The Cable Car Home Page by Joe Thompson

I want to use this site to share my knowledge about and interest in cable cars (also known as cable tramways). I want to keep it simple. I welcome input from any source, especially about cable cars in cities other than San Francisco. I hope to build this page up gradually as time permits. I welcome information, photographs, and suggestions.

Where Should I Go from Here? Visit the Map

Saturday, 11-May-2019 is Cliff Railway Day, 2019.

1996 -- The Cable Car Home Page - 20 Years -- 2016 November, 2016 was the 20th anniversary of this website. I wish I had written down the date I started it. Read "It Was 20 Years Ago Today," an article about where I have been and where I am going with the site.

2018 Muni Heritage Weekend The 2018 Muni Heritage Weekend was held on September 8 and 9.

Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest The 2018 Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest has been cancelled.

Tales From the Grip 10 Years 2003-2013: "Maybelle the Cable Car" I am proud to be the host of gripman Val Lupiz's column: Tales From the Grip. Special Update, December 2011: Maybelle the Cable Car.

San Francisco's Transportation Octopus, the Market Street Railway of 1893 San Francisco's Transportation Octopus, the Market Street Railway of 1893, a new book by Emiliano Echeverria, Michael Dolgushkin and Walter Rice, is now available as an Ebook on a DVD. I have written a small review.

San Francisco Cable Cars You will enjoy Strephon Taylor's new documentary San Francisco Cable Cars: "At over 140 years old, the San Francisco Cable Cars are a moving monument, a snapshot of nearly lost technology, a romance story, and the very heart of the City." Read my Review. Read about or see some other Cable Car Videos.

The Feel of the Rope Reflections on Life at the San Francisco Cable Car Division I can highly recommend Nick Tomizawa's dvd The Feel of the Rope: "a tribute to the men and women that carry on a San Francisco tradition that has continued for over 130 years. Through the words of employees past and present representing two generations of operators, managers, maintainers, trainers, and car builders, you will get an insider's look at what makes the cable cars the most unique transit system in the world." Read my Review. Read about or see some other Cable Car Videos.

Of Cables and Grips: The Cable Cars of San Francisco Second Edition by Robert Callwell & Walter E. Rice, Ph.D. The second edition of Of Cables and Grips: The Cable Cars of San Francisco -- not yet available in a print-and-paper book format -- is available on this web site.

Blue and red toy plastic cable cars. They have friction motors on the rear wheels and a bell in the open section. I received them for Christmas, 2018. See more collectible items on my Cable Car Kitsch page. See toys, magazine ads, and other new items.

