September 2023 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- September1, 2023

I just put the August 2023 version of my Cable Car Home Page on the server:
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/

It includes some new items:

1. Picture of the Month: On the day of the sesquicentennial, Gripman and historian Val Lupiz and conductor Derrick Johnson pose with the One Spot. They operated the car that day. Please excuse the tilt; I think the photo captures an important moment.
2. On the Centennial and Sesquicentennial of the Birth of the Cable Car page:
   Added a new article about the Cable Car Sesquicentennial Celebration.
3. On the Who page: Added new photos of Fannie Barnes and Andrew S Hallidie
4. Added a News item about San Francisco's Trolley Titan, United Railroads of San Francisco, a new book by Emiliano Echeverria with Walter Rice, and Michael Dolgushkin with Paul Trimble
5. Archived June 2023 What's New

Ten years ago this month (September, 2013):

1. Picture of the Month: A cartoon from the 01-January-1889 Pittsburg Dispatch shows the new and the old of Pittsburg. "Cable cars to all parts of the city" is part of the new. Pittsburgh tried to drop the "h" for a time in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
2. On the Pennsylvania page: The Pittsburgh Traction Company, Pittsburgh's first Hallidie-type cable car line
3. On the Who page: Added a profile from the Street Railway Journal about prolific cable traction engineer Andrew D Whitton. Also Henry Casebolt's profile
4. On the Horse Car Home Page: A 1927 Photoplay photo from Harold Lloyd's movie Speedy
5. Added News item about Cal Cable tracks and conduit dug up near Scott Street

Twenty years ago this month (September, 2003):

Picture of the Month: A rainy day at Hayes and Van Ness in 1890

Added more photos to the Market Street Cable Railway and More Market Street Pictures pages. Thumbnailed pictures on page with excerpt from "South of the Slot" by Jack London

Rolled out new page about the Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest

Added information about new cable car fares.

Added 1903 phone numbers for several SF companies.

150 Years Ago This Month (September, 1873): September 1 - The Clay Street Hill Cable Railroad started revenue service

125 Years Ago This Month (September, 1898): September 16 - The Vine Street Cable Railway (Cincinnati, OH) closed

Coming in October, 2023: More about the 150th birthday of the cable cars

The Cable Car Home Page now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CableCarHomePage/

The Cable Car Home Page also has an Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/cable_car_guy/

Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 01-September-2023)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-January-2020)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 31-August-2023)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (new blog)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/

Cable Car Sesquicentennial Celebration -- August 2, 2023

Today my wonderful and patient wife accompanied me to the Cable Car Sesquicentennial Celebration at Powell and Market. There was a good crowd, and many were in costumes from various eras. I had a nice chat with Emperor Norton. Our host was Rick Laubscher of today's Market Street Railway. The PA system was weak and it was hard to hear some of the speakers. Representative Nancy Pelosi, Mayor London Breed, Supervisor Aaron Peskin, and many others spoke. Andrew S Hallidie had a few remarks. 

Powell Street Car One, which was built to celebrate the Centennial in 1973, was beautifully decorated by Val Lupiz, who also pulled the grip today. The VIPs rode away on the car.

Senator Dianne Feinstein was scheduled to be there, but she wasn't feeling well. 

Cable Car Sesquicentennial -- August 2, 2023

 

sfcablecars.org

Today we celebrate the Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of San Francisco's cable cars. Join us at 10:30 am at Powell and Market streets for a party. 

Learn more about the Cable Car Sesquicentennial:

https://sfcablecars.org/

My cable car website:

http://www.cable-car-guy.com/index.html

August, 2023 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- August 1, 2023

San Francisco Examiner, 02-August-1973

I just put the August 2023 version of my Cable Car Home Page on the server:

http://www.cable-car-guy.com/

It includes some new items:
1. Picture of the Month: On the day of the centennial, the front page of the San Francisco Examiner featured a photo of the parade of decorated cable cars. (Source: San Francisco Examiner, 1973-08-02, Page 1).
2. On the Centennial and Sesquicentennial of the Birth of the Cable Car page: More ads and collectibles and an article about the Cable Car Carpentry Shop Tour.
3. Added News items about the death of Tony Bennett and the 125th birthday of the Ferry Building.

