but I didn't have the time to go there. If you are planning on going to San Francisco at all, the cable cars are definitely worth seeing. Here is the photo:
This is at the end of the line on Powell Street. The cable cars on the Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde lines are single ended cars, and must be turned at the end of the line. To do this, they run the cars onto the wooden turntable you see embedded in the street, then the car's crew turns the table by hand and pushes the car off the turntable, ready to take on passengers for the next run. It's a very interesting operation, and I hung around to watch it for a while. There is always a short line of cable cars waiting their turn on the turntable, so the action never stops.
The crowd never stops either. I am standing at the front of the line, about to get on the car. The line goes all the way around the turntable and up the other side of the street about a block. I think the cable cars are run primarily for the tourists at this point. And given the expense ($6 one way) I figured most of the people would go all the way to the other end of the line to get the most out of their money. But no, most people got off after only a few blocks...before the car even went up a hill! I had a MUNI passport, so I paid $14 for unlimited rides all day, but I still rode all the way to Fisherman's Wharf.
These ars earn their name because of the steel cable that moves them. They do not move under their own power. Notice in the photo there is a groove in the middle of the track. There is an arm underneath the cars that fit in this groove. Under the groove, there is a continuous steel cable that moves the length of the line. The arm underneath the cars grips the cable, which pulls the cars up the hills with ease. To stop the cars, both ends have a hand brake lever which lowers a brake pad onto the rails. Because of the braking power necessary to stop the cars on the incredibly steep downhill sections, this is a very noisy and smelly operation.
The cable car system was once much more extensive than it is today. The first cable car line in the world opened in this city on September 1, 1873, created by a man named Andrew Smith Hallidie. He also designed the grip system, which became a standard for cable car lines, and his patents on this system made him rich. The California Line, the oldest still in operation in this city, was opened in 1878 by Leland Stanford, one of the "big four" of the Central Pacific Railway. When electric streetcars came along, most cable car lines on flatter routes were converted to electric operation. In 1906, a major earthquake destroyed most of San Francisco, including some cable car lines, which were either rebuilt as electric lines or abandoned. Starting in the 1920s, improved buses that could climb the hills replaced other cable car lines. By the end of World War 2, the two Powell Street lines were both operated by MUNI and Cal Cable, the company that ran today's California Line, was still running its three lines. In 1951, Cal; Cable was shut down, and the city tried to pull up the three lines. One, today's California Line, was saved, as well as portions of another line which became part of today's Powell-Hyde Line. The entire system was completely rebuilt from the ground up in 1982, finally shaping the system into what it is today.
If you are visiting San Francisco, the cable cars are definitely worth a visit. They cost a steep $6 one way, but you can buy an all-day MUNI passport for $14 which is good on anything run by MUNI, including the cable cars, for the whole day. You can also buy three day and five day passports for longer visits. I rode enough MUNI in my one day there to justify buying a five day passport for my visit!
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