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What are the things that define San Francisco to the visitor? There are so many things that make the city unique, not just in the US but probably in the world. You've got the Golden Gate Bridge, the hills, Alcatraz, and the fog of course, but then there's the Cable Cars.
I'm not really sure what makes the Cable Cars so special, probably a whole number of things - the noise of their bells; the noise of the cables running under the street; the way the grip-man has to manually grip hold of the cable to slow the car down as you head over the top of yet another impossibly steep hill; the way you can just hang on on the outside with the wind in your face. Maybe it's that they're a throw-back to a former age, and we tend to view the past through rose-tinted glasses, but there's something impossibly romantic about San Francisco's cable cars.
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But don't just listen to me, I'm a bit of a light-rail bigot. If I had my way I'd be installing (or re-installing) cable cars, trams, street-cars etc. in every major city around the world. Who wants to be deafened by the noise and suffocated by the fumes of diesel buses when there's a far superior, environmentally friendlier option that's been around for a hundred and fifty years? OK, I accept that they're not practical everywhere, but for San Francisco the cable car provides a service that (in my mind) couldn't be fulfilled any other way.
But, as I said earlier, don't listen to me, take a ride for yourself. Although there were once many lines covering the city, there are now just three using the traditional cable cars. These are the Powell/Hyde line which runs from Aquatic Park near in the Fisherman's Wharf area to the junction of Powell and Market near Union Square. The Powell/Mason line also runs from Powell and Market to close to Fishermans Wharf but finishes up near the junction of Bay and Taylor. If you're boarding at the Union Square end make sure you've got on the right car or you might end up with a bit of the walk at the other end! The final route runs along California from Van Ness to the Financial District. The routes are shown on our map page.
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So how do the Cable Cars work? Well, there's no power in the cars themselves. Their forward movement is controlled by gripping hold of a cable that is permanently moving under the street. The cables run at 9 1/2 miles per hour - with a single length of cable being used to run one line from start to finish. The cables - for all three lines - are powered from the Cable Car Barn or Museum which is at Washington & Mason. The current system was actually completed re-built between 1982 and 1984 - including the Cable Car barn itself - with the exception of the walls and chimney!
If you are interested at all in the Cable Cars I strongly recommend a visit to the museum - which is free to enter. There are a couple of good sites that provide far more information on San Francisco's cable cars, their history, how they work etc. They are San Francisco Cable Car Museum and San Francisco Cable Car Website. I recommend a visit to either!
To travel on the Cable Car you've got a number of options. The most popular tourist routes are the Union Square to Fishermans Wharf routes - Powell/Hyde and Powell/Mason. You can either wait in line at the end of the lines, at Aquatic Park, Powell & Market or Bay & Taylor, or you can try and jump on at one of the many stops on the route. The MUNI website has details on tickets and fares.
Finally, a small word of warning - the cable cars are extremely popular and you should expect to wait a while when it's busy to catch a car from the termini. If you're waiting at a stop close to the start of the route, you're going to be there for a while as most people will ride the car from one end to the other. But, no matter how long you have to wait, it's most definitely worth it!!! For the best experience I would suggest standing on the outside of the cars - there's nothing better than catching your first sight of Alcatraz from the outside of a cable car!
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Other Images of Cable Cars & Cable Car Museum....
(Just click on the image for a full-size version) |
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