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

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

I just put the November 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: Non-existent Powell Street Car 30. Generated by AI (Microsoft Copilot).
2. The Thirtieth Anniversary of The Cable Car Home Page - November, 1996 - November, 2026
3. On the Why page: "30 Years in the Hole," a new article about where I have been and where I am going with the site.
4. Added News and Chronology items about gripman Val Lupiz being knighted by Emperor Norton
5. On the Motion Pictures Which Feature Cable Cars page: I added screen shots to the article about the film noir Woman on the Run

Ten years ago this month (November 2016):

1. Picture of the Month:
2. An 1894 photo of a Saint Paul City Railway grip and trailer cable train. (Source: Minneapolis Journal / 22-September-1935 and Minnesota Historical Society, Accession number YR1956.3944)
3. On the Other Cities page: A ten year update about the St Paul City Railway. This was my last new article about a Hallidie-type cable car line until I discover one I missed or the people in Dunedin open a new one.
4. On the Who page: A new item about Thomas Lowry, who founded the St Paul City Railway.
5. On the More Muni Photos page: Muni's 2026 Heritage Weekend
6. On the Motion Pictures Which Feature Cable Cars page: I added an article about the movie Yours, Mine and Ours
7. On the Cable Cars in Pennsylvania page: An update about the reopening of the Johnstown Inclined Plane

Twenty years ago this month (November 2006):

1. 15-Nov-2006
2. Added News item about the 25th Annual Senior Citizen's Holiday Luncheon, hosted by the people of the Cable Car Division

   01-Nov-2006

3. Picture of the Month:
4. A photo of Car 10 and a special tenth anniversary dash sign by Val Lupiz
5. Tenth Anniversary - November, 1996 - November, 2006
6. Added "Ten Years After" to the Why page -- what has changed since I started this site
7. Added a new page on Old-Time Radio Shows Which Feature Cable Cars, with an 07-Jul-1949 episode of Candy Matson and 09-January-1938 and 30-March-1947 episodes of The Jack Benny Show.
8. Added News and Bibliography items about repeated shutdowns and an obituary for mechanic Rick Fong

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.

25 years ago - 2001
Nov 11 - A fire broke out in a car of the Swiss Gletscherbahn Kaprun (Kaprun Glacier Railway) funicular as it passed through its tunnel. 3500 meters of the 3900-meter line run in the tunnel. 155 people died. The fire was started by an improperly ventilated electric heater in one of the operator cabs. The line was built in 1974

Coming in December 2026: 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-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/

Yes on Proposition H -- October 27, 2026

strongermuniforall.com

I don't live in The City anymore, but public transit in San Francisco is threatened by big deficits. If I did live in San Francisco, I would vote Yes on H.

From strongermuniforall.com:

"San Francisco’s public transit system is facing a once-in-a-generation funding crisis. After years of pandemic disruption and lost revenue, Muni is confronting a $307 million annual deficit—a shortfall so large it rivals the combined budgets of the city’s parks and library systems.

"City leaders are cutting waste to reduce the deficit by eliminating hundreds of unnecessary management positions and vacant positions. But without a stable, dedicated funding source, Muni service will be severely cut, resulting in up to 20 bus routes canceled and doubled wait times. These cuts will reverse our city’s economic recovery, increase traffic, and make daily life harder for working families.

"San Francisco already faces the third-worst traffic congestion of any U.S. city. Major Muni cuts would push more people into cars, worsening gridlock, commute times, and street safety for transit riders, motorists, and cyclists alike.

"The Stronger Muni for All campaign keeps Muni safe, reliable, and affordable. It ensures single family residences pay the least while larger homes and commercial buildings pay more."

New Cat #129 -- October 26, 2026

 

Halloween is coming.

I took the photo on 20-September-2026. I enhanced it with AI (ChatGPT).

Yes on Measure RTM -- October 25, 2026

regionaltransitmeasure.com

Please vote yes on Measure RTM (Regional Transit Measure). Public agencies transit in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara are threatening major service cuts because of impending deficits. The downturn in traffic because of Covid-19 and the end of Covid-19 subsidies have left them in a deep hole. 

