Cable Car Lines in the Pacific Northwest

by Joe Thompson

• Portland Operating Companies

  Portland Heights was a natural destination for cable traction.

  • Portland Cable Railway

• Seattle Operating Companies

  Because of the steep hills East of the business district, Seattle kept its cable car lines longer than any American city except San Francisco.

  • Seattle City Railway
  • Front Street Cable Railway
  • South Seattle Cable Railway
  • Madison Street Cable Railway
  • West Seattle Cable Railway
  • Union Trunk Line

• Spokane Operating Companies

  Spokane's two lines were fatally injured by an economic downturn.

  • Spokane Cable Railway

• Tacoma Operating Companies

  Tacoma had one of the most logical layouts in the industry.

  • Tacoma Railway and Motor Company

• Butte Operating Companies

  Butte's single line used a shallow conduit grip.

  • Butte City Street Railroad

• Pacific Northwest Miscellany
  • Seattle Counterbalances
  • Steve's Gay '90s (Tacoma)
  • The Skagit Incline
  • Motor Ferry Kalakala (external link to my ferry web site)

The great Portland Heights trestle.

line: Portland Heights

opened: 22-Feb-1890. Front and Alder via Alder to 5th, 5th to Jefferson, Jefferson to 18th, 18th to Spring. Trestle on 18th from Mill to Spring.

revised: ??-Jun-1890. After a runaway, turntable moved from top of trestle around a curve so cars could take the rope on flat ground.

revised: 09-Aug-1890. 5th from Alder to Hoyt.

revised: ??-???-1891. 5th from Hoyt to Irving (Union Station). Alder Street from Front to 5th became a shuttle.

revised: 03-Nov-1891. 18th and Spring via Jefferson to Washington (now City) Park

revised: 01-May-1896. Cut back to the trestle.

powerhouse: SW 18th and Mill

grip: Bottom grip.

gauge: 3'6"

cars: single-ended combination cars. Double-ended combination car on Alder Street shuttle.

turntables: ?

crossings:

line: King's Heights

opened: 08-Apr-1892. 5th and Irving on 5th to Jefferson. Jefferson to Canyon Road. Canyon to approximately Kingston Avenue to somewhere around about Fairview Boulevard.

cut back: ??-???-1892. Cut back to somewhere on Canyon Road when city flooded part of Washington Park for a reservoir.

notes: Portland's cable cars were intended to connect the low-lying downtown with growing housing developments on Portland Heights. The Portland Cable Railway was organized on 24-Jun-1887 to replace an omnibus line.

Pacific Cable's J M Thompson built the line. Harsh winter weather caused frequent slot closures and required the development of a grip with an extra-narrow shank. The line's steep trestle became a local landmark.

The company's cars were built in California by the Stockton Combine, Harvester & Agricultural Works. They closely resembled the cars of San Francisco's Ferries & Cliff House Railway.

Through a series of mergers, the cable system came under the ownership of the Portland Railway Company. Portland Railway electrified the flat portions of the line, keeping cable traction only on the trestle. Cable cars continued to climb the trestle, connecting with electric cars, until 1904, when Portland Railway Company opened the famous Council Crest electric streetcar line along Vista avenue.

The web site of Tri-Met, the Portland Oregon region's public transit agency, has a page about the Portland Cable Railway.

Council Crest car 503 ran in San Francisco as part of the 1983 Vintage Trolley Festival. It was exciting to ride down Market Street in a car without air brakes.

Open car.

Portland Cable Railway closed car. February, 2003 Picture of the Month.

Portland cable car converted to electric.

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Yesler Way grip car preserved at the Smithsonian Institution. Used with permission of the Smithsonian Institution. Jan, 1998 Picture of the Month.

line: Yesler Way

opened: 27-Sep-1888. One-way Yesler East to Lake Washington, Jackson West to 2nd Avenue, to Yesler. High trestles down on Yesler & up on Jackson to the lake.

revised: 1890. Two ways on Yesler trestle, Rainer Avenue to Jackson. Inspired by serious accident on cheaply built Jackson trestle on 17-Aug-1890.

revised: 1899-1900. Two ways on Yesler.

revised: 1920. Cut back from Occidental to Prefontaine Place.

powerhouse: Near Lake Washington, about Power Avenue.

powerhouse: At Lake Washington.

grip: Single-jaw side grip.

gauge: 3'6"

cars: single-ended dummy & trailer trains.

