With permission from the Market Street Railway Association.
More at www.streetcar.org
In the wee hours of August 2, 1873, Andrew Hallidie gripped the first street cable car in history over a precipice on Clay Street. Hallidie, a Scots immigrant who had extensive expertise in “wire rope” technology to move buckets of ore above ground in the state’s mining district, had applied his knowledge to pull people in little cars up hills that horses couldn’t climb. His franchise for the line had technically expired at midnight on August 1, but there were delays, including the refusal of the gripman he hired to operate the car after taking a look down the hill. So Hallidie did it himself. Apparently, no one noticed that he missed his franchise deadline and even today, the anniversary date is commonly given as August 1. (That first operation, incidentally, was a test. Paying passenger service didn’t start until September 1.)
Hallidie’s invention soon swept the world because even with high capital costs, cable cars were twice as fast as horse-drawn streetcars even on level ground, meaning you could carry more passengers per day. Also, operating costs were lower (horses were very expensive to maintain). But the cable revolution only lasted 15 years until Frank Sprague’s development of the electric streetcar in 1888, significantly faster than cable cars and cheaper to build and run. Cable systems around the world were quickly converted, leaving only those serving steep hills. Buses ultimately took over almost all of those as well. By 1957, San Francisco’s was the only traditional street cable system left in the world. (Check out differences between cable cars and streetcars.)
Today, there’s no special bell serenade or even the clicking of the cable to mark the 147th birthday, because the cable cars are silent, shut down since March because of Covid-19. Muni officials have ruled out a comeback anytime soon, probably until an effective vaccine is deployed, because there is no way to shield the operators from passengers, as is being done on buses and light rail vehicles (and we hope soon on the shut-down historic streetcars as well). Indeed, it is possible that the silenced bells and cables could last longer than any previous shutdown.
In their entire 147-year history, there have only been two extended cable car shutdowns: one, following the 1906 earthquake and fire, which decimated cable car machinery and incinerated many cars, lasted about a year; the other, the complete rebuilding of the system from the dirt up in 1982-84, lasted about 18 months. Given the resurgence and persistence of the virus, the little cars could be off the street longer than that.
We hope not; instead we hope the 148th birthday can be celebrated on the cars themselves, climbing ‘halfway to the stars’! Meanwhile, we will be celebrating cable car history here, with a series of posts on little-known aspects of the little cars.
It's an unhappy birthday all right, this rotten plague just won't go away.
A tip of the hat to daveklepper for his comments on the anniversary of the cable car.
May I add a further point as to why cable cars were such an improvement?
Andrew Hallidie was inspired to invent the cable car because he witnessed the horrific scene when a loaded horse car, making its slow, and for the horse, agonizing way up Nob Hill on a rainy night, the horse slipped, then fell. Immediately the car started going backwards, dragging the horse down the hill, doubtless to its death.
Can you imagine that scene? The noises a horse makes as its being tortured to death? The screaming passengers in a car going backwards down a hill? And the horror doesn't end in 5 or 10 seconds...it goes on.
Whenever I'm tempted to think that the human race doesn't make progress and is maybe worse than ever, I think of Hallidie and that horse. Within a few years cable cars and then streetcars eliminated the need for horses to pull heavy cars until they died of exhaustion. I think the way humans treat animals improves all the time.
Another thing to consider: keeping a stable of horses must have been very expensive propsition for many reasons.
I was going to be in San Francisco this summer, in part to ride cable cars, but the TrumpVirus put paid to that idea. I'll be going again to ride them, just as soon (?) as it's safe.
"TrumpVirus?"
Please, please don't go there. This contagion wasn't cooked up in the White House basement. I wouldn't even accuse the Chinese of cooking it up in a biowar lab and having it get out of control.
I realize it's human nature, and always has been, to look for a scapegoat in times of catastrophe, but the plain fact of the matter is everyone in a position of responsibility, politicians, medical people, and scientists, were blindsided by COVID-19. That's everyone, everywhere, where this contagion has hit. It doesn't matter what country, it doesn't matter what continent. And don't bring up how successful New Zealand was in containing it, it was easy for them, an island nation. They just shut themselves off from the rest of the world, but what happens when they open up again? We'll see.
Instead of blaming political leaders thoughout the country I feel sorry for them, this is a rotten situation they've found themselves in, and it may get worse if and when they have to make the ugly choice between the disease and the economy, and it may come to that!
Save the blame game for when it's over, and maybe not even then. Please.
