Pictures of the Month 2017-

All the Pictures of the Month from 2017 on in one handy place.

• Pictures of the Month 2007-2016
• Pictures of the Month/Quarter 1997-2006

2023

Read a contemporary newspaper article about the last run. November 2023 Picture of the Month: The Oldest Cable Road (Source: Los Angeles Herald, Thursday, September 10, 1891)

Gripman and historian Val Lupiz and conductor Derrick Johnson pose with the One Spot. They operated the car that day. Please excuse the tilt; I think the photo captures an important moment. September 2023 Picture of the Month.

02-August-2023 is the 150th birthday of the cable car. On the day of the centennial, the front page of the San Francisco Examiner featured a photo of the parade of decorated cable cars. (Source: San Francisco Examiner, 1973-08-02, Page 1). August 2023 Picture of the month.

At the Kickoff Celebration, Big 19 wore a banner celebrating the Sesquicentennial. July, 2023 Picture of the Month.

"San Franciso's 100-Year-Old Folly." An item from the travel section of Newsday shows a drawing of a Clay Street Hill Railroad grip car and passenger dummy. (Source: Newsday (Suffolk Edition), 1973-07-29, Page 95). June, 2023 Picture of the month.

I loved Margot Patterson Doss' column San Francisco at Your Feet in the Sunday Chronicle-Examiner. I had two of her books and I took many of the walks that she described. For the anniversary of the cable cars, she offerred a walk from Golden Gate Park to Washington/Mason. Hills Brothers provided coffee for a nickel a cup. (Source: San Francisco Sunday Chronicle-Examiner, 1973-08-05, Sunday Punch Section Page 6). May, 2023 Picture of the Month.

A detail from the ad above notes that the Emporium was across Market Street from the Powell Street turntable (Source: San Francisco Examiner, 1973-08-01, Page 14). April, 2023 Picture of the Month.

Number 81, the last car to operate on Tacoma's single cable car line. (Source: ""Writing Finis To Tacoma Cable Car History," Tacoma News-Tribune, 08-April-1938, page 1). March 2023 Picture of the Month.

Read more about the Portland Cable Railway in an interesting article from The Street Railway Journal. This illustration showing two cars on the trestle's 20% grade, comes from the article. (Source: "Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, Astoria," The Street Railway Journal, May, 1893. Volume IX, Number 5.) February, 2023 Picture of the Month.

Mrs George Heibron rode on the first Madison Street cable car on 21-June-1891 and the last in 1940. Her husband was one of the founders of the Madison Street Cable Railway. (Source: Seattle Star, 15-April-1940, page 11). January, 2023 Picture of the Month.

2022

An accident which cost the foot of a Cal Cable passenger. (Source: San Francisco Examiner, 07-October-1922, page 13). December, 2022 Picture of the Month.

The voting machine entry for Proposition 10. No thumbnail. November, 2022 Picture of the Month.

"Plainclothes security men hang onto cable car and policeman blocks route as cable car whisks Prince Charles through Financial District." San Francisco's official greeter Cyril Magnin rides next to him. See an article about the visit. (Source: Examiner photo by Bob Bryant. San Francisco Examiner, 28-October-1977 All Rights Reserved.) October, 2022 Picture of the Month.

Read another 1897 article about the same collision between a Sutter Street cable car and a Fillmore Street electric car (from the San Francisco Call): Collision at Sutter and Fillmore. September, 2022 Picture of the Month.

Read another 1897 article about the same collision between a Sutter Street cable car and a Fillmore Street electric car: Collision at Sutter and Fillmore (from the San Francisco Examiner). August, 2022 Picture of the Month.

Read an 1897 article about a collision between a Sutter Street cable car and a Fillmore Street electric car: Collision at Sutter and Fillmore. July, 2022 Picture of the Month.

Read an 1897 article about a collision between a Powell Street cable car and an Ellis Street electric car: Collision at Ellis and Powell. June, 2022 Picture of the Month.

Read newspaper articles about the 1922 holdup of a California Street cable car at California and Jones: The Great Cable Car Robbery. May, 2022 Picture of the Month.

A necktie from gentlemen's store Cable Car Clothiers. I have a red one and a navy blue one. April, 2022 Picture of the Month.

