TRAMTASTIC! (Well, cable cars to be precise)

As well as the Golden Gate Bridge (mentioned in the previous post), if you asked somebody to name 3 things about San Francisco, I'd bet that another would be the cable cars. It amazes me that a transport system can still define a city over 100 years after it was last in major use, but the impact of this simple design, both locally and internationally, not to mention the fun of it, have made this a lasting and respected legacy. 

The manually operated cable car system was the world's first, and is now the world's last. A small section of it is still run today, largely for tourists, and generally involves being packed in like sardines because it's so popular. It's worth it though, and the cable car museum is brilliant for learning about the system and seeing the mechanisms in action. 

The idea for the cable cars came about in 1869 when Andrew Hallidie saw a horsedrawn streetcar slide backwards under its heavy load on one of San Francisco's steep hills, and kill 5 horses. He was horrified, and realised there could be a better way to travel the city. 

Hallidie moved to the U.S. from the U.K. in 1852, where his engineer father had patented the manufacture of wire rope. Hallidie had worked as a blacksmith in the U.K., studying engineering in his evenings. Since moving to California, Hallidie had already used his father's wire rope in designing the suspension bridge across Sacremento's American River (when he was 19! ), and for pulling ore cars out of the gold mines using a continuous loop system that operated much like a modern ski lift. 

In 1872 after patents and planning, he began work on building the world's 1st cable railway. It was termed by many as "Hallidie's folly". 

His system comprised laying wire rope in a loop in a slot in the street, and using a steam powered plant to run the wire round the loop, with cable cars gripping onto the moving wire. The grip is like a giant pair of pliers that reach into the slot in the ground and clamp onto the moving wire. When the grip has hold of the cable the car is pulled along with it, the tighter the grip, the quicker the car moves. (I say quicker, but this is only up to the maximum speed of the wire, which is a nice 9.5mph). The tricky thing is that you're travelling up and down steep hills, slowing down to take passengers on, and to stop for other traffic, and this means releasing the grip...but not so much that you become a runaway car down the slope you'll invariably be on. And to make it just that little bit more exciting, there are no markings. The Gripman has to do it all by 'feel'. I must admit I got a little bit anxious when our Gripman started doing this rather than using the lever... 

The line was opened for public use September 1st, 1873. It ran a total length of 2,791ft at 4mph, cost $85,150 to build, and had to terminate at a pair of turntables to allow the car to be turned around as it couldn't be revolved in one go because of the cable layout. Like much of engineering, it took time to hone the design! 

The wires are impressive, but maintenance intensive. They can last for anything from 75 to 250 days before they need to be replaced as they are under constant strain. It's reassuring to know as you're angled downhill, that there are alarms throughout the underground system that detect loose strands in the wire. These are then repaired or the entire wire replaced overnight when the cars aren't running. 

The first line was so successful that it inspired investment in other cable lines in the city as well as around the world, in various forms. One of these is a bit closer to home - the Glasgow subway. Constructed 1891-1896, and the 3rd oldest underground train system in the world after London and Budapest, this used a steam powered cable and grip system for many years until it became electric. 

In 18th April 1906, a terrible earthquake hit the city of San Francisco, and this was to end the golden era of the cable car. Although itself largely unharmed, it fell victim to the modern rebuilding of the city that saw electric trolley wires being erected, and services updated. 

Although this was to be the end of the main public use, the lines have been kept at the request of the city's inhabitats, and it's a fantastic experience to see how such a seemingly simple design made such a difference.