Later, double-end California cars. Enclosed during the teens.

turntables: ?

crossings:

notes:

Yesler Way was Seattle's most famous cable car line. It connected Pioneer Square, near the Puget Sound waterfront, with high-lying residential districts and the Leschi recreational area near Lake Washington. Ferries operated from Leschi to Medina and Bellevue.

When the line was built, the residential and recreational areas did not exist and the area was almost completely uninhabited. All of the Seattle cable railways were promoted by real estate developers. Here is a list of the people who were involved in some or all of them:

Name	SCR	FSCR	MSCR	WSCR	UTL	Comments
Ewing, Thomas	-	-	-	Y	-	Developer
Furth, Jacob	-	Y	Y	-	-	Developer
Grayson, George W	-	-	-	Y	-	Developer
Haines, J C	Y	Y	Y	-	-	Developer
Hunt, L S J	Y	-	-	-	-	Developer
King, Homer	-	-	-	Y	-	Developer
Leary, John	Y	-	-	-	-	Developer
Low, Josiah O	Y	-	-	-	-	Developer
McGilvra, John J	-	-	Y	-	-	Developer
McMicken, Maurice	-	Y	Y	-	-	Developer
Metcalfe, J B	Y	-	-	-	-	Developer
Mitten, A P	-	Y	Y	-	-	Developer
Moore, A S	Y	-	-	-	-	Developer
Moore, George A	Y	-	-	-	-	Developer
Rochester, Junius	Y	-	-	-	-	Developer
Sander, Fred	Y	-	-	-	Y	Developer
Stewart, A B	-	Y	Y	-	-	Developer
Struve, H G	-	-	Y	Y	-	Developer
Thompson, J M	Y	Y	Y	Y	-	Engineer/Promoter

The line was promoted by the Seattle Construction Company, with the help of the patent trust's Pacific Cable Construction Company. It was designed and built by Pacific Cable's J M Thompson. Because the company was insufficiently capitalized, the Construction Company operated it until the Lake Washington Cable Railroad purchased it in 1889. Fred Sander, the new owner, developed the recreational facilities at Leschi Park. In 1890, Sander sold it to new owners who created the Seattle City Railway. The Seattle City Railway went bankrupt in 1893 and was sold in foreclosure to the Seattle Electric Company, which had acquired most of the city's transit lines, in 1901. The city of Seattle took over the whole system in 1919, forming the Seattle Municipal Street Railway.

The cable line was converted on 10-Aug-1940 when buses that could handle the grades became available and a New Deal Reconstruction Finance Corporation loan made the funds available to convert all of Seattle's cable and electric streetcar lines.

An iron pergola that served as the Yesler Way and James Street lines' terminal survives in Pioneer Square, near the famous Tlingit Indian Totem Pole. The pergola was designed by Julian Everett and built in 1909. It also served as the entrance to and elaborate underground restroom. The pergola marks the site of Henry Yesler's saw mill, the birthplace of Seattle. The Pergola was seriously damaged by a t ruck on 15-Jan-2001. It had to be completely rebuilt and was rededicated on 17-Aug-2002.

The city purchased Leschi Park in 1909.

The cable was steam powered until 03-Jun-1912, when the powerhouse was converted to use electric motors.

Looking up Second Avenue at Yesler. An enclosed Yesler Way car crosses in the foreground. The cars were enclosed during the teens.

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line: Front Street

opened: 13-Mar-1889. Continental Street (1st Avenue) from King to Front. Front to Pike, Pike to 2nd Avenue, 2nd to Poplar (2nd Street), High to Temperence (Queen Anne), to Farragut (Highland). Return, Pine from 2nd to Front.

powerhouse: Front & Poplar.

grip: Single-jaw side grip.

gauge: 4'8 1/2"

cars: single-ended dummy & trailer trains.

turntables: At terminii

crossings:

Intersection	Company	Status
Front/Madison	MSCRY	inferior

notes:

The Front Street Cable Railway was Seattle's only north-south line. It ran near the waterfront and up residential Queen Anne Hill. It was designed by J M Thompson of Pacific Cable.