Table of Contents

• What is a cable car? (updated 01-Sep-2005)
• How do cable cars work? (updated 01-Oct-2018)
• Where and when did cable cars operate? (updated 01-Jul-2016)
  • San Francisco (updated 01-Jul-2019)
  • Other California Cities
    • Los Angeles (updated 01-Mar-2019)
    • Oakland (updated 01-Jul-2019)
    • San Diego (updated 01-Jun-2019)
  • Chicago (updated 01-Oct-2018)
  • Kansas City (updated 01-Aug-2017)
  • Saint Louis (updated 01-Dec-2017)
  • New York/New Jersey (updated 01-Nov-2014)
    • Hoboken (updated 01-Oct-2018)
    • Newark (updated 01-Mar-2012)
    • Binghamton (updated 01-Apr-2012)
    • Brooklyn (updated 01-Jun-2012)
    • New York (updated 01-Nov-2014)
  • Ohio (updated 01-Jun-2017)
    • Cleveland (updated 01-Jun-2017)
    • Cincinnati (updated 01-Oct-2016)
  • Pennsylvania (updated 01-Mar-2014)
    • Philadelphia (updated 01-Aug-2010)
    • Pittsburgh (updated 01-Nov-2013)
  • District of Columbia and Baltimore (updated 01-Mar-2019)
    • Washington DC (updated 01-Aug-2014)
    • Baltimore (updated 01-Jun-2014)
  • Pacific Northwest (updated 01-Apr-2016)
    • Portland (updated 01-Feb-2013)
    • Seattle (updated 01-Jan-2013)
    • Tacoma (updated 01-Mar-2013)
    • Spokane (updated 01-Sep-2018)
    • Butte (updated 01-Jun-2013)
  • Denver (updated 01-Sep-2018)
  • Australia/New Zealand (updated 01-Jul-2018)
    • Melbourne (updated 01-Jul-2018)
    • Sydney (updated 01-Dec-2011)
    • Dunedin (updated 01-Sep-2018)
  • UK (updated 01-May-2019)
    • Birmingham (updated 01-Feb-2012)
    • Douglas, Isle of Man (updated 01-Mar-2015)
    • Edinburgh (new 01-Jun-2010)
    • Glasgow (updated 01-Dec-2013)
    • Liverpool (new 01-Oct-2001)
    • London (updated 01-May-2016)
    • Matlock, Derbyshire (new 01-May-2010)
  • Other Cities (updated 01-Sep-2016)
    • Sioux City, Iowa (new 01-Oct-2016)
    • Grand Rapids, Michigan (new 01-Sep-2016)
    • St Paul, Minnesota (new 01-Oct-2016)
    • Omaha, Nebraska (new 01-Oct-2014)
    • Providence, Rhode Island (updated 01-Aug-2018)
    • Lisbon (updated 01-Sep-2015)
    • Paris (new 01-Nov-2003)
• Who Was Important in the History of the Cable Car? (updated 01-Sep-2018)
• Why do I Maintain This Site? (updated 01-Jul-2017)
• News (updated 01-Feb-2019)
  • News Archive
• 2018 Anniversaries (updated 01-Jan-2018)
  • Anniversaries Archive
• Thanks/Links (updated 01-Sep-2018)
• What's New (updated every month)
  • What's New Archive
• Ten and Twenty Years Ago (updated every month)
  • Ten and Twenty Years Ago Archive
• San Francisco Cable Car Chronology by Walter Rice and friends (updated 01-Dec-2018)
• Miscellany (updated 01-Oct-2018)
• Site Map (updated 01-Dec-2017)
• Bibliography (updated 01-May-2016)
• Guest Book (new 01-Sep-1998)
• Picture of the Month (updated every month)
• Search This Site (updated 01-Oct-2006)
• Legal Stuff (modified 01-Jul-2001)

News

Ten-Day Bus Substitution for Cable Car Lines on Powell and Mason Starting May 2, 2019 - 01-May-2019

"SFMTA @sfmta_muni Apr 29

"Reminder: Starting this Thursday the Powell Mason Line will be down for 10 days for gearbox rehab work. Bus shuttles will run btwn Powell/Ellis & Taylor/Francisco. IB Hyde cars will switchback at Washington/Powell (the bus/cable car transfer point)."

Bus Shuttles Substitute Powell and Mason Cable Cars

Podcast: Not Your Century -- 1957: Failed the Bus Driver Test? Try Cable Cars - 24-April-2019

King Kaufman has published an interesting podcast, "Not Your Century -- 1957: Failed the Bus Driver Test? Try Cable Cars." He used some of my recordings of the bell ringing contests for background sounds.
Not Your Century -- 1957: Failed the Bus Driver Test? Try Cable Cars

San Francisco History Days, 2019 - 01-03-March-2019

The annual San Francisco History Days at the Old Mint returns on March 01-03, 2019.

Valentines Day in San Francisco, 2019 - 14-February-2019

Thank you to @SF Cable Car for sharing this cable car Valentine.

Fallen Tree on Hyde Street - 16-January-2019

There was a storm with high winds on this day.

SFMTA @sfmta_muni

SFMTA Retweeted SFMTA
UPDATE: FMTA Retweeted SFMTA
UPDATE: Delay on Hyde btwn Broadway and Pacific has cleared. Hyde Cable Car Line is resuming service.

SFMTA
Verified account

ATTN: Powell Hyde Cable Car Line is blocked btwn Broadway and Pacific by a downed tree.

SFMTA Cal Cable Replacement - 10-January-2019

SFMTA @sfmta_muni

SFMTA Retweeted SFMTA
UPDATE: Delay at California and Sansome has cleared. California Cable Car Line is resuming service.
SFMTA added,

SFMTA
Verified account

@sfmta_muni
ATTN: IB California Cable Car Line delayed at Sansome due to a mechanical issue.

