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Powell/Hyde and Powell/Mason cars meet by the Washington/Mason powerhouse and car barn. Photograph courtesy of the Artcom Museum Tour. Jun, 1998 Picture of the Month. |
line: Powell/Hyde
opened: 07-Apr-1957. Powell St from Market to Jackson, Jackson from Powell to Hyde. Hyde to Beach St, to off-street turntable. Southbound, Hyde to Washington, Washington to Powell.
powerhouse: Washington & Mason.
grip: Eppelsheimer bottom grip, lever-operated
gauge: 3'6"
cars: single-ended California cars.
turntables: single track.
crossings:
| Intersection | Company | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Powell/California | CSC | inferior |
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Powell/Mason (Route 59) dash sign. Note the hinge in the middle, allowing crews to switch from this sign to the Powell/Hyde sign. April 2002. Photo by Joe Thompson. |
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Powell/Hyde (Current route 60) dash sign. April 2002. Photo by Joe Thompson. |
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Old Powell/Mason dash sign. Note that this sign is not hinged like the current one. Instead, this sign hung on two pegs. From the collection of Val Lupiz. |
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Washington/Jackson (Former route 60) dash sign, on the other side of the Powell/Mason sign above. From the collection of Val Lupiz. |
notes: The San Francisco Municipal Railway was the first significant muncipal transit company in the United States, opening its first electric streetcar line, the A Geary, on 29-Dec-1912.
Muni operated no cable cars until it took over the Market Street Railway in 1944, when it inherited the former Ferries & Cliff House Powell/Mason and Washington/Jackson lines.
Muni sent several cable cars out of San Francisco to help promote the city of San Franciso. In September, 1948, car 514 went to the California State Fair. In 1949, car 524 went to the Chicago Railroad Fair. In 1950, car 524 went to Los Angeles to ride down Broadway as part of a parade for the Shriners convention.
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Car 514 at the San Francisco exhibit in the California State Fair, Sacramento. Walt Vielbaum photo. All rights reserved. |
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Car 524 at the Shriners Parade in Los Angles, 1949. Ray Long photo. All rights reserved. |
In 1952, Muni acquired the California Street Cable Railroad's California Street, O'Farrell/Jones/Hyde, and Jones Street shuttle lines. Muni killed the shuttle on 06-Feb-1954 and the O/J/H on 15-May-1954.
Muni decided to close the Cal Cable barn at California & Hyde and consolidate all operations at Washington & Mason. Muni converted the California Street line to use the Eppelsheimer bottom grip between 29-Dec-1956 and 27-Dec-1957. Muni combined the Washington/Jackson and O'Farrell/Jones/Hyde lines into the Powell/Hyde line, which opened on 07-Apr-1957.
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Val Lupiz created this image to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Powell/Hyde line. 507 was the first car to run on the new line on 07-Apr-1957. All rights reserved. April, 2007 Picture of the Month. |
The crossing at Powell and California is controlled by a manned signal tower. Read Emiliano J Echeverria's article about the tower.
Muni assigned route numbers to its cable car lines:
- 59 - Powell/Mason (read a 1974 Powell/Mason schedule - warning LARGE images)
- 60 - Washington/Jackson (until 01-Sep-1956)
- 60 - Powell/Hyde (since 07-Apr-1957)
- 61 - California Street
- 62 - O'Farrell/Jones/Hyde
- 63 - Jones Street Shuttle
San Francisco's cable cars were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, as entry #66000233.
According to Muni's 2003 draft Short Range Transit Plan, the three cable car lines carried 21,500 passengers in Fiscal Year 2002. The plan contains many interesting items, including some of Muni's plans for the near future: Installing Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) Systems on the cable cars; Installing an improved Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) system in the cable car barn; Renovating the Cable Car Museum; Upgrading the terminal at Bay and Taylor by installing a new ticket booth, operator convenience station, and operator restroom; Addressing the "downturn in Cable Car performance" by improving physical training of operators, assigning dedicated inspectors, doing better strength screening of applicants, and adjusting schedules. It also lists the goals of the FY1998-FY2009 Cable Car Infrastructure Rehabilitation Program, which include: Overhauling all four turntables, and redesigning and replacing the outdoors ones in 2008-2009; Implementing more signal preemption; Replacing the computer system in the control room; Replacing track and slot rail in many locations. Thanks to Matt Lee for pointing out the report.
Roster of active SF Cable Cars
NextBus offers live maps of Muni's cable car lines:
Powell/Mason (line 59)
Powell/Hyde (line 60)
California (line 61)
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The Friends of the Cable Car Museum, the organization that runs the museum at Washington/Mason has a brand new web site. Thanks to them for including a link. |
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Joe Lacey preserved this 1967 help wanted ad for cable car crew members. $3.22 an hour. Joe Lacey collection. All rights reserved. |
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Chinese-language sign at Powell and Jackson. January 2002. Photo by Joe Thompson. |
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Powell/Hyde car One climbing the Hyde Street Hill in San Francisco. Photograph courtesy of the Artcom Museum Tour. Dec, 1997 Picture of the Month. |
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Cable Car Division service truck parked on Mason, across from the barn. Read more about Wreckers and Service Trucks. March 2002. Photo by Joe Thompson. |
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Car 21 waits inside the Washington and Mason barn exit on Washington. March 2002. Photo by Joe Thompson. |
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Car 25 pauses as the conductor lifts the lever that releases the lock which is supposed to prevent cars from rolling out the door unattended. March 2002. Photo by Joe Thompson. |
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Mason Street entrance. March 2002. Photo by Joe Thompson. |
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Warning sign at the Jackson Street entrance to the Washington/Mason yard. March 2002. Photo by Joe Thompson. June, 2002 Picture of the Month. |
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Washington and Mason barn Jackson Street yard entrance. March 2002. Photo by Joe Thompson. |
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A bus covers the inner portion of the Powell Street lines during an outage. January 2002. Photo by Joe Thompson. |
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Car 2 turns from Washington to the outbound tracks on Powell during a service interruption on the inner part of the Powell Street lines. January 2002. Photo by Joe Thompson. |
California Street Cable Railroad/ More California Street Pictures
Ferries & Cliff House Railway/ More Ferries and Cliff House Pictures
Go to SF cable car lines in detail.
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