December 2025 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- December 12, 2025

I just put the December 2025 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: Santa and friends will ride a cable car down Powell Street to the Emporium. "His cable car reaches Powell and Market at 11 a.m." (Source: San Francisco Examiner, 1949-10-28).
2. With Christmas coming, it's a good time to visit the late Joe Lacey's article Christmas on the Cables, and the Decorated Cable Cars page. Added a photo of Santa riding atop a cable car and a 1952 Emporium ad about the 1950 Santacade to Christmas on the Cables. Also Santa's Cable Car coming to Hyde and Beach. Cable car Christmas decorations celebrated their 20th anniversary.
3. Added News and Chronology items about Santa's Cable Car, service issues, the Merry Days of Muni Holiday Collection and the last day of San Francisco's Breda cars
4. On the Kansas City page: A promotion for the opening of the KC Streetcar's Holiday Jam

Ten years ago this month (December 2015):

1. Picture of the Month: Cable car 504 decorated as Santa's sleigh. (source: Trolley Topics, December, 1950)
2. With Christmas coming, it's a good time to visit Joe Lacey's article Christmas on the Cables, and the Decorated Cable Cars page. On the Christmas on the Cable page, Iddded a new image to Christmas on the Cables, showing car 504 decorated as Santa's sleigh. On the Decorated Cable Cars page, added Val Lupiz photos of Powell Street Car One decorated for Christmas, 2015. We should all thank Val Lupiz and his family and Friends who decorate cars every year.
3. On the More MSR Photos page: The Fate of the Old Sacramento and Clay St. Cable Car #16 by Stephen Brown
4. Added News item about Muni closing almost two blocks of lower Powell Street to automobile traffic

Twenty years ago this month (December 2005):

1. Picture of the Month: An invitation which Val Lupiz designed for the Cable Car Division's 2005 luncheon for Senior Citizens.
2. On the Decorated Cable Cars page: The luncheon invitation
3. On the San Francisco page: A new page about Motorized Cable Cars. Notes from Walter Rice and Val Lupiz on Cal Cable 61/62
4. Also on the San Francisco page: Thanks to Jack Tillmany, item about the movies Fools, part of which was shot in the cable car barn, and Fog Over Frisco, a 1934 movie with glimpses of cable cars.
5. On the Muni page: Thanks to Ray Long, a photo of 524 running on Broadway in Los Angeles for a 1949 Shriners parade
6. On the More MSR Photos page: Val Lupiz found a postcard of an MSR cable RPO car
7. On the Cable Car Transfers, Tickets, Tokens and Signage page: Thanks to Walter Rice, a TWA poster
8. On the New York/New Jersey page: Two 1886 newspaper articles about the first cable car line in Brooklyn, New York. WANTS TO USE THE CABLE, about a request for permission to use cable traction and CABLE ROAD/The Aldermen Inspect the New York Variety, about a junket to inspect a Manhattan line. Also an 1893 article, The Passing of Richardson, about the death of Brooklyn Cable Company promoter William Richardson
9. Added News items about new Powell Street cable car book signing and a meltdown on the Hyde Street line. Also added Nick Kibre photo to the item about Cal Cable car 59 in New Orleans
10. Added Bibliography items: Obituaries for Grimes Poznikov, Chester Smith, and Guillermo P Mendoza, Sr. Also a report of a 1980 publicity stunt

In January 2024 I started on a long overdue process of cleaning things up on my site. I started with the development pages. Actually, I guess I started the year before with making most thumbnails 200 pixels instead of 100.

Coming in January 2026: On the Cable Tramways in Australia and New Zealand page: More about Dunedin, New Zealand's Roslyn Tramway, the first Hallidie-type cable tram line outside of San Francisco.

