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Will cable cars like the ones in San Francisco make a comeback?

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Posted by Buslist on Sunday, February 1, 2015 2:14 PM

DSchmitt

 

 
ROBERT WILLISON

How many cities did or do cable cars operate in now or in the past ?

 

 

 

Traditional Systems 

USA

Built and operated

1) San Francisco CA - 8 cable car lines,  2) Chicago IL - 3 lines,  3) Philadelphia PA - 1 line  4) Kansas City MO - 6  lines,  5) Cincinnati OH - 3 lines,  6) New York NY - 3 lines,  7) Los Angeles CA - 3 lines,  8) Binghamton NY - 1 line,  9) Hoboken NJ - 1 line,  10) St Louis MO - 5 lines,  11) Oakland CA - 2 lines,  12) Brooklyn NY - 2 lines,  13) Omaha NB - 1 line,  14) St Paul MN - 1 line,  15) Newark NJ - 1 line,  16) Grand Rapids MI - 1 line,  17) Pittsburgh PA - 3 lines,  18) Seattle WA - 5 lines,  19) Denver CO - 2 lines,  20) Butte MT - 1 line,  21) Souix City IA - 1 line,  22) Spokane WA - 1 line,  23) Providence RI - 1 line,  24) Portland OR - 1 line,  25) Washington DC - 2 lines,  26) San Diego CA - 1 line,  27) Clevland OH - 1 line,  28) Baltimore MD - 2 lines,  29) Tacoma WA - 1 line 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicago had (depending on what you mean by lines) 3 cable car companies but had 10 routes or what I would call lines. This was the largest system in America if not the world.

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Posted by DSchmitt on Saturday, January 31, 2015 10:44 AM

ROBERT WILLISON

How many cities did or do cable cars operate in now or in the past ?

 

Traditional Systems 

USA

Built and operated

1) San Francisco CA - 8 cable car lines,  2) Chicago IL - 3 lines,  3) Philadelphia PA - 1 line  4) Kansas City MO - 6  lines,  5) Cincinnati OH - 3 lines,  6) New York NY - 3 lines,  7) Los Angeles CA - 3 lines,  8) Binghamton NY - 1 line,  9) Hoboken NJ - 1 line,  10) St Louis MO - 5 lines,  11) Oakland CA - 2 lines,  12) Brooklyn NY - 2 lines,  13) Omaha NB - 1 line,  14) St Paul MN - 1 line,  15) Newark NJ - 1 line,  16) Grand Rapids MI - 1 line,  17) Pittsburgh PA - 3 lines,  18) Seattle WA - 5 lines,  19) Denver CO - 2 lines,  20) Butte MT - 1 line,  21) Souix City IA - 1 line,  22) Spokane WA - 1 line,  23) Providence RI - 1 line,  24) Portland OR - 1 line,  25) Washington DC - 2 lines,  26) San Diego CA - 1 line,  27) Clevland OH - 1 line,  28) Baltimore MD - 2 lines,  29) Tacoma WA - 1 line 

Projected not built

1) Dalas TX - 1 line,  2) St Joseph MO - 2 lines,  3) Boston MA - 1 line, 4) Minneaopolis MN - 1 line,  5) Millwaukee WI - 1 line,  6) Lincoln NB - 1 line 

Other Countries

1) Dunedin New Zealand -  5 lines,  2) Melbourne Australia - 1 line,  3) Sydney Australia - 3 lines  4) London England - 2 lines,   5) Birmingham England - 1 line,  6) Matlock England - 1 line,  7) Glasgow Scotland - 1 line,  8) Edinburgh Scotland - 1 line,  9) Douglas Isle Of Man - 1 line,  10) Paris France - 1 line, Lisbon Portuhal - 3 lines 

Source:  The Cable Car in America by George W. Hilton

 

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_car_(railway)#Cities_currently_operating_cable_cars    list a couple other cities in US: Tulsa Oklahoma and Wichita Kansas.   and Countries: Colombia and Philippines

Per Wikipedia: San Francisco is probably has the only trabitional  systems still operating.

"Traditional system" defined per Wikipedia:  "A cable car in the context of mass transit is a system using rail cars that are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required. Cable cars are distinct from funiculars, where the cars are permanently attached to the cable, and cable railways, which are similar to funiculars, but where the rail vehicles are attached and detached manually."

The systems in Hilton's book are traditional systems by this definition. 

I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.

I don't have a leg to stand on.

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Posted by Dragoman on Friday, January 30, 2015 11:17 PM
On the very steepest hills, they do continue to have a function -- it's called a funicular.
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Posted by Firelock76 on Friday, January 30, 2015 12:25 PM

Even San Francisco debated decades ago as to whether to retire the cable cars.  In the end they decided to keep them since they're a part of the citys history and a famous attraction.

But for everyone else, it's a technology that's come and gone.

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Posted by BroadwayLion on Friday, January 30, 2015 12:07 PM

No. They will not come back. There are so many more better technologies available today.

 

ROAR

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Friday, January 30, 2015 12:00 PM

Highly unlikely.  Cable-car technology was replaced by electric streetcars beginning around 1900.  Cable cars are good on steep hills but don't handle curves very well, they are also maintenance-intensive.

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Posted by ROBERT WILLISON on Friday, January 30, 2015 11:59 AM

How many cities did or do cable cars operate in now or in the past ?

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Will cable cars like the ones in San Francisco make a comeback?
Posted by zkr123 on Friday, January 30, 2015 11:36 AM

Will cable cars like the ones in San Francisco make a comeback to cities that want light rail but are really hilly? 

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