San Francisco's Powell Street Cable Cars

By Emiliano Echeverria & Walter Rice, Arcadia Publishing.

Book Review by Craig MacDonald

(Reviewer's Note: I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for a San Francisco Cable Car. My grandfather met the woman who would become my grandmother on a Cable Car in 1900. Back then, men reportedly were not supposed to talk to women they didn't know. So, he had a fellow-rider friend, who knew the lady of his interest, introduce him to her. The rest is history. I have always loved Cable Cars "that travel half way to the stars." I love to hang on to one of the vehicle's poles while going around corners. And, wow, how much fun it is to roar down one of the city's gigantic hills. I especially got to enjoy them when I was lucky enough to work in San Francisco. So a HUGE Thanks to the authors of this neat book, who also wrote, San Francisco's California Street Cable Car—Celebrating a Century & a Quarter of Service.)

In 1869, former California Gold Rush Miner/Engineer Andrew Hallidie, a wire rope expert, got the idea for Cable Cars when he witnessed horses being whipped while struggling to pull their load over wet cobblestones, going up Jackson Street. He had used wire rope to save miners' lives when they were being lowered deep into Sierra Nevada mines. Many miners previously died when ropes broke.

Andrew successfully tested his Clay Street Hill Railroad, the World's First Street Railway Cable Car, on Aug. 2, 1873. The railroad used a wire cable that was run at a constant speed in channels beneath the steep street. (Hallidie Plaza, near the Powell Street Station on Market Street is named for the Cable Car Pioneer.) The railroad became very successful & he later sold it to another company.

In this wonderful book, the authors graphically & technically tell about other cable car companies and explain exactly how different railway systems worked; what the gripmen, conductors and other employees do and so much more. There are hundreds of fantastic photos—past & present—further helping show the romance of these historic symbols in the World's most famous "City by the Bay."

In 1890, conductors & gripmen (the two onboard people who operate the car) were paid daily, 22-cents an hour and worked up to 11˝ hours. Other employees were paid monthly.

Many cable cars were lost in the 1906 Earthquake & Fire. Page 47 shows sad but incredible photos of cable cars burned down to their bottom frames and wheels. In the early 20th Century, some cable cars were giving way to electric streetcars (which had faster speed & allowed for more passengers per hour, producing greater revenue. Streetcar lines had much lower construction & operating costs than cable cars. But overhead wires were ugly and prohibited from major thoroughfares like Market, Sutter and Geary Streets.)

In the 1930s, ridership dropped during the Great Depression. In 1944, the City & County of San Francisco took over the Market Street Railway and its two Powell Street Cable Car Lines.

In 1947, Mayor Roger Lapham wanted to get rid of the cable cars but a group was formed to fight it. The Citizens Committee to Save the Cable Cars was able to get an amendment on the ballot to curb the power of the Utilities Committee, which helped save the Powell Street Cable system. Two of the main cable car advocates were Friedel Klussmann & Newspaper Columnist Herb Caen.

Today, the Powell Street Cable Cars (and their California Street cousins) represent the World's sole surviving example of the type of street railway that was the first to provide a successful alternative to horses & mules.

You've got to read this book and view the photos & superb captions to get a full appreciation of San Francisco's most famous vehicles. In 2023, San Franciscans & people around the world will celebrate the 150th Cable Car Anniversary.

POWELL STREET CABLE CAR TRIVIA:

—Round-trip Mileage: Powell-Mason: 3.2 miles; Powell-Hyde: 4.3 miles
—Steepest Grades: Hyde between Bay & Francisco: 21%; Powell between Bush & Pine: 17%

—Number of Operating Cars: 28 Powell Cars

—Cruising Speed: 9.5 miles per hour

—Each Cable Car has two bells—one for warning people & one to signal the grip.

—Cable Lengths: Hyde: 16,000 feet; Mason: 10,300 feet
—Cable Carbarn, Powerhouse & Museum: Washington & Mason Streets

—Cable Car Size: 27 feet, 6 inches long; 8 feet wide; 10 feet 4 1/4th inches high; 15,500 pounds

—Seating Capacity: 29 (Total Capacity: 60)
—First Woman Grip: Fannie Mae Barnes, 1998

—San Francisco's Cable Cars are a National Historic Landmark.

(Ride Fares have changed over the years.)