My Series The Street Cars Of San Francisco.. By Paul Vetrano / Critic What an Amazing part of transportation history!.. the street cars of San Francisco.. still in operation after all these years. Other cities around the world stiil use them also... but the Hills are alive in San Francisco. Lets take a look.. The San Francisco cable car system is the worlds last manually operated cable car system. An icon of San Francisco, the cable car system forms part of the intermodal urban transport network operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway. Of the twenty-three lines established between 1873 and 1890, three remain (one of which combines parts of two earlier lines): two routes from downtown near Union Square to Fishermans Wharf, and a third route along California Street. While the cable cars are used to a certain extent by commuters, the vast majority of their 7 million annual passengers are tourists. They are among the most significant tourist attractions in the city, along with Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Fishermans Wharf. The cable cars are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The cable cars are not to be confused with San Franciscos heritage streetcars, which operate on Market Street and the Embarcadero. The first successful cable-operated street railway was the Clay Street Hill Railroad, which opened on August 2, 1873. The promoter of the line was Andrew Smith Hallidie, and the engineer was William Eppelsheimer. 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 Hallidies patents were enforced on other cable car promoters, making him wealthy. Accounts differ as to exactly how involved Hallidie was in the inception of the line, and to the exact date it first ran.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 16:03:33 +0000
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