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-December-2025)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-October-2024)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 31-October-2025)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (updated obsessively)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/

November 2025 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- November 3, 2025

I just put the November 2025 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: The Las Casitas Railway is a private funicular on San Francisco's Russian Hill. It still serves a group of townhouses. (Source: San Francisco Examiner, 1960-10-02).
2. On the new Northern California Funiculars page: Added new items about the Shasta Springs Incline, the Shadowbrook Restaurant, Capitola and Private Funiculars. Moved Telegraph Hill Railroad, the Fillmore Hill Counterbalance and the The Fairfax Incline Railway from the San Francisco Miscellany page.
3. On the Kansas City page: A postcard showing the Kansas City Cable Railway's destination, the Union Depot and a banner from the opening of the KC Streetcar's Main Street Extension

Ten years ago this month (November 2015):

1. Picture of the Month: A Churchman's Cigarettes card shows a cable-hauled train leaving a tunnel on Brazil's São Paulo Railway.
2. On the Other Cities page: A new article about Brazil's São Paulo Railway, a British-built line that used cable traction to haul freight and passengers up and down the Serra do Mar

Twenty years ago this month (November 2005):

1. Picture of the Month: Valencia Street cable car, 1904.
2. On the San Francisco page: San Francisco Cable Car Service, 1903 -- based on the San Francisco Official Street Railway Directory, 1903. Thanks to Walter Rice.
3. On the San Francisco page: A Photo Album of 1970s Cable Car Supporters by Walter Rice
4. On the More MSR Photos page: Valencia Street cable car, 1903
5. On the New York/New Jersey page: 1886 newspaper articles about the first cable car line in Brooklyn, New York. MR. RICHARDSON'S CABLE ROAD, about an early petition for permission to build the line and TO ADOPT JOHNSON'S SYSTEM, about the choice of the Johnson ladder cable system to operate it
6. Added News item about new Powell Street cable car book

In January 2024 I started on a long overdue process of cleaning things up on my site. I started with the development pages. Actually, I guess I started the year before with making most thumbnails 200 pixels instead of 100.

Coming in December 2025: On the San Francisco page: With Christmas coming, it's a good time to visit the late Joe Lacey's article Christmas on the Cables, and the Decorated Cable Cars page.

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-November-2025)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-October-2024)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 31-October-2025)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (updated obsessively)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/

September 2025 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- September 6, 2025

I just put the September 2025 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: Lisbon has three street-running funiculars. On 04-September-2025, the Elevador da Glória (Route 51e) suffered a fatal crash when the upper car ran away and hit a building. At least 17 are dead. Image courtesy of Google News.
2. On the Cable Car Lines in Other Cities page: A ten-year update about street-running funiculars in Lisbon, Portugal , with several Carrus website items about the Elevador da Bica, the Elevador da Glória and the Elevador do Lavra. The Elevador da Glória suffered a fatal crash.
3. Added News items about cable car operating issues and the crash in Lisbon

Ten years ago this month (September 2015):

1. Picture of the Month: Car 4 of Lisbon's Camões-Estrela line was built by the German Maschinenfabrik Esslingen. I wonder if it on a transfer table. Photo courtesy of Maschinenfabrik Esslingen.
2. On the Other Cities page: A new article about the street-running funiculars in Lisbon, Portugal , with several photos of the Elevador do Lavra
3. On the Municipal Railway page: The San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency announces measures to improve the safety of cable car crews

Twenty years ago this month (September 2005):

1. Picture of the Month: A Peter Ehrlich photo of Dunedin, NZ cable tram 95.
2. On the Australia/New Zealand page: Peter Ehrlich's photos of a Dunedin cable tram
3. On the San Francisco page: Part Four of Walter Rice and Emiliano Echevarria's "When Steam Ran on the Streets of San Francisco: The Ocean Shore Railroad"
4. Added News and Bibliography items about accidents at Powell and California and California and Drumm. Also news items about the abusive $5 fare and the presentation of a cable car bell to the outgoing Archbishop
5. On the New York/New Jersey page: More 1887 newspaper articles about the first cable car line in Brooklyn, New York. The Rope Broke, about a rope break, and DISSATISFACTION ON THE CABLE ROAD, about labor unrest and a possible shutdown
6. On the Decorated Cable Cars page: Cable cars in the 2005 San Francisco Carnaval Parade.
7. Added more Chronology items

175 years ago - 1850
Sep 9 - California was admitted to the Union as the 31st state
Sep 17 - The Fourth Great Fire destroyed the area bounded by Dupont, Montgomery, Washington and Pacific

125 years ago - 1900
Sep 04 - Front Street Cable Railway (Seattle, Washington) converted to electricity. The section on Queen Anne Hill was converted to a counterbalance.