The line was poorly built. The conduit of the northern part of the line was built of wood. The line suffered from the consequences of its cheap construction and from competition from a parallel electric line on Second Avenue. The line was taken over by the Seattle Electric Company in 1900. Most of the cable operation was converted to electric on 04-Sep-1900.

The only major gradient, on Queen Anne Hill, was replaced by a counterbalance to assist electric streetcars between Mercer and Galer. The cars were counterbalanced by a 16-ton weight which ran on rails in the conduit. Apparently, a half block of conduit at the bottom was filled with sawdust to cushion the weight in case it broke loose. The counterbalance was replaced by trolley buses on 02-Sep-1940.

To persuade voters to pass a measure to replace electric and cable streetcars with trolley buses, the Seattle Municipal Street Railway staged a race between a trackless trolley running under temporary wires and a streetcar on the counterbalance. "...(T)he modern trackless coach embarrassed the Queen Anne streetcar last night making the 2,150 foot hill in less than half the time required by the streetcar" (source: Seattle Times, 06-Mar-1937). Seattle voters, none the less, rejected the measure.

The Seattle Post-Intellegencer has an item about the counterbalance on its Neighbors web site.

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Looking up James Street from Pioneer Square. Yesler Way is to the right. The iron pergola that served as the terminal of the Union Trunk and Yesler Way lines is in the foreground.

line: James Street

opened: 19-Mar-1891. James Street from 2nd Avenue to Broadway.

powerhouse: James & Broadway.

grip: Single-jaw side grip.

gauge: 3'6"

cars: Double-end single truck grip cars.

Later, double-end California cars. Enclosed during the teens.

turntables: none.

crossings:

notes:

This line was built as part of an integrated cable/electric system. The cable line ran up and down the steep James Street hill, connecting cross-town electric lines with the Pioneer Square area. The company had planned to have the cable cars pull the electrics up and down the hill, but the electric cars were too heavy.

The barn at James & Broadway was the only one in Seattle that served both cable and electric cars.

Seattle Electric bought the company in 1900.

The line was abandoned on 17-Feb-1940. Unlike the other Seattle cable lines, it was not replaced by buses.

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line: West Seattle

opened: 06-Sep-1890. Loop from ferry slip up Cascade Avenue (California Way) to Olympic Avenue (44th Street) to Vashon Avenue (45th Street) to Grant Street (Atlantic Avenue) to turntable near powerhouse. Down Grand (Ferry Avenue) back to ferry slip.

powerhouse: Spruce Street (Walker) and Grand Avenue.

grip: Single-jaw side grip.

gauge: 3'6"

cars: single-ended combination cars.

turntables: One, near the powerhouse, to switch from the up line to the down line.

crossings:

notes:

This line and the ferry it connected with were intended to support the real estate developments of the West Seattle Land and Improvement Company. The line, which connected the ferry slip with homes on top of the bluff, only operated to connect with the ferries. The cable was stopped between sailings. The company never did well. The development, like many others in the country, was hurt by the Depression of 1893.

J M Thompson of Pacific Cable designed the line.

The cable line was stopped on 31-Aug-1897. The ferry ran until 1923.

West Seattle incorporated in 1902. The city purchased the abandoned cable line and converted it to a municipally owned electric trolley line. This was one of the first municipal transit companies in the United States. The company was later sold to Seattle Electric.

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I had to throw this in because of its name. It operated trailers hauled by steam dummies over trestles from First Avenue South and King Street to somewhere near Kinnear's Island. The ubiquitous J M Thompson was involved in the promotion.

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A Madison Street single-ended combination car approaches a waiting passenger at the corner of Madison Street and Second Avenue.

The same corner as the previous image. August, 2003 Picture of the Month.