SFMTA Cal Cable Replacement - 09-January-2019

SFMTA @sfmta_muni

SFMTA Retweeted SFMTA
ATTN: Due to electrical issue w/ cable motor, Powell-Mason CC Line svc will be provided by bus shuttles today (1/9).

SFMTA Cal Cable Replacement - 08-January-2019

SFMTA @sfmta_muni

SFMTA Retweeted SFMTA
ATTN: Cable Cars at the terminals have begun the process of pulling back into the barn.

SFMTA New Year's Eve Service - 31-December-2018

Bus Substitutions

Service on the F Market & Wharves historic streetcar line is provided by buses all day
Service on the Cable Cars is provided by buses after approximately 6 p.m.

SFMTA Season's Greetings - 21-December-2018

Holiday greetings and transit information from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).

The Big Event: Cable Car - 16-November-2018

San Francisco Chronicle reporters Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub, who earlier this year rode every Muni line in one day, interviewed Val Lupiz, Frank Zepeda and Jeremy Whiteman for a podcast.

Listen to it here.

East Cliff Railway in Bournemouth to Remain Closed - 16-November-2018

The Bournemouth Borough Council said it did not have the money to repair the East Cliff Lift, so it will remain closed. It was damaged by a landslide on 24-April-2016.

Cable Car Movie Shown on Salesforce Tower - 06-December-2018

The Sutter Street horse car is seen next to two outbound Market Street cable cars.

A newly restored version of the 1906 film "A Trip Down Market Street" was projected on the top floors of the new tallest building in San Francisco, the Salesforce Tower on 06- and 07-December-2018.

Cable Cars Pull In/Cable Car Museum Closed - 15-November-2018

The cable cars were ordered to puill in this afternoon because of unhealthy air quality caused by the Camp Fire in Butte County. The Cable Car Museum at Washington and Mason also closed today. The cable cars returned to service on Tuesday, November 20.

Cal Band Rides a Cable Car - 14-November-2018

The Cal Band was in San Francisco to promote the Big Game. They rode Blue and Gold Car 16.

Masks for Cable Car Crews - 11-November-2018

Because of the dangerous level of smoke from the tragic Camp Fire in Butte County, the SFMTA issued masks to cable car crews.

Powell/Mason Bus Substitution - 21-30-September-2018

Announcement from the SFMTA:

Mason Cable Car Bus Substitution: September 21-30, 2018

Friday, September 21, 2018 - 10:00pm to Sunday, September 30, 2018 - 2:00am
Neighborhoods Affected
North Beach Russian Hill
Route(s) Affected
Powell/Mason Cable Car
Stops Affected
Taylor St & Francisco St (#16646)
Service Affected
Transit
Weekend Traffic and Transit Advisory

As part of the Cable Car Gearbox Rehabilitation Project, the Powell/Mason Cable Car will be temporarily replaced by a free shuttle bus. The shuttle bus will serve stops north of Washington. Transfer between the Powell/Hyde line and the Mason Shuttle Bus at Washington & Powell. In North Beach, the first stop is a temporary stop at Taylor & Francisco.
Note
Though the Mason Shuttle Bus is free, regular Cable Car fares apply to the Powell/Hyde line.

"Collecting cable car fares an uphill struggle" - 16-September-2018

An article in today's San francisco Chronicle says that auditors who rode San Francisco cable cars were not asked to pay 25% of the time. The article did not mention that a conductor's primary responsibility is safety.

2018 Muni Heritage Weekend - 08/09-September-2018

Newly rebuilt Powell Street car 23 and California Street Car 56 ran for the first time in revenue service, and restored O'Farrell/Jones/Hyde car 43 made its first revenue trips sincwe 1954 on the outer part of the Hyde Street line during Muni's Annual Heritage Weekend.

Dunedin Cable Tram Revival - 22-August-2018

Thanks to Mac Gardner for letting me know about the website of the Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust and the High Street Cable Car Society, who are advancing a project with four steps to revive cable traction in Dunedin, New Zealand. Their website rolled out in August, 2018.

