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The MUNI Cable Car in San Francisco
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The Cable Car
Basically, there are three cable car routes in operation, and it helps to know their respective destinations. At Powell and Market streets, there is a cable car turntable which serves as the beginning stop for two lines, the Powell-Mason and Powell- Hyde lines. The Powell-Mason line begins at the Powell/ Market turntable, and the line runs from there up and over Nob Hill and down to Bay Street at Fisherman's Wharf. The Powell-Hyde line also begins at the Powell Market turntable and runs over Nob and Russian hills before ending at Aquatic Park near Ghiradelli Square. Both these lines end near Fisherman's Wharf, but at different areas, and the routes are significantly different.
Fares:Adult & Youth (ages 5-17): $3.00 $5.00 each way.
Cablecar Gallery, 1996, 2004 and 2005
Cable Car Route Map
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Cable Car Ticket
In 1869 the engineer Andrew Hallidie saw five horses die on the slopes of Nob Hill, killed by the very heavy load they were pulling. This prompted the engineer to work on a system of transport that would be better suited to the city's topography. He devised an underground cable, propelled by a powerful moter, capable of drawing a vehicle along a track at a constant speed. The cable car, an unusual rack-tramway, was born in 1873, and by 1889 there were eight lines cutting across the city with 112 miles of track. Only three lines have survived and, provide transport for thousands of travelers every day.
THE CABLE The cable, made up of 114 strands of twisted steel, runs in a groove between the rails, 27 inches deep. To connect the cable to the car, Hallidie invented a grip device which is operated by the driver with a lever : the car will not move forward unless the grip is clamped to the cable; once the grip has been put into action, it pulls the car at a constant speed of around 9 miles per hour.
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CABLE CAR BARN
This building houses the machinery that operates the three cables of the Mason, Hyde and California Street lines, which are all "continuous loops". At the end of the route the cable winds round a large wheel, which allows the car to be brought back to where it started.
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A HISTORIC METHOD OF TRANSPORT Badly damaged in the 1906 earthquake, the cable car was only partially restored. In 1947, the city government tried to replace it with trolleys and buses, which were more economical. But San Franciscans managed to save three of the eight lines and funded their complete restoration between 1981 and 1984.
Facilities inside the car
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TWO MODELS OF CAR The majority of lines operated a one-way car (right). At the end of the route the driver had to turn the car around on a turntable to go back in the opposite direction. Two-way cars were fitted with a driver's cab at either end. To go back the way it had come, the cable car switched points, and the drivers just chaged cab.
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ANDREW S. HALLIDIE The son of London cable manufacturer, Hallidie arrived in California in 1853. Before setting up his North Beach factory, he constructed tramways for the mines in the Sierra Nevada. In 1873 he sank his whole fortune in the construction if the first line, on Clay Street. The following year, the success of this brand new method of transport was guaranteed in Sanfrancisco, when eight lines were built.
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