75 years ago - 1950
Sep 17 - "Service on Line No. 59 (Powell-Mason cable car) will be discontinued on account of construction work on the Broadway Tunnel. A partial substitution of service will be instituted by motor coaches to connect with Line No. 60 (Washington-Jackson cable car) at Powell and Washington Streets." Muni "NOTICE TO PUBLIC" dated September 13, 1950.

In January 2024 I started on a long overdue process of cleaning things up on my site. I started with the development pages. Actually, I guess I started the year before with making most thumbnails 200 pixels instead of 100.

Coming in October 2025: On the San Francisco page: A new article about private funiculars in San Francisco

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 06-September-2025)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-October-2024)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 31-May-2025)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (updated obsessively)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/

Finished Pictures in a Minute -- August 11, 2025

Chicago Tribune, 25-August-1925

In 1948, Edwin Land started selling his great invention, the Polaroid instant camera. In 1950, the Bolotin Camera Exhange in offered the Polaroid Land Camera for $89.75. 

One of my uncle's had a Polaroid camera in the 1960s, the first one I had seen, and loved to tell people how wonderful it was. At that time, even though I was very young, I wondered how long the photos would last and retain their colors.

Going Holidaying? Take a Camera With You -- 11-August-1925

Toronto Star, 07-August-1925

T Eaton and Company in Toronto offered a staggering variety of cameras, mostly Kodaks.

Excursion Fares from Pasadena to the Beaches -- August 10, 2025

Pasadena Post, 24-August-1925

The Pacific Electric Railway operated its famous Red Cars on interurban and streetcar routes throughout the Los Angeles area. The PE offered "Week-End Round Trip Excursion Fares from Pasadena to the Beaches."

Radio Music for Film -- August 9, 2025

Film Daily, 27-August-1925

Radio was a hot topic in 1925. Ufa, the big German film production company, did an experiment with RCA. An audience of 500 at the Briarcliff Lodge, a ritzy hotel in Briarcliff Manor, New York watched Fritz Lang's Siegfried, which was part one of his adaption of Die Nibelungen. During the first half of the film, the article says "there was no orchestra at that showing." During the second half, guests heard a broadcast on RCA,'s station WJY, which carried a score from the Century Theater in New York City. Composer and conductor Hugo Riesenfeld did the arrangement and led the orchestra. It must have been difficult to keep the music in sync with the movie. 

Automobile Blue Book, Volume One, 1919

New York Daily News, 28-August-1925

Springfield Morning Union, 23-August-1925

This article about the broadcast says how the synchronization problem was taken care of: "A trained musician will be stationed with the projection operator who will instruct the operator as to the speed od showing the film in order to coordinate with the music coming in via the air route."

This seems like an expensive way to bring orchestral music to theaters in small towns.

Film Daily, 27-August-1925

Radio Film on Coast

15 Theaters Screen Special Reel and

Hear Voices of Players in Perfect Synchronization

Los Angeles -- Fifteen theaters on Monday night projected a reel specially prepared, and at the same time broadcast through their radio receiving sets a talk by the principals in the picture in perfect synchronization.

A new angle touching on the possibilities of the radio and the motion picture is believed to have been hit upon. While this particular attempt savors strongly of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer publicilty its import cannot be overlooked. The studio prepared a picture with Norma Shearer and Lew Cody as central figures. It was designed to exploit "A Slave of Fashion" in which both appear. By arrangement with the Examiner, Station KFI and the Freed-Eisemann Radio Corp., the picture was projected simultaneously at nine o'clock in fifteen theaters of the West Coast chain, including the Cameo, Alhamra, Criterion, Strand, Circle, Highland, Rivoli, Rosebud, Alvarado, De Luxe, Apollo at Hollywood and Liberty at Long Beach.

While Miss Shearer and Cody talked at the station, the operator in each of these theaters donned headphones and cranked his machine in unison with the ticking of the metronome, all metronomes being calibrated in harmony with the master mechanism at KFI. The master film was also shown at the broadcasting station in order to give the players their cues when to talk, pause, laugh and inflect the voice. The picture in itself was out and out exploitation. It showed Miss Shearer and Cody leaving their homes for KFI and their arrival. In the last portion, extreme close-ups of them speaking into the microphone were shown, revealing their lip movements for an extreme synchronization test.

