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San Francisco Cable Railway, Washington & Mason Streets, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA

description

Summary

also CAL, 38-SANFRA-137-A- San Francisco Railway: Cable Car Powerhouse & Barn

Significance: The last operating cable railroad in the world. Representative of an important type of urban transportation system intermediary between horse drawn vehicles and electric streetcars.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-3

Survey number: HAER CA-12

Building/structure dates: 1906 Demolished

Building/structure dates: 1906-1908 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1911-1912 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1877-1892 Initial Construction

Streetcars or trolley or tram were once the chief mode of public transit in hundreds of cities and towns. From the 1820s to the 1880s urban transit in many cities began with horse-drawn omnibus lines. Horsecar lines ran wagons along rails set in a city so the rolling resistance of the vehicle is lowered and the speed increased. North America's first streetcar lines opened in 1832 from downtown New York City to Harlem by the New York and Harlem Railroad, in 1834 in New Orleans, and in 1849 in Toronto along the Williams Omnibus Bus Line. In many cities, mule-drawn or horse-drawn streetcars drawn by a single animal were known as "bobtail streetcars". By the mid-1880s, there were 415 street railway companies in the U.S. operating over 6,000 miles (9,700 km) of track and carrying 188 million passengers per year using animal-drawn cars. In the 1860s, streetcar operators started switched from animals to steam engines or cable power. San Francisco's cable car system continues to operate to this day. After 1893 electricity-powered cars dominate. Los Angeles built the largest electric tramway system in the world, which grew to over 1600 km of track. The rapid growth of streetcar systems led to the widespread ability of people to live outside of a city and commute into it for work on a daily basis. By 1895 almost 900 electric street railways and nearly 11,000 miles (18,000 km) of track had been built in the United States. The Great Depression of the 1930s led to the closure of many streetcar lines in North America. By the 1960s most North American streetcar lines were closed.

Nothing Found.

label_outline

Tags

cable railroads transportation industry railroad companies transportation engineering earthquakes fires mechanical engineering urban growth real estate development gold rushes transportation facilities cables turntables belt driven machinery railroad cars street railroad tracks motors machinery powerhouses golden gate cable railway san francisco cable railway mason mason streets san francisco san francisco county california energy generation w j adams marjorie baer john ballard george f beauregard antoine borel california street cable railroad company clay street hill railroad william eppelsheimer ferries and cliff house railway e s gardiner douglas l griffin andrew s hallidie charles t harvey historic american engineering record holmes henry h lynch thomas magee market street railway william h martin patrick w o bannon omnibus railroad and cable company henry root san francisco public utilities commission san fransicso municipal railway leland stanford james b stetson gustav sutro sutter street railroad traction railroad company united railroads of san francisco photo ultra high resolution high resolution library of congress
date_range

Date

1969 - 1980
person

Contributors

Historic American Engineering Record, creator
Hallidie, Andrew S
Harvey, Charles T
Beauregard, George F
Gardiner, E S
Eppelsheimer, William
San Fransicso Municipal Railway
Clay Street Hill Railroad
Sutter Street Railroad
Traction Railroad Company
United Railroads of San Francisco
California Street Cable Railroad Company
Stanford, Leland
Root, Henry
Borel, Antoine
Stetson, James B
Market Street Railway
Omnibus Railroad & Cable Company
Sutro, Gustav
Ferries & Cliff House Railway
Adams, W J
Martin, William H
Ballard, John
Magee, Thomas
Lynch, Henry H
Holmes
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, sponsor
Griffin, Douglas L, project manager
Baer, Marjorie, project manager
O'Bannon, Patrick W, field team project manager
collections

in collections

Street Cars

History of street cars: from horse to electric.
place

Location

San Francisco, California, United States ,  37.79585, -122.41165
create

Source

Library of Congress
link

Link

http://www.loc.gov/
copyright

Copyright info

No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html

label_outline Explore W J Adams, John Ballard, George F Beauregard

Topics

cable railroads transportation industry railroad companies transportation engineering earthquakes fires mechanical engineering urban growth real estate development gold rushes transportation facilities cables turntables belt driven machinery railroad cars street railroad tracks motors machinery powerhouses golden gate cable railway san francisco cable railway mason mason streets san francisco san francisco county california energy generation w j adams marjorie baer john ballard george f beauregard antoine borel california street cable railroad company clay street hill railroad william eppelsheimer ferries and cliff house railway e s gardiner douglas l griffin andrew s hallidie charles t harvey historic american engineering record holmes henry h lynch thomas magee market street railway william h martin patrick w o bannon omnibus railroad and cable company henry root san francisco public utilities commission san fransicso municipal railway leland stanford james b stetson gustav sutro sutter street railroad traction railroad company united railroads of san francisco photo ultra high resolution high resolution library of congress