Ten years ago this month (August, 2013):
1. Picture of the Month: A diagram giving details of J. P. F. Kuhlmann's counterbalance system, used to move electric streetcars up and down hills in Seattle and Portland. (Source: "Kuhlmann's Counterbalance System of Operating Electric Cars on Steep Grades", Electrical Engineer, July 19, 1893.).
2. On the Cable Cars in the Pacific Northwest page: More about Seattle and Portland Counterbalances, including selected articles from The Street Railway Journal.
3. On the Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest page, added more about the 50th Annual Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest
4. On the Motion Pictures Which Feature Cable Cars page: Added screen captures from Buster Keaton's "Daydreams", with Powell/Mason cable cars and one electric streetcar.

Twenty years ago this month (August, 2003):
1. Picture of the Month: Seattle, Second and Madison
2. Added the August installment of Val Lupiz's quarterly column, Tales From the Grip
3. Added more about Seattle cable cars and counterbalances to the Cable Cars in the Pacific Northwest page.
4. Added Disney pin and Italian Charm to the Kitsch page.

5. Added photos to the SF Muni page: Washington/Jackson and old Powell/Mason dash signs and on the Ferries & Cliff House Railway page a Sacramento/Clay sign, all thanks to Val Lupiz

150 Years Ago This Month (August, 1873): August 2 - The Clay Street Hill Cable Railroad made its first test run

100 Years Ago This Month (August, 1923): August 1 - The City of Glasgow takes ownership of the cable-operated Glasgow District Subway

50 Years Ago This Month (August, 1973): August 2 - The 100th birthday of the cable car

The Cable Car Home Page now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CableCarHomePage/

Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 01-August-2023)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-January-2020)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 31-July-2023)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (new blog)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/

Cable Car Sesquicentennial Carpentry Shop Tour -- July 7, 2023

Yesterday my wife was kind enough to accompany me to the Cable Car Cable Car Carpentry Shop Tour. I am very lucky.  The tours are in honor of the Cable Car Sesquicentennial. This is the first time the public has been allowed into the shop. Rick Laubscher of the Market Street Railway said that all the free tours for the rest of the year are booked solid. 

The tour was led by the chief carpenter, whose name I did not get (Andrew McCarron -- Thank you to Matthew Lee, Jeremy Whiteman and Norbert Feyling). We started with car 18, a Carter Brothers car that was rebuilt in 1961. Muni crews started to rebuild it at the barn, but found it needed more work than the crew at the barn could handle. Here he stands in front of Cal Cable car 60, one of the three small cars from the Jones Street shuttle. The Market Street Railway repatriated it from Healdsburg where it had been saved in good condition. The paint and the gold leaf trim are original. The front dash leans next to him. 

It was a great tour. 

#CableCarAnniversary

July, 2023 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- July 1, 2023

I just put the July 2023 version of my Cable Car Home Page on the server:
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/

It includes some new items:
1. Picture of the Month: At the Kickoff Celebration, Big 19 wore a banner celebrating the Sesquicentennial.
2. On the Centennial and Sesquicentennial of the Birth of the Cable Car page: The Sesquicentennial Kickoff Celebration. Also a $5 all-day ticket for the Cal Cable line.
3. On the San Francisco Miscellany page: Added a newspaper item to the article about the The Fairfax Incline Railway

Ten years ago this month (July, 2013):
1. Picture of the Month: A neon cable car shines in the window of Joe's Cable Car Restaurant, near Mission and Silver
2. On the Cable Car Businesses page, a visit to Joe's Cable Car Restaurant (no relation)
3. On the Horse Car Home Page: Screen captures from "The Bell Boy", a 1917 short comedy with Roscoe Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Al St John and a horse car
4. Also on the Horse Car Home Page: A new book about horse cars at Walt Disney World
5. On the Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest page, added potential date for the 50th Annual Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest and the name of the winner of the 1971 Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest

Twenty years ago this month (July, 2003):
1. Picture of the Month: The Skagit Incline
2. Add the Skagit Incline to the Cable Cars in the Pacific Northwest page.
3. Added photos to the SF Muni page: dash signs and a sign in Chinese, and some highlights from Muni's 2003 draft Short Range Transit Plan
4. Added News and Bibliography items about an accident on Powell Street and a Cal Cable shutdown. Added news item about the retirement of Cable Car Division's

The Cable Car Home Page now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CableCarHomePage/

Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 01-July-2023)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-January-2020)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 30-September-2022)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (new blog)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/

Cable Car Sesquicentennial Kickoff -- June 13, 2023

Today my wife was kind enough to accompany me to the Cable Car Sesquicentennial Kickoff at California and Drumm. This was just about our first time out together since COVID. 

