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- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Philadelphia Traction Company
- Denver - Denver Tramway Company
- Paris - Tramway Funiculaire de Belleville
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Philadelphia Traction Company
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| A Philadelphia Traction ticket, showing a cable train hauled by one of its unusual round-fronted, enclosed grip cars. August, 2000 Picture of the Month. |
line: Fairmount Park
opened: 07-Apr-1883. Columbia Avenue from Twenty-third Street to a loop at the east entrance of Fairmount Park.
revised: 26-Jan-1885. Columbia Avenue to Seventh Street. Seventh to Master Street.
revised: ??-Oct-1886. Seventh from Master to Locust Street. Locust to Ninth Street. Ninth Street to Spring Garden Street.
revised: 10-Jan-1888. Seventh to McKean Street. McKean to Ninth Street. Ninth Street to Locust.
powerhouse: Twenty-Third Street and Columbia.
powerhouse: Ninth and Sansom.
grip: Low and Grim (really) top grip
gauge: 5'2 1/2"
cars: grip and trailer trains
turntables: loops
crossings:
| Intersection | Company | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 7th/Market | PTC | inferior |
| 9th/Market | PTC | inferior |
| 7th/Spring Garden | PTC | ? |
line: Market Street
opened: 26-Jan-1885. Market Street from 20th Street to 41st Street to about Haverford Street.
opened: 30-Jun-1885. Market Street from 20th to City Hall. Around City Hall tp Front Street.
revised: 1889. Market Street from Front to Delaware.
powerhouse: 19th and Market.
grip: Low and Grim (really) top grip
gauge: 5'2 1/2"
cars: grip and trailer trains
turntables: loops
crossings:
| Intersection | Company | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 7th/Market | PTC | superior |
| 9th/Market | PTC | superior |
notes:
Philadelphia was the third US city with cable cars and the first to use non-trust technology. The system was not a success for several reasons. The weakly built conduit squeezed shut when the ground froze. The line was poorly designed, requiring four pull curves each direction to get around City Hall. The hatches for servicing pulleys were very thin and bent under traffic. Many design problems were made worse by the Low and Grim (really) top grip.
The cable system was promoted by Peter Widener, who liked the idea of cable traction, but did not like the idea of paying royalties to the Trust. Under his encouragement, on 18-Mar-1882, the directors of the Union Passenger Railway decided to test cable propulsion on their Columbia Avenue branch. The Union Passenger Railway became the Philadelphia Traction Company in 1882.
On 07-Apr-1883, cable operation began on Columbia Avenue, from Twenty-third Street to the east entrance of Fairmount Park. Unlike a typical San Francisco iron and brick or concrete conduit, the Columbia Avenue conduit was made entirely of wrought iron and resembled a slotted pipe. The test line did not work very well; it closed after a short time, but the company was happy enough to push on.
On 20-Jun-1884, the Philadelphia Traction Company leased its lines to the Union Passenger Company for nine hundred and ninety years.
Philadelphia Traction chose to rebuild the conduit on Columbia Avenue. On 26-Jan-1885, cable operations resumed on Columbia Avenue and began on Market Street. Cold weather caused the slot to squeeze shut on 18-Mar-1885.
The loops at Fairmount Park and Market and First were operated with separate cables powered by reduction gears. These failed periodically and stopped the system. The company eventually removed the reduction gears.
The Fairmount Park line crossed Market at Seventh (southbound) and Ninth (northbound). These crossings, at flat intersections, barely worked with a top grip, which required a great distance to drop and pick up the cable. The company used horses to help cars which could not coast across.
The company made improvements in 1889 when it replaced some of the light rail it had originally used and strengthened the conduits. The lines were converted to electricity over the course of 1895.
On 22-Jul-1895, the People's and Electric and Philadelphia Traction Companies consolidated and formed the Union Traction Company.
US History.org has some very interesting excerpts from Early Railroad Transportation by Rudolph J. Walther, which includes a detailed chronology of Philadelphia transit history.
The Penn State Trolley Cars tells the story of the one-mile experimental electric railway operated by Penn State's Electrical Engineering Department during the 1890's and early 1900's. The line was used to train electrical engineering students in electric railway technology. The rolling stock was probably an old cable car donated by the Philadelphia Traction Company. Faculty and students installed the electric motors. In 1901, the department was looking for a new car to replace the old one, which had probably deteriorated from exposure to the weather. In 1905, the United Railways and Electric Company of Baltimore donated another old cable car. There are no records that indicate that the experimental line ran past 1910. The records may have been destroyed in a fire in 1918.
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| Philadelphia Traction cable cars on the narrow balloon loop at the Camden Ferry, foot of Market. |
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Denver - Denver Tramway Company
notes: The Denver Tramway Company built five lines that opened between late 1888 and late 1889. The lines faced no major grades, and the company started to convert them to electric in 1893.
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Denver Tramway car 40, preserved at the Forney Transportation Museum. Photo courtesy of the Forney Transportation Museum. All rights reserved. March, 2006 Picture of the Month. |
Remarkably, one of the Denver Tramway's cable cars survives. Pamela Bestall, director of the Forney Transportation Museum, explains that the car was built in 1886 by the Laclede Car Company of Saint Louis, as horse car 271. It was converted to cable car 40 in 1888 or later. It was later renumbered 901. When the Denver Tramway converted from cable to electric operation, most of the cable cars were burned. This car survived and was used as a tool shed by the Denver Regional Transportation District. When a Mister Horn, a former RTD employee, heard that the car (tool shed) was going to be destroyed, he arranged to purchase it and moved it to his ranch near Conifer. After the museum purchased it, Bill Wright of Fort Collins, Colorado coordinated its extensive restoration.
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Paris - Tramway Funiculaire de Belleville
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"Élévation d'une voiture funiculaire" (View of a funicular car) from the article "Tramway Funiculaire De Belleville" by G De Burgraff, from Le Magasin Pittoresque, 1890. November, 2003 Picture of the Month. |
line: Belleville
opened: 25-Aug-1891. From La Place de la République on Rues du Faubourg-du-Temple and Belleville to the Church of Belleville
powerhouse: Top of la rue de Belleville
grip: single-jaw side
gauge: 1M
cars: closed grip and trailer trains
turntables: ?
crossings: N/A
notes: The Tramway Funiculaire de Belleville was designed and built by Fulgence Bienvenüe, who later built the Paris Metro. It was a popular line, carrying up to 5 million passengers a year.
There was one serious accident on the line. In 1906, a car ran away down the hill to the Place de la République, running at speeds up to 120 kmh. Over 20 people were injured.
The cable line ran until 18-Jul-1924, when it was replaced by a bus.
Read the article "Tramway Funiculaire De Belleville" by G De Burgraff, from Le Magasin Pittoresque, 1890.
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