Cable Cars: Halfway to the stars (and a cable car museum)
San Francisco’s beloved cable cars exist because Andrew Hallidie was an early animal rights activist of sorts. He decided to develop a cable-driven rail system on the city’s steepest streets when he observed horses being whipped to force them to the top of those hills. Andrew’s father had invented “wire rope” cables and put them to use on steep grades in mines and bridge construction during the Gold Rush, but it was Andrew who thought of this urban use two decades later.
If you’ve ever tried walking or even driving up San Francisco’s steepest hills, you know that even today, cable cars fill a need. But they’re also an exhilarating blast of fun, whatever your age, especially if you sit on or stand above the outward-facing benches on the edges of the cars. Most people do, as there are only small indoor seating areas. Another benefit of sitting or standing in the open-air portion of the car is that you get to see the gripman, who stands between the benches, pull and release the heavy levers that control the 120-year-old cable cars’ speed. (Not to worry, there are sturdy handrails and three brake systems, including an emergency brake, and the top speed is only 9.5 m.p.h.
There are three cable car lines. The Powell-Hyde line begins at the Powell & Market Street cable-car turntable in the heart of downtown and rattles past Union Square and Chinatown before touring the leafy neighborhoods of Russian Hill on the way to Hyde & Beach, at Aquatic Park. The Powell-Mason line also begins at Powell & Market, but the second half of the route tours the North Beach district instead and ends at Taylor & Bay, near Fisherman’s Wharf. The California Street line begins at California & Market in the financial district (two blocks from the waterfront) and climbs burly California Street to Nob Hill and over the top to Van Ness Avenue. You can board any cable car anywhere it stops; simply hand the conductor a $5 bill ($13 for a day pass) when it’s requested.
Whichever cable car you take, be sure to visit the cable car museum (www.cablecarmuseum.org). It’s free, it’s fascinating, and both Powell Street cable cars go right past it at Washington & Mason. The massive wheels (“sheaves”) that literally pull the cars up the city’s hills can be seen—and loudly heard—inside the warehouse-sized powerhouse and museum, as well as antique cable cars, signs, grips and more.
Sadly, by the time Hallidie died in 1900, 27 years after the first cable car climbed its first hill, the network of cable cars, which had reached a peak of 53 miles of tracks, were being rapidly replaced by more efficient streetcars. The cable cars almost perished in the late-1940s, but a landslide vote by San Franciscans saved them. Because of that, no horses—or older-model VW bugs or out-of-shape tourists—are whipped by the city’s steepest hills.
- by Bob Cooper, San Francisco Reporter for HelloMetro
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Bob CooperBob Cooper is a full-time freelance writer (www.bob-cooper.com) who writes about travel, outdoor sports and health. He is a monthly contributor to Runner's World and has written recent articles for other national magazines such as Continental, Ladies' Home Journal and Inc.