Thank you notes from the Sixth Grade class at Good Shepherd School. Very well done. March, 2022 Picture of the Month.

524 at the Chicago Railroad Fair. From the 03-Aug-1949 San Francisco News: "Two thousand miles removed from its regular route, a San Francisco cable car is being operated by Western Pacific at the Chicago Railroad Fair. The car carries capacity loads up a steep incline to return to a turn-table the replica of the one at Market St., San Francisco" (Source: San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, AAC-8005). February, 2022 Picture of the Month.

The heavy Endres bottom grip used on Hoboken cable cars. Note the cable lifters before and after the grip. (Source: Image courtesy of Rail-Road Extra). January, 2022 Picture of the Month.

2021

Cable car crew members watch car 504 being decorated as Santa's sleigh. (source: Trolley Topics, January, 1952). December, 2021 Picture of the Month.

In later May, Val captured 25 labelled for the United Railroads of San Francisco. May, 2008. Photo by Val Lupiz. All rights reserved. November, 2021 Picture of the Month.

A map of the Glasgow District Subway, from "Glasgow District Subway", a December, 1898 Engineering Magazine article. October, 2021 Picture of the Month.

Ten-time grand champion Carl Payne gives an exhibition at the 2016 Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest. Defending champ Byron Cobb stands to the left. Photo by Joe Thompson. September, 2021 Picture of the Month.

"CARS ... OF THE DOUGLAS CABLE TRAMWAY", from "The Douglas Cable Tramway", an October 30, 1896 Engineering article. August, 2021 Picture of the Month.

"DIAGRAM OF GRADIENTS OF THE DOUGLAS CABLE TRAMWAY", from "The Douglas Cable Tramway", an October 23, 1896 Engineering article. July, 2021 Picture of the Month.

The Mount Auburn Cable Railway's powerhouse and carbarn seen in 2020, mere months before the roof collapsed. Google Maps Streetview Image updated June April. Copyright 2020 Google. June, 2021 Picture of the Month.

The Market Street Railway manufactured its own wire ropes at the Market and Valencia powerhouse using this scary-looking piece of machinery. (Source: San Francisco, the Birthplace of the Cable Railway, by Charles B Fairchild, The Street Railway Journal, June, 1893) May, 2021 Picture of the Month.

A 1974 United Airlines ticket jacket. (Source: SFO Museum Collection, Gift of Thomas G. Dragges, 2011.051.329) April, 2021 Picture of the Month.

An outbound car of the Sutro Railroad heads towards the terminal above Sutro Baths. The second Cliff House is visible in the background. (Source: OpenSFHistory / wnp4.1055). March, 2021 Picture of the Month.

The Baldwin Hotel, which stood at Powell and Market, about 1888. We see the Powell and Market turntable in the foreground. (Source: OpenSFHistory / wnp37.00580-L.jpg). February, 2021 Picture of the Month.

Read about the Main Power Station of the Chicago City Railway. (source: The Street Railway Journal, August, 1889). January, 2021 Picture of the Month.

2020

Ornaments at the Christmas in San Francisco store at Pier 39 Santa delivering presents on a single-ended cable car. August, 2017. December, 2020 Picture of the Month.

Let's Go Buster -- One window of Car 28 exhorts Giants rookie catcher Buster Posey. November, 2020 Picture of the Month.

A view from Commercial Street in London's Limehouse District showing a bridge built in 1840 for the London and Blackwall Railway. The bridge has been used since 1987 by trains of the Docklands Light Railway, an automated electric line. Google Maps Streetview Image updated Jun 2019. Copyright 2020 Google. October, 2020 Picture of the Month.

20 Brixton Road, the building in the view of Mornington Changing-Place with the arches, still stands today. In 1903, it served as a depot (car barn) for Brixton Hill trams. Later it was a substation for electric trams. Now it houses the Church of the Holy Redeemer, a mission for the area's Italian community. Photo by kk69521 at flickr, All Rights Reserved. September, 2020 Picture of the Month.

979 in its brand new paint job, June 1939. the first zip stripe shows off its stuff. Tomorrow we take a trip a little south. (Market Street Railway car 979 sits at the outer terminal of the 31-Balboa line, at 30th Avenue and Balboa Street. I grew up down the street, but the streetcars were long gone. -- JT) Charles Smallwood collection. August, 2020 Picture of the Month.