I will vote yes on Measure RTM.

COVID-19 Booster and Flu Shot -- October 24, 2026

coverbrowser.com

We went to the Kaiser drive through in South San Francisco and received our Pfizer booster shots and pflu shots all in one arm. There was hardly anyone there.

Public Execution -- October 15, 2026

nokings.org

Our seemingly drunken Secretary of Defense, who is so insecure that he calls himself "secretary of war," has decided that the execution by firing squad of Malik Hassan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, will be live streamed. This is evil and stupid. We are better than that. It may inspire more terrorist acts.

Religious leaders are appalled. Even Republicans are objecting. 

Brooklyn Paper

Pacifica Classic Car Parade -- October 14, 2026

Pacifica had a classic car parade on Independence Day. This was my first time out of the house after leaving the hospital. I'm not good at identifying cars, but I think this is a 1951 Pontiac Chieftain. I love the color and the chrome stripe on the hood. When I was a kid, I liked spotting the hood ornaments on Pontiacs.

Yes on 40 -- October 13, 2026

 

Rogan List

Proposition 40 is far from perfect, but we can tell it is already working. Billionaires are running a steady stream of commercials opposed to it. They should pay taxes.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2026 -- October 12, 2026

mayorshengthao

My Italian-American mother would not like this, but I'm going to stop calling it Columbus Day and start calling it Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Sadly, she is no longer aware of what day it is.

Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day to everyone.

Here the City of Oakland and former Mayor Sheng Thao acknowledge that their city, like much of the Bay Area, is built "On Occupied Ohlone Land."

Trump Putin Treason -- October 11, 2026

Our traitorous president gave his master Putin a big birthday present. Petroleum prices have exploded, the price of Diesel in particular. So TR**mp will buy millions of gallons of Diesel fuel from Russia.

Trump is ignoring sanctions imposed to punish Russia for invading Ukraine.

Trump is giving money to the country that invaded Ukraine, which also supplies help to Iran in killing out service people. 

Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he had better not attack any more Russian refineries which produce Diesel. Ukraine went ahead and attacked more Russian refineries which produce Diesel. 

This is treason.

Halloween is Coming -- October 10, 2026

Halloween is coming. Cal Jumps Pumpkin Patch at Pedro Point. So far, this is the only one I have seen in Pacifica.

I took the photo on 07-October-2026.

PGE Power Outage -- October 9, 2026

Pacifica Patch

There is a power outage this afternoon in the north part of Pacifica. The group chat from the school says that power is out there. The expected time of resolution is 07:00pm. We'll see.

Margaret Hamilton RIP -- Otober 9, 2026

 

nasa/alamy

Computer scientist Margaret Hamilton has died. My condolences to her family. She led the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory team which created the onboard software for NASA's Apollo program and later for the Hubbell Space Telescope.

She spent many years trying to get more women into software engineering. That is a subject that I feel strongly about.

The famous photo shows her with the listings of all the Apollo 11 software. When I started at Wells Fargo, we had to make a listing of each COBOL program that we created or updated. I very rarely looked at them.

nasa/alamy

Halloween is Coming -- October 8, 2026

Halloween is coming. Halloween decorations in Pacifica. I took the photo on 07-October-2026.

Remember Their Names -- October 7, 2026

Linda Battle

The masked thugs of ICE continue to kill and injure people for no reason. This image goes back to July.

Paramount + Warner = Skydance?! -- October 6, 2026

ABC7 San Francisco

It looks as if Paramount has finally succeeded in taking over Warner Brothers. They have agreed to stay in California for some number of years and to spend some amount of money every year for a while. I worry about the Ellison family of oligarchs having control over so much of our media. They have already crippled CBS News. They seem to be working on Turner Classic Movies.

@officialdirtsheetradio

Pigeon Point Lighthouse -- October 5, 2026

On 19-September-2026, we visited the Pigeon Point Lighthouse for the first time since the scaffolding was removed. The only buildings that were accessible were the restrooms, the shop and the fog signal building. 