Politics doesn't belong here anyway, unless we're talking about transit or Amtrak, where it's pretty much unavoidable.
By the way NKP Guy, I DID enjoy the rest of your post!
Hey, if he can cook up and promote stupid and offensive terms like Wuhan Virus, China Virus, Kung Flu and the like, so can I, right? I mean, I'm only following his example.
I do pray for the scientists & medical people who are working on lifting this curse from our race.
But so help me Flintlock, I don't feel sorry for him. His incompetence and narcissism in this crisis has only made things worse, not better, for our country. Does anyone seriously think our situation would be worse were it not for his fine leadership?
Politics has a place everywhere this year: the country is on fire! A morally insane man is standing by with gasoline, ready to use it if he thinks it's in his interest.
So I'm standing by my term. I even linked it to cable cars!
I'm glad you enjoyed the rest of my post; I always enjoy reading yours, even if I sometimes disagree with you.
OK, you can have the last word. I'm done. I won't try to change your mind.
We'll just have to be adults about this and agree to disagree.
NKP guy Another thing to consider: keeping a stable of horses must have been very expensive propsition for many reasons.
Pick up a copy of Middleton's "Time of the Trolley". The book starts with the horse drawn streetcar, and covers a lot of the downfalls of using horsepower. These include the expenses of feeding, grooming and cleaning. Another is epizootics - one around 1880 put so many horses out of commision that the street railways had to use manpower to haul cars. Cable railways were the first successful attempt at mechanizing street railways, as steam dummys and soda motors didn't cut it. IIRC, Chicago had the most cable railway mileage. In the end, electricity was much cheaper and more efficient.
Come 2028, the California Street cable car line will be celebrating 150 years of operation.
NKP THANKS
but I agree, Trumpvirus is not appropriate
Think of horse-drawn fire apparatus. They look beautiful, don't they? The horses are stabled downstairs, the firemen are living upstairs. That must have pleasant on a hot summer day. ICE powered trucks must have been a godsend.
My parents bought my youngest sister a horse many years ago. They had no idea of the care it required, the constant re-shoeing by the farrier ( I thought that guy was a blacksmith but no, he's a farrier) The feeding, the mucking out of the stables. My sister loved it but the expense wore on and after a year my parents sold it. Think of the work (and the flies) involved with a horse-dependent delivery service in a large city over 100 years ago.
54light15Think of the work (and the flies) involved with a horse-dependent delivery service in a large city over 100 years ago.
Oh yeah. It's been said the drop in disease in the big cities as the 20th Century wore on was due to all the horses going and taking the flies with them, among with other things like advances in medicine and sanitation of course
I remember someone saying back in the 60's, "Can you imagine the pollution problem if the 93 million cars in this country were 93 million horses?"
Now that being said, those old time firefighters loved their horses! No wonder, most were Irish and there's one thing about the Irish, they love the "har-ses!"
Broke their hearts when the horses went, some to farms and some to delivery wagons, and God have mercy on those who got 'em and didn't take care of them, those firemen checking up on the animals would have none!
Flintlock76No wonder, most were Irish and there's one thing about the Irish, they love the "har-ses!"
A few years ago Lady NKP (pace Flintlock!) and I went for an evening's carriage ride in Central Park and, because she's an accomplished equestrienne, we spoke to several of the coachmen as they stood with their horses on the street waiting for a customer.
All were Irish.
I don't mean Irish-Americans; I mean Irish. To a man.
You're right, Flintlock. The Irish really do love their horses and it shows in their treatment of them. These immigrants know that they and their horses are a team and that their livelihood depends on old Dobbin being in good shape.
Are horse and buggy rides in Central Park still available?
Here is my atttempt to make the Clay Cable photo a bit more readable:
Carriage rides drawn by horses were still going strong when I was in the city last October.
Right now they may be unavailable.
Remember the Simpsons episode where they go to New York? The family is in one of the carriages and the driver sure sounded Irish. As I recall, they call them "Hansom" carriages- I've always understood a Hansom to be one of those where the driver sits above and to the rear of the passengers, like we've seen in Sherlock Holmes movies.
Flintlock76Oh yeah. It's been said the drop in disease in the big cities as the 20th Century wore on was due to all the horses going and taking the flies with them,
If you wonder why lockjaw was such a dread disease from tiny cuts... it was largely due to equine 'vector' in waste...
And let's not forget both the possibility and reality of epizootics. (And yes, Virginia, there are panzootics too, and examples where the disease can jump to man...)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447860/
The Bush and Obama administrations weren't blindsided by the possibilities of a pandemic.