The results were proclaimed in no uncertain fashion. The exploitation value is held to be so tremendous by M.-G.-M. that another performance will be staged tonight at Loew's State when the broadcasting will be done in full view of the audience, revealing exactly how it is done.

One important figure here expressed the opinion that the test was sufficient proof to him that radio films were a definite possibility and that one reel dramas with all action spoken might soon become a reality through the air.

Douglas Shearer, brother of Norma worked out the details and conducted the first experiment. The Los Angeles critics praised the effort highly.

Partial Success Here

Static Interferes with "Siegfried" Experiment, But Sponsors Claim

It's Feasible

The broadcasting from the Century, of the Wagnerian musical score for "Siegfried" to Briarcliff Lodge for a special showing of this production on Tuesday night may mark a new development.

This initial experiment is the first step in an attempt to develop a practical method for supplying theaters in small towns with special musical scores played by a high grade orchestra in a big city first-run. Joe Fliesler of Ufa sponsored the idea and he arranged with Major General J. G. Harbord, president of the Radio Corp. of America to broadcast the score through station WJY.

By way of contrast, the first half of the picture was shown without any musical accompaniment to the hundreds of guests at the Lodge. Alongside the screen stood the radio sets ready to tune in for the second half. Exhibitors will be interested to know the steps necessary to bring special orchestra music into their theater to synchronize with their screening of a feature.

The Century screening was showing at a speed of 85, and the music was synchronized to that speed. The Briarcliff operator ran his machine at the same speed. The radio operator tuned in a few minutes before the given time of the screening of the second half. As both pictures were being screened in perfect time together, the synchronizing over the radio became purely automatic. It is held to be easy to take up any variations in the music by increasing the speed of the projector.

In this experiment, results were not conclusive as the wrong broadcasting station was selected, Briarclifif Lodge being badly situated to pick up WJY. Static was present, and made necessary tuning out at frequent intervals. But there were stretches when the orchestration 35 miles a way came through perfectly, and in accurate synchronization.

The Ufa was satisfied with results obtained under these unfavorable conditions. It was said that it represented only the first step in a series of experiments. The opinion was expressed that ultimately it will be possible for example for Famous through the new Paramount theater to broadcast the musical score on all its features to every house in neighboring towns which happens to be playing the current feature.

The whole plan is held to be one of mechanical principles involving nothing but proper team work between a radio station, and the theaters which are to receive the synchronized orchestration. Any problems that may arise are said to be only those that confront any owner of a radio set.

Ordinarily the director of the orchestra synchronizes his music to the film. Here the process is just reversed -- the Film is synchronized to the music. The benefit to the exhibitor apparently is that it gives him the radio to appeal to the radio fans, as well as exceptional music of big city orchestras not ordinarily secured even over the radio.

The reaction of the audience at Briarcliff was very favorable, judging from comments heard after the performance.

Busy on Radio Movies

Writing in the Evening World yesterday, George R. Witte stated that Col. Edward H. R. Green, son of Hetty Green, is experimenting with the sending of motion pictures by wireless. He has conducted a number of expensive experiments but to date has kept the extent of his progress secret.

C. Francis Jenkins, Washington inventor, has likewise been working on the transmission of motion pictures through the air and only recently claimed to have perfected his invention. Even more recent than this is the word from Madison, Wis., of the success along same lines met by Douglas F. W. Coffey, a college student who has wirelessed motion pictures a distance of eight miles.

Meanwhile, in the Los Angeles area, fifteen theaters showed a special one-reeler. Stars Lew Cody and Norma Shearer promoted their film A Slave of Passion. They broadcast their dialogue from radio station KFI and synchronization with the film in the fifteen theaters appeared to work. The projectionist in each theater wore headphones and timed their cranking using a metronome. Norma's brother Douglas was involved in the experiment. He later got a credit as recording supervisor on nearly every M-G-M talkie for twenty years.

The showing of Siegfried at the Briarcliff Lodge did not go smoothly because the radios could not pick up the station without static. 

The item also mentions three experimenters who were working on mechanical television. 

Pasadena Post, 24-August-1925

"Radio-Cinema." That is a new one on me.

Long Beach Press-Telegram, 24-August-1925