I am happy that the Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust and the High Street Cable Car Society are advancing in the quest to restore part of the Mornington Tramway.

Mornington Tramway restored trailer 111 being loaded on to a truck trailer for the trip to Dunedin (source: "Dunedin on the Up With Return of Historic Cable Cars," stuff.co.nz, 07-Jun-2018).

Providence Conduit Discovered - 24-July-2018

Thanks to Bob Vennerbeck for sharing this photo of a conduit once used by the Providence Cable Tramway and/or the counterbalance that replaced the line on College Hill. All rights reserved.

Bob Vennerbeck let me know that he was walking around the College Hill district of Providence, Rhode Island when he was hailed by a crew

"Yesterday, I was hailed by a crew working on replacement water mains under College Street at Benefit Street - 'You're the historian - you know anything about these brick foundations under the street?'

"It seems they had unearthed a parallel pair of low brick walls about 2' high, with a smooth concrete slab about 3' wide between them, forming a U-shaped channel under the length of the street. The tops of the walls were about 2' below modern grade, and after the backfill was removed, a series of metal 'chairs' were found embedded either side of the slab, with bits of heavily greased mounting bolts scattered nearby."

I agreed with Bob that this was the channel that the counterbalance's counterweight ran through or the cable conduit of the Providence Cable Tramway.

Thank you to Bob for letting me present this find.

2018 Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest Has Been Cancelled in Part - Updated 01-August-2018

The 2018 Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest has been cancelled in part because the people of the Cable Car Division are protesting the SFMTA cutting late night hours on the California Street line.

I asked the SFMTA about the contest and got this response:
Dear Mr. Thompson,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding a date for the next Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest. Unfortunately, we will not have a traditional bell ringing contest this year. Instead, we will be hosting some elements of the bell ringing event as part of Muni Heritage Weekend September 8-9. This event will activate the plaza area at Don Chee Way in front of the Market Street Railway Museum. We hope to return to the traditional event next year.

Sincerely,

Muni Customer Service

I asked the SFMTA and got this response:
Communications and Marketing

Dunedin Cable Tram Revival - 01-July-2018

Thanks to Mac Gardner, here is a future view of the temporary museum being built near the former terminal of Dunedin's Mornington Line. It will display two cable trams and a trailer. All rights reserved. July, 2018 Picture of the Month.

This is an update of an article originally published in 2016. Thank you to Mac Gardner for providing the information.

The Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust and the High Street Cable Car Society are advancing a project with four steps to revive cable traction in Dunedin, New Zealand, the first and last city outside of San Francisco to have Hallidie-type cable car lines.

Step one is to build an Interim Cable Car Building in Mornington Park. This temporary museum would house two Dunedin cable trams and a trailer, the trailer from the Mornington Tramway and Two trams from the Roslyn Tramway. One of the Roslyn trams will be restored onsite. There will be tracks that extend outside so people can view one of the trams and climb on it. The work started in October, 2017.

The remaining steps would build a 1.5km line on the High Street with a terminal and powerhouse in the park. Original cable trams would be used as rolling stock.

An article from the 31-October-2016 Otago Daily Times.

I wish great success to the Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust and the High Street Cable Car Society.

News Archive

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2019 Anniversaries

150 years ago - 1869
Jul 03 - Charles T Harvey tested his West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway in New York City
May 10 - The Last Spike ceremony celebrated the joining of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific rails at Promontory Point, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the US