The Trump administration learned about it in the last months of 2019 and early 2020. Willfully ignoring it is not being "blindsided." The US was not blindsided, it had leadership that did not jump when the alarm bells went off. They didn't fire up the pandemic plan previous admins had worked on because they had tossed it into the trash.
For whatever reasons they treated a science crisis as a political matter.
We should never, never do that again.
"The blame game" is one of those phrases that TV commentators use. I'd avoid it.
jcburns The Bush and Obama administrations weren't blindsided by the possibilities of a pandemic.
Bush actually had a pandemic plan that his adm updated in 2007. That was after the missteps of 911 outlined some problems. Passed it on to Obama. Here is the plan.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/pdf/community_mitigation-sm.pdf
blue streak 1 Bush actually had a pandemic plan that his adm updated in 2007.
Bush actually had a pandemic plan that his adm updated in 2007.
My understanding was that part of the incentive for the pandemic plan was from GWB reading "The Great Influenza" by John M. Barry. In addtion to the plan, GWB also created a stockpile of supplies of PPE and related items for help in a pandemic. These got mostly used up by the next administration without being replenished.
FWIW, Governors Schwarzenegger and Bloomberg also set up stockpiles in CA and NY respectively, both of these stockpiles were allowed to disappear by succeeding administrations.
Flintlock76OK, you can have the last word. I'm done. I won't try to change your mind. We'll just have to be adults about this and agree to disagree.
Another trains thread hijacked by politics....
On the positive side and not to get too far off into the political realm they formed a bipartisan "problem solvers" caucus in the House of Representatives because both House Republicans and Democrats are tired of this across the country, in social media, as well as in the halls of Congress and their mission is to end it while solving the countriy's problems. Keep your fingers crossed or better yet, drop them a letter and see how you can help them out.
SF friend unable to explain strange building upper left corner. Using Photo Editor and paint to make the building more plausable:
found some old photos of the area here:
https://opensfhistory.org/moreNeighborhoodPhotos.php?n=Pacific_Heights
Didn't see that area, but lots of good old photos
rdamon but lots of good old photos
I'll say! Those photos are wonderful! Particularly the last 6 rows with all of those fantastical houses! Now there's a town Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, or Dutch Boy would certainly love! Just imagine the colors on those houses.
My favorite was the 1885 view of the Golden Gate with a sailing ship entering the bay. Very haunting image; in fact, they all are.
Thanks for posting these, rdamon.
[quote user="NKP guy"] I'll say! Those photos are wonderful! Particularly the last 6 rows with all of those fantastical houses! Now there's a town Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, or Dutch Boy would just love! Just imagine the colors on those houses.
You've hit on something NKP! Most people today don't realize it, but (for those who could afford it, of course) most Gilded Age houses in America were painted in a very colorful manner. The "All-white Victorian" didn't come along until after the turn of the 20th Century when all-white became the fashion. And in fact, it was a lot easier to keep up an all-white house, considering the paints available in those years weren't anywhere as durable as what we have now.
As an aside, I prefer the term "Gilded Age" instead of "Victorian" when it comes to the United States in those years. Nothing against the old queen, but she wasn't queen here.
Colourful houses you say? Go to Buffalo, New York! There are some awesome paint schemes on those "McKinley" era houses, some have 4 or more different colours. Really, they seem to try to outdo each other. There's nothing like that here. Go to google images and you will see what I mean. And, google the "Seven Sisters" homes of San Francisco- We've all seen them.
54light15 Colourful houses you say? Go the Buffalo, New York! There are some awesome paint schemes on those "McKinley" era houses, some have 4 or more different colours. Really, they seem to try to outdo each other. There's nothing like that here. Go to google images and you will see what I mean. And, google the "Seven Sisters" homes of San Francisco- We've all seen them.
Colourful houses you say? Go the Buffalo, New York! There are some awesome paint schemes on those "McKinley" era houses, some have 4 or more different colours. Really, they seem to try to outdo each other. There's nothing like that here. Go to google images and you will see what I mean. And, google the "Seven Sisters" homes of San Francisco- We've all seen them.
There's a very enjoyable show on the "DIY Network" called "Restore," right now it's shown on Wednesday nights. The host, Brett Waterman, has a business restoring old houses, many from the Gilded Age and some of the "Craftsman" style, and he restores them with very colorful paints in the spirit of the original finishes.
Check it out, it's fun!
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