The original first order Fresnel lens is on display in the fog signal building. It weighs one ton.

Feast of Saint Francis, 2026 -- October 4, 2026

Today is the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. 800 years ago yesterday, he died.  

After 11am mass at Saint Peter's, we went home and picked up Tiger Lily so she could get blessed. There were more animals than I remember seeing before, and this year she was not the only cat. At least one cat was very unhappy.

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

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

I just put the October 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: An 1894 photo of a Saint Paul City Railway grip and trailer cable train. (Source: Minneapolis Journal / 22-September-1935 and Minnesota Historical Society, Accession number YR1956.3944)
2. On the Other Cities page: A ten year update about the St Paul City Railway. This was my last new article about a Hallidie-type cable car line until I discover one I missed or the people in Dunedin open a new one.
3. On the Who page: A new item about Thomas Lowry, who founded the St Paul City Railway.
4. On the More Muni Photos page: Muni's 2026 Heritage Weekend
5. On the Motion Pictures Which Feature Cable Cars page: I added an article about the movie Yours, Mine and Ours
6. On the Cable Cars in Pennsylvania page: An update about the reopening of the Johnstown Inclined Plane
7. On the Cable Car Lines in Ohio page: A ten year update about the Cincinnati Bell Connector, a modern streetcar line.

Ten years ago this month (October 2016):

"A Horse on Minneapolis." Saint Paul had cable cars and its twin city, Minneapolis, did not. The expression comes from dice games. (Source: Saint Paul Globe / 07-July-1889.)
1. On the Other Cities page: A new article about the St Paul City Railway. This will be my last new article about a Hallidie-type cable car line until I discover one I missed or the people in Dunedin open a new one.
2. On the Cable Car Lines in Ohio page: Thank to Peter Ehrlich, photos of the surviving power houses of Cincinnati's Mount Adams and Eden Park Railway and the Mount Auburn Cable Railway. Also a small item about the Cincinnati Bell Connector, a new streetcar line.
3. On the More Muni Photos page: Muni's 2016 Heritage Weekend On the Who page: Added a profile from the Street Railway Journal about Asa E Hovey, who designed and built the Sutter Street Railway in San Francisco and the State Street cable line, the first in the US outside of San Francisco, in Chicago
4. Added News item about a new book

Twenty years ago this month (October 2006):

1. Picture of the Month: A photo of Joe Lacey posing with Cal Cable Car 50 at California and Drumm, about 1971
2. Joe Lacey has been scanning items from his collection. Thanks to Joe for sharing them with this site:
   • On the More Muni Photos page: A new Muni People section, with a photo of Joe Lacey and one of him and a group of other Cable Car Division men in 1971, modelling new uniforms designed by Bill Blass
   • On the Market Street Cable Railway page, thanks to Emiliano Echevarria, a 1905 United Railroads floor plan of the McAllister Powerhouse
   • On the Chicago page: 21-October-2006 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of cable traction in Chicago, when the former Chicago City Railway's Wabash Avenue line and the North Chicago Clark and Lincoln lines converted to electric traction. Added a photo of a North Chicago cable train.
3. Rolled out a new Advanced Search page
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. "IN THE CONDUIT/Final Preperations for the Montague Street Line", which describes the line's first cable being threaded. I would like to know the name of the poor kid who had to crawl both ways through the blind conduit
5. Thanks to Walter Rice for a review of Woman on the Run, a movie which includes some nice scenes of San Francisco cable cars, electric streetcars, and trolley buses
6. Thanks to Walter Rice and Val Lupiz. A new Chronology item and roster updates on Of Cables and Grips: The Cable Cars of San Francisco
7. Added News and Bibliography items about a complete shutdown, an accident on California Street, and a drop in ridership because of the five dollar fare

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 November 2026: On the Why do I Maintain This Site? page: "Thirty Years in the Hole." The Cable Car Home Page turns 30 years old. That is pretty darn old for a website.

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-October-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/

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/