San Francisco Cable Car System

San Francisco Cable Car System. Ferries and Cliff House Railway Company. , California Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. , San Francisco Cable Car System - 1873. , San Francisco Section ASCE - 1976. , , National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. , Ferries and Cliff House Cable Railway - 1887. , Howard C. Holmes (1854-1921), designer. , American Society of Mechanical Engineers - 1973. , , , Ferries and Cliff House Railway Company , , The Building , This building was originally built in 1887 for the Ferries and Cliff House Railway Company. Rebuilt after April 1906 earthquake and fire, refurbished in 1967 and almost entirely rebuilt again in 1982-84 during the system wide cable car rehabilitation project. During the 1967 refurbishing, the observation gallery was constructed on the mezzanine floor allowing visitors to view the "heart and soul" of the cable operation - the cables, sheaves, gears and electric motors that run the system. Today, this building serves as a fully functional cable car barn and powerhouse for the three cable car lines of the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) as well as a historical museum. , , The Company , In 1887, Ferries and Cliff House Railway Company (also called Powell Street Railway) built this powerhouse and carbarn at the corner of Washington and Mason streets. Cable car service on Powell Street began on March 28, 1888. Full service on the Powell-Mason line began a few days later (this route has never been changed). At the same time, the company extended a route to the city's Western Addition with the opening of the Powell-Jackson line. This line also started at Powell and Market, but turned west on Jackson Street to Central (now Presidio Avenue), then down the hill to a turntable at the intersection of Central and California Street. Presidio Avenue, then down the hill to California Street. At California Street, it made a connection with a steam train to the ocean which started service that July. , , The Great Merger on 1893 saw the Ferris and Cliff House Railway becoming a division of the 2nd Market Street Railway Co., a major conglomeration of the City's street railway properties. In 1902 the Market Street Railway Co. sold their properties to the Baltimore Syndicate, which in turn purchased additional local transit properties, and chartered a new company called the United Railroads of San Francisco. This new company operated in a turbulent manner until April 1921 when bankruptcy forced it into reorganization. The newly reorganized company returned to the name Market Street Railway and in September of 1944 the MSRy again began to fail. In May of 1945, San Francisco's voters approved the purchase of the Market Street Railway by the City and County of San Francisco. Today, the cable cars, carbarn and powerhouse are owned by the people of San Francisco and operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni). , , photo captions: , The original powerhouse and car barn was a large three story building as seen by this photo taken c.1903. The first floor consited of the steam driven cable winding machinery, a car washing area and an elevator to deliver cars to the floors above. The second contained offices, car repair, storage, and a blacksmith shop, while the third provided still more car storage. This building was completely destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake and Fire and was rebuilt into its two story configuration. , , The crew of a Powell Street Railway Co. car poses as the car is about to leave the turntable at Bay and Tayler Streets. At the time this photo was taken (1888) the bay was adjacent to this location and the surrounding area was largely residential with some light industry. Present day Fisherman Wharf would emerge in some twelve years. , , August 1914 finds a pair of cars passing one another on Powell Street just north of Bush. The vacant lots on the west side of Powell Street were cleared of debris after the 1906 disaster to await new commercial construction. , , Washington-Mason Carbarn and Powerhouse , , The Carbarn , The carbarn is the storage and maintenance area for all the cable cars after their day's work. It is located on the second floor of the Washington-Mason carbarn. All cars leave from the Washington Street side and return on the Jackson Street side. On Jackson Street, they go up the hill past the barn and then drop the cable to coast back down into the maintenance and storage area. A small, motorized vehicle called a "shunter” pushes the car from a turntable in the barn to one of the 12 storage tracks. Each storage track has a pit area for one car allowing easy access to running gear components - the trucks, axles and braking systems. , , The Powerhouse , On the ground floor is the powerhouse, where each of the four cables, Powell, Mason, Hyde and California travel in a continues loop around three large sheaves in a figure eight pattern. The drive sheave is mounted to the output shaft of a gear reducer powered by a 510 horsepower DC electric motor. The sound of this machinery can be heard 19 hours a day. This powerhouse was converted from steam to electric power in 1911. Through a plate glass window in the sheave (pronounced shiv) room below, you can see the three cables going to and from the channels underneath the streets. , , The Museum , The San Francisco cable car system was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. In tribute, the Washington-Mason and powerhouse were refurbished. The Washington-Mason carbarn was completely rebuilt, except the chimney and exterior walls, which were retained and reinforced so that the building's traditional appearance could be preserved. An observation deck and museum space were created to tell the story of the only working cable car system in the world. A small gift shop area was also added. Because the museum has never charged admission, profits from sales and monies from donations are essential for both maintaining and expanding the museum's operation. , , Friends of the Cable Car Museum , The operator of the museum is a non-profit group called Friends of the Cable Car Museum. A goal of the Friends is to expand the role of the museum in preserving artifacts, photographs and documents of the rich history that is San Francisco's public transportation legacy. Recently, the Friends worked with civic-minded groups and individuals to sponsor a series of celebrations commemorating the events of the previous. fifty years. On December 1, 1997, for example, a celebration was held in Victorian Park to rename the Powell-Hyde line turnaround the "Friedel Klussmann Memorial Turnaround.” San Franciscans have now honored the two most important persons in the history of San Francisco's cable cars by naming public places for them. Hallidie Plaza, at Powell and Market Streets, is named. for the man who invented the cable car and the turnaround at Victorian Park is named for the woman who saved them.