An old postcard shows why cable cars survived for many years on Madison Street.

line: Madison Street

opened: 21-Jun-1891. Madison Street from waterfront to Madison Park Resort at Lake Washington.

revised: 05-Oct-1910. Cut back to 21st Avenue.

revised: 31-Aug-1911. Cut back to Broadway.

revised: 25-May-1913. Restored to 14th Avenue.

powerhouse: Madison between 22nd & 23rd Avenues.

grip: Single-jaw side grip.

gauge: 3'6"

cars: single-ended California cars.

Later, original cars were rebuilt as double-end California cars. Enclosed during the teens.

turntables: at termini.

crossings:

Intersection	Company	Status
Front/Madison	FSCRY	superior

notes:

Madison Street was Seattle's steepest cable line. It originally connected downtown with residential areas on high ground and recreational Madison Park. It hauled freight along with passengers. Its dedicated freight car was labelled "Lake Washington Package Freight and Express".

J M Thompson of Pacific Cable designed the line.

One of the company's promoters, John J. McGilvra, built a park at Lake Washington. Amenitites included a boathouse, a bandstand, a beer hall, piers, a lakeside promenade, a paddle wheeled excursion steamer, baseball and football fields, a camping area, and a greenhouse for exotic plants. The cable line did excellent business on Sundays.

After the line was acquired by the Seattle Electric Company on 08-Sep-1900, that company cut the cable line back to cover the steep western end. Like the Union Trunk Line on James Street, it connected electric cross-town lines with downtown.

The line was replaced by buses on 14-Apr-1940.

Seattle's American Savings Bank at Second Avenue and Madison Street. January, 2003 Picture of the Month.

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North Spokane grip car carrying a typical crush load. Courtesy of Don Galt.

line: North

opened: 21-Sep-1889. From the original Northern Pacific depot, across the Monroe Street Bridge on Monroe, to Boone Avenue, across Natatorium Park, to Twickenham.

powerhouse: under north end of Monroe Street Bridge

grip: double jaw side grip (probably)

gauge: 3'0"

cars: grip and trailer trains

turntables: crossovers?

crossings:

A South Spokane California-type combination car, which ran out to the Cable Railway Addition. Courtesy of Don Galt. May, 2003 Picture of the Month.

line: South.

opened: 31-Oct-1889. South end of Northern Pacific tracks on Monroe, to 14th Avenue, 14th to Division Street (some sources say Bernard), and the Cable Addition subdivision, "a point out in the woods beyond" (Spokane Register).

powerhouse: under north end of Monroe Street Bridge

powerhouse (later): south of bridge

grip: double jaw side grip (probably)

gauge: 3'0"

cars: double-end California

turntables: crossovers

crossings:

notes: The Spokane Cable Railway was not a success. It was intended to promote real estate subdivisions which failed in the economic catastrophe of the early 1890's. The original engineer was J M Thompson of Pacific Cable. The company was promoted by J D Sherwood.

The company built single track lines, north and south of the Monroe Street Bridge, across the Spokane River. The cables for each line were powered in a unique fashion: direct drive hydro. The original powerhouse north of the bridge used water diverted from the falls to drive turbines, which drove the cables through reduction gearing. Cables from the powerhouse served both the north and the south lines. Later, a separate powerhouse south of the bridge was built for the south line. The lightly travelled lines used a very thin cable, only 7/8".

The north line used grip and trailer sets. It crossed the Spokane River on a bridge at Natatorium Park to serve a subdivision called Twickenham. Natatorium Park was originally called Twickenham Park. The Twickenham area is now called Fort George Wright. Fort George Wright was an active Army base from 1899 to 1958. Hilton reports that this line crossed the tracks of Great Northern predecessor Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern twice near Boone and Monroe. Grade crossings with mainline railroads were difficult for cable lines because the conduit had to be made strong enough to support heavy locomotives. The line may have been routed to avoid the crossings.

There was no physical connection across the Northern Pacific tracks between the north and south lines. The south line ran from south of the Northern Pacific tracks, down Monroe Street, up some severe hills, and along 14th Avenue to the Cable Addition development. This line used California-type cars. Growth of Cable Addition was stunted by the economic downturn of the early 1890s, providing little traffic for the line.