Cable Car Big 19, originally built in 1883 as a single-ended Market Street cable car was there. Rick Laubscher of the Market Street Railway hosted. Mayor London Breed, Supervisor Aaron Peskin and Alexander S Hallidie spoke. Hallidie said scientists at Stanford had brought him back to life. The celebrites left for a ride on 19.

June, 2023 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- June 1, 2023

I just put the June 2023 version of my Cable Car Home Page on the server:
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/

It includes some new items:
1. Picture of the Month: "San Francisco's Folly." An item from the travel section of Newsday shows a drawing of a Clay Street Hill Railroad grip car and passenger dummy. (Source: Newsday (Suffolk Edition), 1973-07-29, Page 95).
2. On the Centennial and Sesquicentennial of the Birth of the Cable Car page: Newspaper items about the centennial from far and wide. A cosmetics ad from Sydney referring to San Francisco cable cars. Sesquicentennial websites and events. I will continue to update the page for much of the year. New sections about other important anniversaries and Centennial collectibles.
3. On the Horse Car Home Page: An article about the last horse car line in Pittsburgh.

Ten years ago this month (June, 2013):
1. Picture of the Month: In an editorial cartoon from the 04-June-1913 San Francisco Call, Mr Public apparently operates a Sutter Street electric car to the Ferry and bids G-o-o-d Night to the horse car as it makes its way to the junk pile
2. On the Horse Car Home Page: 03-June-2013 is the 100th anniversary of the last schedule horse car to run in San Francisco. Includes a contemporary newspaper article, with illustrations, on the event
3. On the Cable Cars in the Pacific Northwest page: More about the Butte City Street Railroad, including selected articles from The Street Railway Journal.
4. On the Motion Pictures Which Feature Cable Cars page: Thanks to Tony Turrittin, added I Remember Mama. Also added a poster and a photo of Paulette Goddard and Sonny Tufts on a cable car to I Love a Soldier
5. Added News items about Secret San Francisco, a film show that included many cable car views, an article about cable cars being dangerous, and the revised SFMTA website, which includes a page on How to Ride Cable Cars

Twenty years ago this month (June, 2003):
1. Move to new domain: www.cable-car-guy.com
2. Picture of the Month: Butte cable car
3. Add the Butte City Street Railroad to the Cable Cars in the Pacific Northwest page.
4. Added more photos to my illustrated article about the California Street Cable Railroad 125th anniversary.
5. Added News items about the Carnaval Parade, with a photo by Val Lupiz, who drove car 62, and a serious accident on the California Street cable line.
150 years ago this month -- June 1873
Andrew S Hallidie broke ground for the Clay Street Hill Cable Railroad

125 years ago this month -- June 1898
Jun 30 - The Saint Paul City Railway's Selby Street line closed. It was replaced by a counterbalance, which helped electrics up and down the Selby Street hill. The counterbalance was replaced 10-Oct-1906 by a tunnel.

Coming in July, 2023: On the Centennial and Sesquicentennial of the Birth of the Cable Car page:

The Cable Car Home Page now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CableCarHomePage/

Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 01-June-2023)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-January-2020)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 30-September-2022)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (new blog)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/

May, 2023 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- May 4, 2023

San Francisco Examiner, 05-August-1923

I just put the May 2023 version of my Cable Car Home Page on the server:
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/

It includes some new items:
1. Picture of the Month: I loved Margot Patterson Doss' column San Francisco at Your Feet in the Sunday Chronicle-Examiner. I had two of her books and I took many of the walks that she described. For the anniversary of the cable cars, she offered a walk from Golden Gate Park to Washington/Mason. Hills Brothers provided coffee for a nickel a cup. (Source: San Francisco Sunday Chronicle-Examiner, 1973-08-05, Sunday Punch Section Page 6). 
2. On the Centennial and Sesquicentennial of the Birth of the Cable Car page: Updates about both Centennial and Sesquicentennial events. I will continue to update it for much of the year.

