This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
Halfway between the tramway and the funicular, the emblematic cable cars remain one of the best ways to see San Francisco, all round 150 years after they climbed their first hills. Guided tour from car to car as part of our Summer Vacation series.
It’s hard to imagine Paris without the Eiffel Tower, London without Big Ben and San Francisco without cable cars. After nearly disappearing—more than once—from the cityscape, the ancient train cars vie with the Golden Gate Bridge for the coveted title of icons of the steep city. In a century and a half, they have faced competition from the classic tram, the great earthquake of 1906, the terrible fire that followed and, more recently, a pandemic that put them in the garage for 16 months.
Former gold digger and genius inventor, Andrew Hallidie inaugurated the first stretch of cable car on August 2, 1873. No less than 23 lines then criss-crossed the forty hills of San Francisco during the heyday of traction streetcars. This golden period ended in 1892, with the arrival of electric cousins, less expensive to operate. At the time of celebrating the 150e anniversary of cable carsthere are only three lines still in operation, including the California Street line, the oldest of them, opened in 1878.
Monuments in motion
Abandoned by the locals, the old trams pulled by cables buried under the asphalt are taken by storm by tourists. It must be said that San Francisco is one of the rare metropolises where you can travel aboard authentic museum pieces recognized since 1964 as national historical monuments. The Californian city, which was one of the first to open up to autonomous cars, is also the last in the world to circulate, seven days a week, a more than century-old manual system of towed vehicles.
“We still find in Europe or Asia funiculars that allow you to climb hills by being pulled by a cable. But there is no other place in the world where this traction system is still used in the middle of the street, with around twenty wagons circulating on the same line. It’s quite exceptional,” ex-journalist Rick Laubscher — Emmy Award winner for his reporting on the murder of activist Harvey Milk — who now runs Market Street Railway, tells me.
This non-profit organization responsible for keeping alive the precious legacy of Andrew Hallidie is preparing to celebrate the sesquicentenary of cable cars from San Francisco. To mark the occasion, old cars that have traveled on rails that have long since disappeared will be put back into circulation. In particular, you can board an old wooden wagon from the legendary O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde Streets line, which inspired a poem by Gelett Burgess in 1901. For the very first time, the carpentry workshop where the cable cars will also open its doors to the public, from July to November.
A permanent fight
The highlight of the festivities is scheduled for August 2, with a reenactment of Andrew Hallidie’s first journey at the controls of a cable-powered tram down Clay Street. The event will also be an opportunity to pay tribute to Dianne Feinstein. In the early 1980s, San Francisco’s first woman mayor fought hard and called on a few stars, including Mick Jagger and Tony Bennett, to raise the funds needed to save a network of cable cars then in poor condition.
“It’s easy to take for granted that San Francisco’s cable cars will run forever. But we still heard, during the pandemic, voices rising to call for their permanent closure. And we still had to fight bitterly to restart them and find the pre-pandemic schedules, ”recalls Rick Laubscher. ” THE cable cars are expensive to operate. But they allow you to experience San Francisco in a truly unique way. And it is essential, in our eyes, to continue to fight to make them turn. »
Stops not to be missed
This content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, relating to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.