The Monroe Street Bridge burned on 23-Jul-1890, damaging the powerhouse under its north end. The north line used horsecars until the powerhouse was repaired enough to reopen it using cable traction in October, 1890. The line was converted to electricity in early 1891.

Don Galt was kind enough to provide me with a selection from Spokane Falls and Its Exposition, a book about the 1890 Northwestern Industrial Exposition. "The Spokane Cable Railway Company operates three miles of single track cable road, and has in course of construction one and a half miles more of double track, and also has a franchise for an extension of three miles to the city limits. This company had, in the early days of Spokane Falls' existence, taken the initiative step toward facilitating the street traffic in this city; but owing to unforeseen misfortunes, the work has been much retarded. During a late fire the Monroe-street Bridge, which they crossed, was destroyed, and they have been since compelled to accommodate the public in horsecars." The double track mentioned above didn't happen.

The Spokane Street Railroad Company took over the Spokane Cable Railway Company, and Twickenham Park, in 1892. The Street Railroad developed Twickenham Park into a Coney Island-style amusement park.

The company built a new powerhouse south of the bridge to drive both the south cable and to generate power for its electric lines. The south line was abandoned in July, 1894. Electric lines followed easier routes south.

The current Monroe Street Bridge opened on 23-Nov-1911.

Spokane's Route 4 bus line carried a destination of "CABLE ADD"(ition) until the early 1990's. The 4 was replaced by the 43. Thanks to Dean Ogle for the information.

Monroe Street Bridge and the Lower Falls, which provided power for the Spokane Cable Railway.

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An early view of Tacoma open grip car 6. March, 2003 Picture of the Month.

line: Loop. A Street from 13th to 11th. Up 11th to K. K to 13th. Down 13th to A.

opened: 04-Aug-1891

powerhouse: 13th and A Streets

grip: Root single jaw side

gauge: 3'6"

cars: Grip and trailer trains. Later closed PAYE.

turntables: N/A

crossings:

Looking up 11th Street about 1908. A cable car crosses the path of one of the connecting electric cars.

notes:

The only US cities to have cable cars after Tacoma were Seattle and San Francisco. Tacoma's one simple line lasted so long because it solved a problem. Like Seattle's Union Trunk Line, the Tacoma Railway and Motor Company's cable line, one of the last to be built in the United States, was meant to be part of an integrated system, connecting electric lines on different levels with the downtown area. Hilton said "If one were to choose the single cable line which was most justified by geographic and economic considerations, the Tacoma installation would be the probable choice."

The Tacoma Railway and Motor Company had no choice but cable traction to reach the higher areas above downtown. The line was busy and successful from the start. The original Stockton grip cars were eventually replaced with metal PAYE cars.

Cable traction could not be replaced until sufficiently powerful buses allowed the replacement of the whole railway system. The last Tacoma cable car ran on 08-Apr-1938. A fire gutted the former powerhouse on 16-Feb-1950. Tacoma Transit tore it down the following year.

Some years after cable cars disappeared from Tacoma, Steve's Gay '90s, a restaurant on South Tacoma Way, acquired a motorized former San Francisco cable car and opened its Cable Car Room, which depicted cable cars from several cities, but not Tacoma.

Looking up 11th Street.

Looking down 11th Street.

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A cable car in Butte. Note the condition of the street. June, 2003 Picture of the Month.

line: Main Street. Main from Galena in Butte to South (Daly Street) in Walkerville.

opened: 12-Apr-1889.

powerhouse: In Centerville.

grip: Vogel and Whalen bottom grip

gauge: 3'6" (probably)

cars: grip and dummy

turntables: At Galena Street. Crossover in Walkerville (?)

crossings:

notes:

Butte was a town built on mineral wealth, first on gold, then on silver, then, most spectacularly, on copper. Butte was also built on the side of a mountain, with the adjoining bedroom communities of Centerville and Walkerville. The population of Butte increased from 4,000 in 1882 to 22,000 1885. All of this created a great demand for public transit.