Steam engine and driving gear -- elevation. Source: Tramways: Their Construction and Working, Embracing a Comprehensive History by Daniel Kinnear Clark. July, 2020 Picture of the Month.

In Edinburgh's Waterloo Place, a short segment of cable tram track and slot is visible but nearly obscured. Google Maps Streetview Image updated Jul 2019. Copyright 2020 Google. June, 2020 Picture of the Month.

This elaborate shelter served Tramway customers in Crown Square. It now stands in Hall Leys Park. Google Maps Streetview Image updated May 2017. Copyright 2020 Google. May, 2020 Picture of the Month.

My daughter and son-in-law were packing up to move and found this patch, which they kindly gave to me. (No thumbnail) April, 2020 Picture of the Month.

This West Chicago Street Railroad powerhouse at Washington and Jefferson Streets still stands in altered condition. I don't know why that big blank wall is there in front. Google Maps Streetview Image updated August 2019. Copyright 2020 Google. March, 2020 Picture of the Month.

A North Chicago Street Railroad train at Clark Street and North Avenue. Note the two trailers. (Source: Chicago Public Library Digital Collection, Repository number RLVCC 1.1056. All rights reserved). February, 2020 Picture of the Month.

A three car (grip car and two trailers) Chicago City Railway Wabash/Cottage Grove Avenue train terminates at Jackson Park. (source: Chicago Tribune Historical Photographs; CTA). January, 2020 Picture of the Month.

2019

Big 19 lays over at California and Drumm. November 2019. December, 2019 Picture of the Month.

The former ticket office and waiting room of the Los Angeles and Mount Washington Railway. Google Maps Streetview Image updated March 2019. Copyright 2019 Google. November, 2019 Picture of the Month.

A 1918 view of the Court Flight in Los Angeles (Source: Security Pacific National Bank Photo Collection). October, 2019 Picture of the Month.

A view of the planned Angels Flight in Los Angeles (Source: Los Angeles Herald, March 29, 1901). September, 2019 Picture of the Month.

Former Sacramento/Clay Car 19, in storage at the Washington/Mason car barn. December 2003. Photo by Joe Thompson. August, 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. July, 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. June, 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. May, 2019 Picture of the Month.

A Starbucks gift card features a Powell Street cable car and the Golden Gate Bridge. April, 2019 Picture of the Month.

Scientific American Supplement described the Los Angeles Cable Railway in an article in its 10-Oct-1891 issue. March, 2019 Picture of the Month.

A train of the Temple Street Cable Railway in Los Angeles near Temple and Hoover Streets in 1889. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Archive (c) 2004, California Historical Society: TICOT/Pierce, CHS-7070. All rights reserved. February, 2019 Picture of the Month.

A detail from the real estate ad offering lots along the Second Street Cable Railway. (Source: Los Angeles Herald, 22-December-1885) January, 2019 Picture of the Month.

2018

In a detail from the image above, we see "conductress" Mary Ball and "Jimin-E," an Emporium employee on the back platform of car 504. (source: Trolley Topics, December, 1950). December, 2018 Picture of the Month.

At the corner of Fillmore and Broadway, Fillmore Hill counterbalance car 623 waits for passengers to transfer from a 22-Fillmore streetcar before it plunges down the hill. Photo circa 1940. (Source: OpenSFHistory / wnp37.04185.jpg). November, 2018 Picture of the Month.

The Chicago City Railway's Wabash/Cottage Grove Avenue cable trains carry crush loads of passengers to Chicago Day at the World's Columbian Exposition on 09-October-1893. (source: The Scientific American, January 27, 1894). October, 2018 Picture of the Month.

Crowds wait at the Haight and Stanyan Street entrance to Golden Gate Park. Omnibus Railroad and Cable Company car 6 from the Oak Street line stands at the terminal on Stanyan Street. The photo was taken between 1889 when the line opened and early 1894 when the car was renumbered. (Source: OpenSFHistory / wnp37.03316.jpg). September, 2018 Picture of the Month.