125 years ago - 1894
Jan 06 - San Francisco's Market Street Railway assigned sixteen former Howard Street Omnibus cars to McAllister line for the Midwinter Fair.
Jan 27 - San Francisco's California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894 opened in Golden Gate Park.
Feb 11 - Manhattan's Third Avenue Railroad extended its Third Avenue line.
Feb 19 - San Francisco's Market Street Railway extended the Sacramento-Clay line from Walnut Street via Lake and 6th Avenue to D Street (Fulton) Golden Gate Park for the Midwinter Fair.
Feb 26 - San Francisco's Market Street Railway extended the Powell-Jackson and Ferries-Jackson lines to Golden Gate Park via the extended Sacramento-Clay line on Sundays and holidays for the Midwinter Fair.
May 16 - The Cable Tramway Company of Omaha converted to electric traction.
Jul 02 - San Francisco granted Adolph Sutro a franchise for the Sutro Railroad, which would connect Central Avenue with the Cliff House area, breaking the Market Street Railway's monopoly.
Jul 04 - San Francisco's California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894 closed with San Francisco Day.
Jul 04 - San Francisco's Market Street Railway stopped extending the Powell-Jackson and Ferries-Jackson lines to Golden Gate Park via the extended Sacramento-Clay line on Sundays and hoidays.
Sep 19 - A cable tramway begam running between King and Ocean Streets, Sydney, Australia.
Dec 04 - A Southern Pacific local train crossing Broadway struck a cable car of the Oakland Cable Railway, killing 22 year old teacher Miss Mae Coates.
Dec 06 - Manhattan's Metropolitan Street Railway opened its Columbus Avenue line.

New York Giants record: 88-44, 2nd place. Manager: Monte Ward.

100 years ago - 1919
Jan 09 - The Los Angeles and Mount Washington Railway, a funicular, was abandoned.
Jul 01 - The Edinburgh Corporation took over operation of the city's tramways and soon began to convert the cable lines to electric traction.

New York Giants record: 71-53, 2nd place. Manager: John McGraw.

75 years ago - 1944
Aug 15 - In San Francisco, Paramount premiered the movie I Love a Solder, starring Paulette Goddard and Sonny Tufts. The movie had largely been shot in the city

New York Giants record: 55-98, 8th place. Manager: Mel Ott.

50 years ago - 1969
Mar 22 - Lynda Johnson, President Lyndon Baines Johnson's daughter, was ordered off a cable car because she was eating an ice cream cone.
May 18 - Angels Flight in Los Angeles closed. It returned at a different location in 1996.

San Francisco Giants record: 88-74, 2nd place. Manager: Herman Franks.

25 years ago - 1994
Sep 15 - New Powell car No. 4 was placed into revenue service after a public welcoming ceremony at the Powell and Market turntable.

San Francisco Giants record: 103-59, 2nd place. Manager: Dusty Baker. Winning 100 and finishing second made for a frustrating year.

Anniversaries Archive

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What's New

• 01-July-2019
  • Picture of the Month: Car 16 on Powell at Sutter. It was built by Carter Brothers to support Sacramento/Clay service to the Midwinter Fair. September 2001. Photo by Joe Thompson.
  • On the Other California Cities page: A ten and twenty year update on Henry Casebolt's experimental overhead cable car line
  • Rolled out the new San Francisco 1894, the Midwinter Fair page
  • Archived April 2019 What's New and January-June 2018 news items
• 01-June-2019
  • Picture of the Month: San Diego Cable Railway car "Las Peñasquitas" poses in front of the powerhouse. Photograph used with the kind permission of the San Diego Historical Society.
  • On the Other California Cities page: A ten and twenty year update on the ill-fated San Diego Cable Railway
  • Archived March 2019 What's New.
• 01-May-2019
  • Picture of the Month: The former Consolidated Piedmont powerhouse at 27th and Harrison Streets in Oakland is now a Whole Paycheck Market. Google Maps Streetview Image updated February 2019. Copyright 2019 Google.
  • On the Other California Cities page: A ten and twenty year update on Oakland's Consolidated Piedmont Cable Company, including an overhead shot of the surviving powerhouse
  • On the UK page: Added the Babbacombe Cliff Railway in Torquay and a banner for Cliff Railway Day, 2019 in the Cliff Lifts article.
  • On the Horse Car Home Page: The Douglas Bay Horse Tramway issues a visitor and journey Guide for 2019.
  • Added News item about a podcast which used sounds from my videos of the Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest
  • Archived February 2019 What's New.

What's New Archive

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Ten and Twenty Years Ago

Ten Years Ago

• 01-July-2009
  • Picture of the Month: Henry Casebolt's patent drawing for his overhead cable car line
  • On the Other California Cities page: More about the Henry Casebolt's experimental overhead cable car line, including his patent and some contemporary newspaper articles, and the earlier patent issued to General Beauregard
  • On the Who page: Henry Casebolt's obituary from the Daily Alta California. Also added a woodcut of Casebolt from his obituary.
  • On the More Muni Photos page: Thanks to Val Lupiz, photos of new Powell Street car 15 on its first test run. Also photos and a video I took two days after it went into service
  • On the Roster page: New car 15
  • Added video of grand master Carol Payne giving an exhibition at the 47th Annual Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest. Also added photos
  • On the Cable Car Video page:
    • Powell Street car 15 at Powell and Market, two days after it made its debut
    • F Line views of Melbourne W-2 tram 496 in February and May this year
  • Added News and Bibliography items about the 47th Annual Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest. Also about an accident and an explosion.
  • Added information about new Muni fare changes.
  • Archived April 2009 What's New and January-June 2008 news items
• 09-June-2009
  • Added results and videos of the 47th Annual Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest
• 01-June-2009
  • Picture of the Month: An engraving showing a San Diego Cable Railway combination car, Las Penasquitas. From Charles B Fairchild's book Street Railways: Their Construction, Operation and Maintenance/A Practical Handbook for Street Railway Men
  • On the Other California Cities page: More about the San Diego Cable Railway, including new images and Light Cable Road Construction, a paper written by Frank Van Vleck, who designed and built the line
  • On the More Muni Photos page: Thanks to Val Lupiz, photos of new Powell Street car 15 with a fresh coat of yellow paint.
  • June, 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the return of the cable cars after the 1982-1984 reconstruction. Added a new banner pointing to San Francisco: Cable Cars Are Here to Stay by Val Lupiz and Walter Rice
  • On the Cable Car Video page:
    • Powell Street car 3 signed as a training car
    • Powell Street car 5 inbound on Powell from Pine to Bush
    • Powell Street car 25, in its bright red paint, passes the Saint Francis Hotel
    • An F Line view of 1007 in the livery of Philadelphia's Red Arrow Lines
    • An F Line view of 1818, the green Milan car
  • Added News and Bibliography items about the upcoming 47th Annual Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest. Also about the 25th anniversary of the return and an obituary for Levit Chavez, who worked in the Cable Car Division.
  • Archived March 2009 What's New
• 01-May-2009
  • Picture of the Month: An engraving showing a Consolidated Piedmont cable car as it pauses on the gravity loop at the entrance to Blair Park.
  • On the Other California Cities page: More about the Consolidated Piedmont Cable Company, including advertisements and contemporary newspaper articles
    • The Gravity Loop -- a series of articles about a unique feature of the Consolidated Piedmont.
    • First Cable Arrives (San Francisco Morning Call, Friday, May 09, 1890). "The two flat-cars that arrived with the wire cable for the Piedmont cable road are ... low set heavy structures, weighing nineteen tons each, supported by two double trucks, a total of eight pairs of wheels on each, which is twice the number on an ordinary flat..."
    • Consolidated Piedmont Nearly Ready for Testing (San Francisco Morning Call, Sunday, May 25, 1890). "The experimental car for trial on the Consolidated Oakland and Piedmont Cable Company's line ... will shortly be tried on the section between Piedmont and the cable-house before the contract for the rolling stock is let."
    • Consolidated Piedmont Real Estate News (San Francisco Morning Call, Monday, January 05, 1891). "The cable system has greatly increased the value of suburban property, bringing land on the outskirts nearer to the center of the city, and opening up tracts which formerly seemed inaccessible."
    • Consolidated Piedmont Real Estate News/2 (San Francisco Morning Call, Thursday, January 29, 1891). "E. A. Heron is offering many inducements in the way of pretty home sites in Linda Vista, on the Piedmont cable road."
    • New Transit Lines in Oakland (San Francisco Morning Call, Sunday, March 29, 1891). "It will do as much for its section as the Piedmont cable has done for Piedmont."