The Butte City Street Railroad started operating horsecars in 1887, but soon switched to steam dummies. The dummy locomotives could not handle the severe grades, so the company looked for an inexpensive version of cable traction. Low cost was important in installing a cable car line in a city as small as Butte.

The Butte City Street Railroad tried the new Vogel and Whelan non-trust, shallow conduit system. The cable railway trust successfully sued the company for patent infringement. Despite this, the Vogel and Whelan system was a success, requiring a conduit only 10 inches deep. The success of the Vogel and Whelan system in Butte led the Kansas City Cable Railway to convert to its use, and the West Chicago Street Railroad to use it when it converted two of its lines to cable traction.

The company wanted to build a double track line, and the city wanted a single track. The Vogel and Whelan bottom grip could not function with a single track, two-way line, so the company built a gauntlet track with turnouts and two slots. The Vogel and Whelan grip's unique feature of dropping the cable at each stop and easily picking it up again allowed cars going downhill to drop the cable and take the turnouts.

Cable service started on 12-April-1889. The system worked well, but the Butte Consolidated Street Railway, which had taken over the line in 1891, made several efforts to convert it to electricity. Cable service ended on 19-September-1897.

Butte today is home to Anaconda Copper's abandoned Berkeley Pit, a toxic lake which threatens to overflow and flood the town. There is talk of mining the minerals dissolved in the water.

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Steel wheels on steel rails suffer from limited traction. Many companies in the streetcar era used counterbalances to assist electric cars over steep grades.

San Francisco's Fillmore Hill Counterbalance had one big horizontal sheave at the top of the hill, at Broadway. A cable passed over it and down the conduit under each track. Each conduit had carrying pulleys, like a cable car line. At each end of the cable was a device that protruded through the slot. The downbound car would hook up to the device at Broadway, the upbound at Green. The operators would give their controllers a couple of points to start rolling and the downbound car would counterbalance the upbound. A weighted four wheel dummy hauled out from Turk and Fillmore would balance the last car up at the end of the day. It would sit at the bottom of the hill until the first car went down the next day. Every other trip, the cars would run wrong rail. There was a tender who helped to hook and unhook the car. I have seen a photo of a little shack at the top of the hill.

Seattle's famous Queen Anne Hill counterbalance, which replaced a section of the Front Street Cable Railway operated on a different principle. There was a conduit under each track, but there was a separate cable and horizontal sheave for each track. Each conduit had rails in it and carrying pulleys. On the rails in the conduit ran a concrete-weighted counterbalance dummy for each track. The device at the other end of the cable, to which the electric streetcar attached, was called a "shoe". A "hookup man" attached the shoe to the car and the motorman started rolling. The descending or ascending dummy matched the weight of the car. Most sources say that a block or two of cable conduit was retained at the bottom and filled with sawdust to cushion the dummy in case it ran away. The cars would still have to run wrong rail half the time.

The major difference is that on Fillmore, the streetcars counterbalanced each other, while on Queen Anne each car was independently counterbalanced by its own dummy. That might have been a little more flexible.

While the Queen Anne Hill counterbalance is remembered by many, Seattle had three other less well known counterbalances.

The Rainer Avenue Electric Railway, which received its franchise on 21-July-1891, went from the foot of Washington to 16th Street (14th Ave South), to Jackson, on private right of way to the southern city limit. To climb a 16-17% grade on Washington, it used a counterbalance arranged like Queen Anne Hill, with iron cars running in the conduit. They were cushioned at the bottom by a pneumatic cylinder rather than sawdust.

The counterbalance, which was a bottleneck, was abandoned on 05-Apr-1910 and the electric line was rerouted on 14th Ave South at King to Fifth Avenue to Main to Fourth Avenue to Stewart Street. The Main and King section was rerouted again to Dearborn in 1917, and the whole operation was replaced by buses on 01-January-1937.

The Seattle Central Railway, which was sold to the Seattle Electric in 1903, soon after it opened, used a counterbalance on Main.

