The Four Survivors -- Cable Car Museum in San Francisco, California

by Darin Volpe

Title

The Four Survivors -- Cable Car Museum in San Francisco, California

Artist

Darin Volpe

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

The Hyde, California, Mason, and Powell cables are the last remaining of eleven cable car lines that once served the city of San Francisco.

The first cable car began public service in 1873. By April 17, 1906,fifty-three miles of track were laid throughout the city. All that changed the next day. The great San Francisco earthquake twisted tracks and destroyed the cable machinery. Cars were crushed by debris or burned up in the fires that raged on the following days. Faster and more efficient electric streetcars were already on their way to replacing the cable cars, but after the earthquake there was little reason to rebuild the cable car network. A few lines on the steeper hills were restored, but as streetcar technology improved, that advantage was soon lost.

Thanks to Friedel Klussmann, city buses in the 1940s didn't completely doom the cable car. When the mayor tried to kill the cable cars in 1947 in the name of progress, her efforts put a measure on the ballot requiring the city to keep the existing cable car system. It passed by a landslide, ensuring that San Francisco would retain it's iconic cable cars.

Uploaded

December 16th, 2022

Statistics

Viewed 550 Times  -  Last Visitor from Shenzhen, 30 - China on 06/08/2023 at 2:25 PM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags