September 2026 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- September 1, 2026

I launched The Cable Car Home Page on AOL thirty years ago in November 1996.

I just put the September 2026 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: "Take the Cable Cars and Visit the Circus." Not actually a circus (Source: Grand Rapids Herald, 14-April-1888).
2. On the Other Cities page: A ten year update about the Valley City Street and Cable Railway in Grand Rapids, Michigan
3. On the How Do Cable Cars Work page: A dad joke about grips
4. On the Who page: Added a 1947 crossword puzzle about Mayor Roger Lapham
5. On the Motion Pictures Which Feature Cable Cars page: I added screen shots to the article about the movie Dark Passage
6. Added News items about an Oikos Yogurt Super Bowl Commercial and the 2026 Pokémon Worlds Championship.

Ten years ago this month (September 2016):

1. Picture of the Month: A Valley City Street and Cable Railway cable train on Lyon Street. (© Grand Rapids Public Library. All Rights Reserved. )
2. On the Other Cities page: A new article about Valley City Street and Cable Railway in Grand Rapids, Michigan
3. On the Who page: Added a profile from the Street Railway Journal about William Eppelsheimer, who designed the grip currently used by San Francisco cable cars
4. Added News items about Cal Cable 42 visiting Hyde and Beach and POMA 2000 being abandoned

Twenty years ago this month (September 2006):

1. Picture of the Month: Thanks to Wayne Miller, a photo of Market Street cable car 133 on its way to the scrapper in 1941
2. On the San Francisco page, a new page about Cable Car Businesses
3. Joe Lacey has been scanning items from his collection. Thanks to Joe for sharing them with this site:
   • On Walter Rice's A Photo Album of 1970s Cable Car Supporters: A certificate issued to those who attended the 100th anniversary celebration at Portsmouth Square in 1973. Another certificate issued to those who walked the Clay Street Hill route with Margot Patterson Doss on the following Sunday. A picnic invitation issued to the people of the Cable Car Division by Mayor Joe Alioto and the San Francisco Cable Car Centennial Committee
   • On Walter Rice and Val Lupiz's The Cable Car Lady & the Mayor: A certificate from the 1947 Citizen's Committee to Save the Cable Cars, signed by Mrs Friedel Klussmann. Also a new section on 1971's Proposition Q, with signs and a letter from the Cable Car Committee, which included Mrs Klussmann
   • On the Muni page: A 1967 want ad for cable car crew members
   • On the Cable Car Transfers, Tickets, Tokens and Signage, a new section with several of Joe's items
4. On the New York/New Jersey page: A newspaper article about the second cable car line in Brooklyn, New York, the Brooklyn Heights Railroad.
   • TO RUN IN MAY/Cable Cars Will Traverse Montague Street, which talks plans to build the road.
5. Added Bibliography item: obituary of gripman Elwood F Nestler

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 2026: On the Cable Car Lines in Other Cities page: A ten year update about the St Paul City Railway

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-2026)
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 30-June-2026)
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/

August 2026 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- August 3, 2026

I launched The Cable Car Home Page on AOL thirty years ago in November 1996.

I just put the August 2026 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: Power-House of Sioux City Cable Railway. (Source: Sioux City Journal / 01-January-1891.)
2. On the Other Cities page: A ten year update about the short-lived Sioux City Cable Railway with several contemporary newspaper items.
3. On the Motion Pictures Which Feature Cable Cars page: I added Bullitt
4. On the Horse Car Home Page: King Charles III visited the Isle of Mann and rode on a horse car.
5. Added News items about the Hyde Ride and two stoppages, an interview with gripman Val Lupiz and Cal Cable car 49 arriving at the Colfax Hotel. Also a Chronology item about Car 49

Ten years ago this month (August 2016):

1. Picture of the Month: A Sioux City Cable Railway grip car and two trailer train poses in front of the powerhouse. (Source: "Editorial Correspondence," The Street Railway Journal April, 1888.) On the Other Cities page: A new article about Sioux City Cable Railway On the Who page: Added a profile from the Street Railway Journal about William Phenix, who designed and built the Sioux City Cable Railway On the Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest page: Added two newspaper clippings about Albert E Ward, who won from 1957 through 1959 On the Horse Car Home Page: A reprieve through 2018 for the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway on the Isle of Man. Also News item. Added News item about a new campaign to revive Angels Flight

Twenty years ago this month (August 2006):

1. Picture of the Month: Car 24 was the only piece of California Street rolling stock to survive the earthquake and fire.
2. On the San Francisco in 1906 page, 1906 newspaper articles describing the return of the California Street cable cars:
   CABLE LINE TO OPEN NEXT WEEK/Car Service on California Street to Be Resumed Shortly (San Francisco Chronicle, Wednesday, August 8, 1906) FEW REPAIRS FOR CALIFORNIA LINE/Cable Cars to Operate This Week Over Uninjured Roadbeds (San Francisco Chronicle, Tuesday, August 14, 1906) FIRST CAR RUN ON CALIFORNIA STREET/Successful Test of the Cable Line Which Will Soon Be in Operation (San Francisco Chronicle, Thursday, August 16, 1906)
3. On the Decorated Cable Cars page: Cable cars in the 2006 San Francisco Carnaval Parade.
4. On the New York/New Jersey page: A newspaper article about the second cable car line in Brooklyn, New York, the Brooklyn Heights Railroad. DOWN THE HILL/A Cable Car Breaks Away on Montague Street, which talks about a runaway.
5. Added Bibliography items about the 2006 Bell Ringing contest. The stories have links to a podcast of the event.

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 September 2026: On the Cable Car Lines in Other Cities page: A ten year update about the Valley City Street and Cable Railway in Grand Rapids, Michigan

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-August-2026)
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 30-June-2026)
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/

Vallemar Station Closing -- July 16, 2026

The Ocean Shore Railroad has been gone since 1921, but Pacifica's Vallemar Station has housed many restaurants since then. The latest incarnation, since 1995, Ash's Vallemar Station, closed over the weekend. The food was often good, especially the fried chicken. In later days the service was spotty. I will miss the Ocean Shore photos and the dioramas.

I took the photo on 13-April-2013.

vallemarstation.com

vallemarstation.com

Several proposed closing dates came and went. 

Lindsey Graham -- July 15, 2026

theindy100 (piano.trib.al/theindy100)

By golly, he was right. It seemed like just minutes later before he became one of T***p's most servile lickspittles. 

Bastille Day, 2026 -- July 14, 2026

bbc.com

It was not a happy Bastille Day for the French.

STOP AI -- Protest and March -- July 13, 2026

stopai.info

AI has become a hot topic recently. I worry about the security. Many people are upset that data centers are spring up like mushrooms. Many people worry about privacy and personal freedom. STOP AI Organized a march today in San Francisco.

I don't think I mentioned that I took a series of classes on various AI implementations last summer. I found it interesting. I think I can write good prompts. I let my students know every week that they should not trust that AI's answers are correct.

Misión San Francisco de Asís 250 -- July 12, 2026

sfarch.org

On 29-Jume-2026, we marked the 250th anniversary of the celebration of the first mass Father Francisco Palóu at what became Misión San Francisco de Asís. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was the principal celebrant at Mission Dolores Basilica, with 15 other priests. Father Jack Clarke Robinson, OFM delivered the homily. I was in the hospital.