At the corner of Montgomery and Washington, Presidio and Ferries customers transferred from Washington/Jackson horse cars to cable trains that ran out Columbus to Union and then out Union to Steiner. Photo circa 1890. (Source: OpenSFHistory / wnp26.335.jpg). August, 2018 Picture of the Month.

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.

In November, 2011, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which controls the San Francisco Municipal Railway, put up some ads to celebrate Muni's distinctive features, like the cable cars, as part of Muni's upcoming centennial year. November, 2011. Photo by Joe Thompson. June, 2018 Picture of the Month.

Old Car 28 turns on the motorized turntable in the barn at Washington and Mason before being put away. A California Street car pulls in behind it. Car 28 would retire the next month. December 2003. Photo by Joe Thompson. May, 2018 Picture of the Month.

The first crossing between two Hallidie-type cable car lines, at Geary and Larkin Streets. A Geary Street Park and Ocean Railway train is on the left. Two trains of the Sutter Street Railway's Larkin Street line are on the tracks running towards the camera. The Larkin Street line was superior (did not have to drop the rope) because it was there first. (Source: OpenSFHistory / wnp27.02535.jpg). April, 2018 Picture of the Month.

A conductor and a gripman pose with a Sutter Street Railway train. I like the angle. (Source: OpenSFHistory / wnp27.4669.jpg). March, 2018 Picture of the Month.

Back in 2009, San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennessey contacted me. He was setting up a page on the Sheriff's Department website with an image of each sheriff who had served since the department was founded in 1850. One man he couldn't find was Henry L Davis, who served as sheriff from 1864-1867. I found not one but two woodcuts in digitized issues of the San Francisco Call. Henry L Davis was one of Andrew Smith Hallidie's partners in the Clay Street Hill Railroad. (Source: San Francisco Call, 26-April-1895). February, 2018 Picture of the Month.

Read an article about a 1902 collision between a Jones Street shuttle cable car and an Ellis Street electric car: FOUR PERSONS ARE SEVERELY INJURED IN DOUBLE COLLISION AND CARS OF ELLIS AND JONES STREET ARE DAMAGED. January, 2018 Picture of the Month.

2017

The front cover. December, 2017 Picture of the Month.

"PICKETERS dressed as a Gay Nineties dancer, fashion model, 'beatnik' and flapper board cable car to tell San Franciscans of McLendon's new good music station, KABL." (source: Sponsor, 20-June-1959). November, 2017 Picture of the Month.

A promo for the California Historical Radio Society's production of "The Cable Car Murder." October, 2017 Picture of the Month.

Boxoffice, 26-June-1961. September, 2017 Picture of the Month.

Edward J Lawless was in charge of operations of the new Kansas City Cable Railway. And he had a wonderful mustache. Read his article Personal Reminiscences of Early Cable Street Railway Work in Kansas City, MO. From the May, 1895 Street Railway Journal. August, 2017 Picture of the Month.

A detail view of the shallow conduit Terry Grip, from a Continental Cable Company ad. (source: Street Railway Journal Supplement, January, 1890). July, 2017 Picture of the Month.

Kim Wahler found the dash from a California Street Cable Railroad O'Farrell, Jones and Hyde cable car in a field north of San Francisco. Thank you to Kim for letting me use the photo. All rights reserved. June, 2017 Picture of the Month.

"Elevated Railway, Kansas City." A steam dummy locomotive pulls a two-car train into a station. (source: "Electricty in the Far West III -- Kansas City," Electricity, Vol III, No 16. November 2, 1892). May, 2017 Picture of the Month.

A San Francisco 49ers 2016 program celebrates the teams' 70th anniversary with a throwback image. This was for an exhibition game against the Denver Broncos. April, 2017 Picture of the Month.

The north end loop of the Grand Avenue Railway, showing the congested conditions in that area. (source: Street Railways: Their Construction, Operation and Maintenance by CB Fairchild). March, 2017 Picture of the Month.

Twelfth Street cable train (source: The Street Railway Situation in the Two Kansas Cities, Street Railway Journal, October, 1900.) February, 2017 Picture of the Month.

"Looking east on 9th from the Junction." I like the cop in the lower right-hand column. (source: Kansas City Public Library Special Collections. Barcode: 10007292. All rights reserved). January, 2017 Picture of the Month.