Ten years ago this month (May, 2013):
1. Picture of the Month: Cable car crewmen hold trays with the rings as a motorized cable car rolls down the third base line
2. On the Motorized Cable Cars page: The San Francisco Giants' 2012 World Series Ring Ceremony.
3. On the Cal Cable page: Transit historian Ray Long shares his memories of more than 60 years of Cal Cable
4. On the Cable Cars in the Pacific Northwest page: More about the Spokane Cable Railway, including selected articles from The Street Railway Journal.
5. Added News and Bibliography items about cable cars taking funding away from other transportation

Twenty years ago this month (May, 2003):
Added Val Lupiz's new quarterly column, Tales From the Grip to the San Francisco Miscellany page. Thanks to Val for choosing to host his column here.
1. Picture of the Month: South Spokane cable car
2. Add the Spokane Cable Railway to the Cable Cars in the Pacific Northwest page.
3. Added an illustrated article about the California Street Cable Railroad 125th anniversary. Also added Bibliography items about the party.
4. Added News and Bibliography items about Walter Rice and Emiliano Echeverria's new book San Francisco's California Street Cable Car/Celebrating a Century and a Quarter of Service.
125 years ago this month -- May 1898

May 25 - The Washington and Georgetown Railroad's Seventh Street line closed. Electric rails for the conduit electric cars had been laid while the cable cars were running.

50 years ago this month -- May 1973

May 11 - The Giants traded Willy Mays to the Mets.

Coming in May, 2023: On the Cable Cars in the Pacific Northwest page: More about the Butte City Street Railroad

The Cable Car Home Page now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CableCarHomePage/

Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 01-May-2023)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-January-2020)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 30-September-2022)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (new blog)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/

April, 2023 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- April1, 2023

San Francisco Examiner, 01-March-1923

I just put the April 2023 version of my Cable Car Home Page on the server:
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/

It includes some new items:
1. Picture of the Month: A detail from an ad for the Emporium, a classic San Francisco department store, marking the cable car centennial (Source: San Francisco Examiner, 1973-08-01, Page 14).
2. Rolled out the new Centennial and Sesquicentennial of the Birth of the Cable Car page. I will continue to update it for much of the year.
3. On the Kitsch page: More collectible detritus about cable cars, including: A new section with items from the Centennial of the cable car; A toy cable car commemorating the Warriors' latest NBA title; A 1973 Emporium ad for centennial collectibles;
4. On the Cable Car Businesses page: a 1971 newspaper ad for Cable Car Clothiers
5. Changed toy cable car picture on the main page to a front three-quarter view of car 504 with uncommon free-standing figures.

Ten years ago this month (April, 2013):
1. Picture of the Month: A pin which commemorates the San Francisco Giants' defeat of the Detroit Tigers in the 2012 World Series.
2. On the Kitsch page: A Powell Street centennial commemorative coin; a 2012 World Series commemorative pin; a pin for the Giants 1987 National League West championship; a tin cable car with its original box; a 1957 cachet with a State Street Chicago cable car; a 2011 stamp from Malaysia showing the Penang Hills Funicular Railway a program from the 1967 Cable Car Classic basketball tournament; a Christmas ornament with Woodstock sitting on a cable car; a 2009 Hard Rock Cafe pin; a new section for San Francisco Giants Cable Car Items
3. Changed toy cable car picture on the main page to Number 514.
4. Added News item about water main break that affected cable service
5. Added News item about the third annual San Francisco History Expo

Twenty years ago this month (April 10, 2003):
1. Add News item about the California Street Cable Railroad 125th anniversary.

Twenty years ago this month (April, 2003):
1. Picture of the Month: Cal Cable centennial cachet
2. California Street Cable Railroad 125th anniversary. More pictures on the More Cal Cable Pictures page.
3. Add more items, especially special Muni passes and Lefton models to the Kitsch page.
4. Add excerpt from book Travels With Jottings, which describes an 1880 trip on the California Street Cable Railroad
5. Add information about new car 60 to the roster page
6. Add News items about anti-war protests
7. Change toy cable car picture on the main page to wood and metal Cal Cable 4

Coming in May, 2023: On the Cable Cars in the Pacific Northwest page: More about the Butte City Street Railroad

The Cable Car Home Page now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CableCarHomePage/

Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 01-April-2023)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-January-2020)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 30-September-2022)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (new blog)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/