Happy 140th Birthday, the California Street Cable Railroad

[mahatmakanejeeves]

#OnThisDay in 1878, the #California St. Cable Car Company began service to +11,000 riders (on its first day). #CA

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California Street Cable Railroad



California Street Cable Railroad car near Grant Avenue, 3 May 2006

The California Street Cable Railroad (Cal Cable) was a long-serving cable car operator in San Francisco, founded by Leland Stanford. The company's first line opened on California Street in 1878 and is the oldest cable car line still in operation.

The company remained independent until 1951, outlasting all the other commercial streetcar and cable car operators in the city. The city purchased and reopened the lines in 1952; the current cable car system is a hybrid made up of the California Street line, and the Hyde Street section of Cal Cable's O'Farrell, Jones & Hyde line, together with other lines already in municipal ownership.

Cable Cars 1954: A Huge Loss

March 29, 2016

Editor’s Note: This story is an updated version of one originally published in our quarterly member newsletter, Inside Track, in 2004, to mark the 50th anniversary of the cable car massacre of 1954. Inside Track always contains exclusive content you won’t find anywhere else (at least until much later). We depend on memberships to further our mission of Preserving Historic Transit in San Francisco, so please join Market Street Railway or donate. Thank you.
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Approaching Van Ness Avenue (the current California line terminal) from Franklin Street. Walt Vielbaum photo.

You can compare Hudsons, Fords, and Pontiacs by going back and forth across California Street. Nice!

[gopiscrap]

1. that's pretty cool