    • Consolidated Piedmont Receivership (San Francisco Morning Call, Thursday, November 02, 1893). "Oaklanders were treated to a genuine surprise yesterday when the rumor was spread about the streets that the big concern known as the Piedmont Cable Company was in the hands of a receiver."
    • Consolidated Piedmont Hard Feelings (San Francisco Morning Call, Tuesday, December 11, 1894). "Mr. Bishop scowled at Mr. Garthwaite and Mr. Garthwaite scowled at Mr. Bishop, and the matter was ended."
    • Consolidated Piedmont Hard Feelings/2 (San Francisco Morning Call, Saturday, January 05, 1895). "... Ira Bishop will be compelled to appease the wrath of Mrs. Phoebe Blair, who is after him with a sharp stick."
    • Baseball Field Unprofitable (San Francisco Morning Call, Saturday, January 05, 1895). "Yesterday the Piedmont Railway Company began demolishing this fence and taking down the grand stand ... the grounds do not pay."
    • Consolidated Piedmont Foreclosed (San Francisco Morning Call, Sunday, January 13, 1895). "... a considerable barrier of prior liens is piling up between the bondholders and their security ..."
    • Consolidated Piedmont Sold at Auction (San Francisco Morning Call, Wednesday, March 20, 1895). "Ever since the road began going down hill..." (lol - JT)
    • Consolidated Piedmont Assessment (San Francisco Morning Call, Thursday, May 16, 1895). "Mr. Dalton says he will not accept these figures and will place a valuation of his own on the road."
    • Consolidated Piedmont Sale Contested (San Francisco Morning Call, Wednesday, July 10, 1895). "... holders of ten bonds of the Consolidated Piedmont Cable Company, have sued the stockholders of that company ... They allege that when the sale of the road was made on the 19th day of March, 1895, all of the proceeds went for the payment of the receiver's indebtedness, leaving no part for the payment of the bonds."
    • Consolidated Piedmont -- Bitter Feelings (San Francisco Morning Call, Wednesday, August 14, 1895). "Mr. Garthwaite accused Mr. Bishop of peculiar tricks with reference to a franchise which had been obtained from the Council for a few blocks down Washington street."
    • Consolidated Piedmont -- Revenge of Mrs Blair (San Francisco Morning Call, Sunday, May 17, 1903). "It is said C. R. Bishop and J. R. Spring have made good their proportion of the amount, which aggregated $2268 20."
    • Consolidated Piedmont -- Attempted Suicide of Receiver Bishop (New-York Tribune, Sunday, November 06, 1904). "..while suffering from depression, due to ill health."
    • Consolidated Piedmont -- Death of Receiver Bishop (San Francisco Morning Call, Thursday, February 23, 1905). "He was at one time proprietor of the Piedmont Baths in Oakland, and was manager of the Oakland street railway system at the time of its sale to the Oakland Transit Company."
    • I have some more articles that I will add in future months.
  • Also on the Other California Cities page: Two more contemporary newspaper articles about the Oakland Cable Railway:
    • Cable Car Nearly Struck by Steam Train -- The 1894 collision was not the first time a train came too close to a cable car.
    • New Cable (San Francisco Morning Call, Sunday, April 12, 1891). "The putting in of the new cable of tbe Oakland Cable Company was not completed until about noon yesterday."
  • Added News and Bibliography items about a threatened boycott of the bell ringing contest
  • Archived February 2009 What's New

Twenty Years Ago

• 01-Jul-1999
  • Picture of the Month: Henry Casebolt's overhead cable line.
  • Roll out Casebolt overhead cable line on the Other California Cities page
  • Added magazine articles about New Orleans trade and St Paul history to bibliography
  • Added thanks for links to Mike Irlam, Tad Lane Creations, the Australian Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Society, and the Blickpunkt Straßenbahn.
  • Change url on NMRA directory link
  • Archive news stories and Jan-Jun 1999 What's New
• 01-Jun-1999
  • Picture of the Month: Converted San Diego Cable Railway car.
  • Roll out San Diego Cable Railway on the Other California Cities page
  • Add link to new French site about cable cars. The third site on the web.
  • Add Scott Ostler column about turntable problems to the bibliography
• 01-May-1999
  • Picture of the Month: California Street cable car in Muni colors.
  • Roll out Consolidated Piedmont Cable Railway on the Other California Cities page
  • Add More California Street Pictures page
  • Add item about California Street reopening to the news

Ten and Twenty Years Ago Archive

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