I was most interested to learn about the Washington Hotel Counterbalance, which ran three blocks on a 20% grade from Pike Street to the entrance of the hotel on Denny Hill. The line opened in the mid 1890's and was Seattle's shortest electric line. An electric car, 174, later renumbered 139 by Seattle Electric, ran on a track parallel to a track with a weighted car, which provided the counterbalance. The line was abandoned in 1907, as part of the great regrading project.

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A postcard showing Steve's Cable Room, with cable car booths, and the Gay '90s room, with "surrey with a fringe on top" tables.

Steve's Cafe, commonly called Steve's Gay '90's, was a popular Tacoma restaurant from 1950 to 1977. The 1954 Tacoma City Directory described Steve's, located at 5238 South Tacoma Way, as a "Smorgasbord of American Dishes Served in an Atmosphere of the Gay 90's". In 1954, co-owner Steve Pease added "Steve's Cable Car Room", with booths shaped like the front ends of cable cars, which were labelled for Powell Street, Angel's Flight, Yesler Way, and others. Not, ironically, for Tacoma's own cable car line. The Cable Car Room was designed by Bill Knabel Sign & Display Service. Other rooms included the Golden Era Cafe, the Opera House, the Gay Nineties Smorgasbord and the Memory Lane Banquet Room.

Steve purchased former California Street Cable Railroad car 46 which had been motorized. He drove it up the coast and used it for events like the Daffodil Parade. The car is currently operated by San Franciso's Cable Car Charters.

Cal Cable car 46 being delivered to Steve's Gay '90s.

Cal Cable car 46 with entertainers from Steve's Gay '90s.

Ron Gates has visited Aversano's, an Italian restaurant in Sumner, WA. The cable car booths are preserved there.

Cable car booths from Steve's Gay '90s, preserved at Aversano's Restaurant in Sumner, WA. September, 2003 photo copyright Ron Gates, all rights reserved.

Detail of California St Cable R.R. Co 56 cable car booth, preserved at Aversano's Restaurant in Sumner, WA. September, 2003 photo copyright Ron Gates, all rights reserved.

Dash of "O'Farrel Jones, and Hyde 56" booth, preserved at Aversano's Restaurant in Sumner, WA. September, 2003 photo copyright Ron Gates, all rights reserved.

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A car of the Skagit Incline carries tourists. Note the tracks on the platform. July, 2003 Picture of the Month.

The Skagit River Valley lies about 140 miles northeast of Seattle. Under the leadership of JD Ross, municipal utility Seattle City Light built a series of projects in the valley to provide hydroelectric power to the city. In 1920, Seattle City light completed the 23-mile long Skagit River Railway from the Great Northern at Rockport to the site of the Newhalem Creek powerhouse and Gorge dam in the Skagit Valley. The line was operated with steam locomotives and rail buses. City Light began organizing two-day tours of the project in 1926; the tours helped to show the public the importance of the project.

When they extended the railway 9 miles to the site of Diablo Dam, City Light used electric traction to cope with the heavy grades and sharp curves. An incline on Sourdough Mountain connected the bulk of the electric division with a quarter mile segment that reached the shore of the new lake which formed behind the dam.

The 600 foot electrically powered incline used two cars which ran on three pairs of standard gauge rails. The platform car had a truck at each end which ran on the outer pair of rails. Rails on the platform car could carry a standard gauge railcar up and down the incline. A four-wheeled counterweight car ran on the middle set of rails. At the halfway point, the middle rails dipped to allow the platform car to pass over the counterweight car.

The incline opened in 1928 and became a popular part of the tours in 1930. Skagit Dam and powerhouse were completed in 1935. Work started up the canyon on Ross Dam. This required railcars to be barged two at a time along the lake and hoisted up another incline.

Tours stopped during World War II, but resumed again after Ross Dam and powerhouse were finished in the early 1950's.

The Skagit River Railway was abandoned in 1954, when plans to raise the Gorge Dam would have flooded most of the electric line. The incline is still used to haul equipment. Because of the current security concerns, tourists may not visit the incline or Diabolo Dam.

Visit the Skagit Tours site.

Diabolo Dam under construction, circa 1930. Note the surrounding terrain.

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