San Francisco, 1906

[wanswheel]

Excerpt from 1878 article at link

http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/stsfcab.Html

Money was lavishly spent in laying the roadbed. The projectors, being wealthy men, members of the Central Pacific Railroad Company, took pride in building something that would prove a model road, and they succeeded. First, a trench was dug, three feet and a half deep and the same in width, then large pieces of railroad iron, bent in the shape of a V were inserted in it, about ten feet apart, upon the top of which were riveted and bolted the rails,—the small T rail, such as is in common use by all the steam roads. These, bear in mind, were all riveted together, arranged, and leveled, and supported by temporary timbers, in exactly the places that they afterward were to occupy. Then the whole trench was filled to the top (excepting the space left for the cable to run in) with concrete and cement. This, hardening, the entire mile and a half of road became one long, continued block of stone, over three feet in diameter, lying in its earthy bed as solid as the "eternal hills," holding in its stony grasp the ties, braces and rails. Such a road, they claim, can never spread, never sag nor sink, and scarcely ever will need repairs, save as the rails wear out, and are replaced. So much for doing a thing thoroughly and well at once, though the first cost be great-in this instance, nearly eight hundred thousand dollars.

[Falcon48]

daveklepper

Reinforced concrete is used today in San Francisco and was used on Manhattan's and Washington's conduit streetcar lines, a few of which were actually converted from cable, with the positive and negative conducting  rails at the sides of the slot replacing the centered cable.

 Been in Washington and New York "plow pits" where the change from overhead to conduit power occured and these were substantially constructed rooms, so I supposed the rest of the "slots" were similarly substantially constructed.   Essentially, there was a concrete "U" with wings extending out from each side supporting the running rail. I assume SF today is similar.

The technique used in the heyday of cable cars for keeping the rails and the slot in the correct position wasn't reinforced concrete "U's".  Rather, there were iron "yokes" set in the conduit every 3 feet or so that kept everything where it was supposed to be (and, very importantly, kept the slot from closing in warm temperatures).  My understanding was that the yokes in the original San Francisco system were fabricated from various metal forms and relatively light weight ("light weight" in a cable car installation is a very relative term, as cable car conduits were notoriously heavy and expensive).  The Chicago system used heavier cast iron yokes to deal with the greater variences in temperature in the Chicoag climate, and this became the pattern for most cities outside of California.  The reinforced concrete technique used in the rebuilding of the San Francisco system wasn't available to 19th century cable car installations.

 

[daveklepper]

Reinforced concrete is used today in San Francisco and was used on Manhattan's and Washington's conduit streetcar lines, a few of which were actually converted from cable, with the positive and negative conducting  rails at the sides of the slot replacing the centered cable.

 Been in Washington and New York "plow pits" where the change from overhead to conduit power occured and these were substantially constructed rooms, so I supposed the rest of the "slots" were similarly substantially constructed.   Essentially, there was a concrete "U" with wings extending out from each side supporting the running rail. I assume SF today is similar.

[GTR1859]

I read once that the "slot" for the cable is quite deep (perhaps as much as 4 feet?)  My question is, how do the rails stay in gauge without cross ties?

 Thanks, David

 

[henry6]

I saw this film a couple of weeks ago...absolutley fascinating...the slow but unstoppable pace of life; the causal movement of people, autos, horses, cable cars, and trolleys weaving around each other while on a straigt trajectory; the amount of activity assembled  and orchestrated in the scenerio of nonstop action. The halcyon days of yesteryear!

[daveklepper]

Johnny, I probably had computer problems, because now I was able to downloaded it and enjoyed it immensely!

 

Note that the cars did not stop to board or discharge passengers.  Even a young lady boarded a car going the other way and boarded on the wrong side, from the "devil's strip."

 

While Market St. was cable operated in 1906, note that some of the lines crossing were already using trolley car technology.   One of the electric  cars was labled "Sightseeing car."

[wanswheel]

[DSchmitt]

I did Google search for "youtube san francisco 1906"  There is a 13min+ version and also a similar film made after the earthquake. 

[Deggesty]

Dave, I have no idea as to what the problem is. Just now, I went to my post, copied the link, pasted it on my browser, told it to go get the film--and the film came up. ??? Perhaps somene else, with more expertise in such than I can make it easier to get to the film (it's 7 minutes and 10 seconds long).

[daveklepper]

Got the message "Malformed Video"

[daveklepper]

Possibly bacause of the type face, I could not pull up the film direclty, but will have to copy the email address anda brows for it, which takes time.  However, as a member of the Market Street Railway Association, I have seen lots of b&w still pictures of SF in 1906 and years earlier and later.  If I remember correctly, 1906 was the year of the earthquake.  Billingsly, the head of othe United Railways, predicessor of Market Street Railroad, was able to use rapid recovery from the earthquake as the excuse needed to erect overhead wire and electrify the system.

[Deggesty]

This was sent me by our pastor emeritus; I believe the comment immediately below is his.   I hope that you can work the link.

 

 This is great but where is traffic and pedestrian control???? 

 

Subject:1906 San Francisco Street Car film - AMAZING   1906 San Francisco Street Car film - AMAZING This film was "lost" for many years.  It was the first 35mm film ever. It was taken by camera mounted on the front of a cable car. The amount of automobiles is staggering for 1906. Absolutely amazing! The clock tower at the end of Market Street at the Embarcadero wharf is still there. (I'm wondering ... how many "street cleaning" people were employed to pick up after the horses? Talk about going green!) Great historical film worth watching. Check out the steering wheel on the cars being on the right side like the horse and buggy driver also being on the right side. The women's long dresses and hats and the men's clothing and hats. http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=NINOxRxze9k This film, originally thought to be from 1905 until David Kiehn with the  Niles   Essanay   Silent   Film   Museum  figured out exactly when it was shot. From New York trade papers announcing the film showing to the wet streets from recent heavy rainfall & shadows indicating time of year & actual weather and conditions on historical record, even when the cars were registered (he even knows who owned them and when the plates were issued!).. It was filmed only four days before the quake and shipped by train to NY for processing. Amazing but true!