Omnibus Railroad & Cable Company

by Joe Thompson

Hand Colored Transit Images Presented by Emiliano Echeverria Thanks to Emiliano Echeverria for letting me present a series of photos that were hand-colored by Charles Smallwood

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.

Omnibus Howard Street car.

Omnibus cars on the double tracked turntable at Howard and 26th Streets.

Union Hall, on Howard near Fourth. The ground floor was used by the Omnibus Railroad as a horse car barn from 1862 until 1895, when the horse lines were converted to electric (Source: [group 8:73], Roy D. Graves Pictorial Collection, ca. 1850-ca. 1968, BANC PIC 1905.17500--ALB, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley).

line: Howard Street/26th (Dark Blue)

opened: 26-Aug-1889. East Street (now Embarcadero) from the Ferry to Howard, Howard from East to 26th Street. Outer Howard is now South Van Ness.

powerhouse: 10th & Howard.

grip: Eppelsheimer bottom grip, lever-operated

gauge: 3'6"

cars: single-ended California cars.

turntables: double track, powered.

crossings:

Intersection	Company	Status
Howard/9th	SSR	inferior

line: Howard/24th (Yellow Line)

opened: late 1889. East Street (now Embarcadero) from the Ferry to Howard, Howard from East to 24th Street, 24th from Howard to Portrero. Outer Howard is now South Van Ness.

powerhouse: 10th & Howard.

grip: Eppelsheimer bottom grip, lever-operated

gauge: 3'6"

cars: single-ended California cars.

turntables: double track, powered.

crossings:

Intersection	Company	Status
Howard/9th	SSR	inferior

line: Post Street (Brown Line)

opened: late 1889. Post Street from Market to Leavenworth. Leavenworth to City Hall Avenue (does not exist any more; ran parallel to Market near old City Hall, present Main Library), City Hall Avenue to Grove, Grove to Polk, Polk to 10th Street, 10th to Howard.

powerhouse: 10th & Howard.

grip: Eppelsheimer bottom grip, lever-operated

gauge: 3'6"

cars: single-ended California cars.

turntables: double track, powered.

crossings:

Intersection	Company	Status
Post/Powell	FCH	inferior
Post/Jones	CSC	superior
Leavenworth/Geary	GSPO	inferior
Leavenworth/Ellis	ORR	inferior
Leavenworth/McAllister	MSR	inferior
Leavenworth/Hayes	MSR	inferior
Leavenworth/Market	MSR	inferior

line: Ellis Street (Blue Line)

opened: late 1889. Ellis Street from Market to Broderick. Broderick to Oak, Oak to Stanyan, Stanyan to Haight at Golden Gate Park.

powerhouse: Oak & Broderick.

grip: Eppelsheimer bottom grip, lever-operated

gauge: 3'6"

cars: single-ended California cars.

turntables: double track, powered.

crossings:

Intersection	Company	Status
Ellis/Powell	FCH	inferior
Ellis/Jones	CSC	superior
Ellis/Leavenworth	ORR	superior
Ellis/Larkin	SSR	inferior

line: Oak Street (Green Line)

opened: late 1889. 10th Street from Howard to Fell. Fell to Franklin, Franklin to Oak, Oak to Stanyan, Stanyan to Haight at Golden Gate Park.

powerhouse: Oak & Broderick.

grip: Eppelsheimer bottom grip, lever-operated

gauge: 3'6"

cars: single-ended California cars.

turntables: double track, powered.

crossings:

Intersection	Company	Status
10th/Market	MSR	inferior

notes: The Omnibus Railroad started as a broad-gauge horse car system in 1861. Management studied whether to convert to cable or electricity and made the wrong choice. Only the Oak Street line had significant hills. The main line was too far from Market Street. The other lines had too many curves. The 26th and Howard line was stopped in Aug, 1893. The company was taken over by the Market Street Railway on 13-Aug-1893. The Oak and Ellis lines were converted in late 1895. The Howard/24th line was killed on 31-Dec-1899.

Some contemporary newspaper articles.

• "This property is sold to close out tbe affairs of the Telegraph Hill Railroad Company. "
• "...permission to build a cable road on East street, between Howard and Market streets..." (Daily Alta California, Sunday, March 20, 1887)
• "Articles of incorporation of the Omnibus Cable Company were filed with the County Clerk yesterday." (Daily Alta California, Thursday, December 1, 1887)
• "The families residing on the north side of Howard street, near Tenth ... have been given thirty days' notice to move. The reason assigned is that the Howard-street Cable Company have bought the property and are desirous of building their engine-house on that ground." (Daily Alta California, Wednesday, April 4, 1888)
• "Tbe Omnibus Railroad Company is soon to add two new cable lines to the large number now in operation in the city." (Daily Alta California, Saturday, April 7, 1888)
• "The branch of the Howard-street cable system on Twenty-fourth street will be in operation next Wednesday." (Daily Alta California, Friday, November 16, 1888)
• "The Howard street-line will be open for travel in August." (Daily Alta California, Wednesday, May 29, 1889)
• "Work was begun at the corner of Post and Market streets yesterday, for the turntable for the Omnibus Railroad Company's cable line..." (Daily Alta California, Wednesday, July 10, 1889)
• "By Thursday of next week it is expected that the lines ot the Omnibus Cable Company on Howard and other streets will be in operation." (Daily Alta California, Tuesday, August 6, 1889)
• "It is expected that the Howard-street cable of the Omnibus system will be in operation by the 1st of September." (Daily Alta California, Wednesday, August 21, 1889)
• "Yesterday morning the new cable-cars of the Omnibus Cable Railway Company's Howard-street system were run on that thoroughfare from the ferries to Twenty-sixth street..." (Daily Alta California, Tuesday, August 27, 1889)
• "Tbe machinery of the Post-street branch of the Omnibus cable system was started up yesterday and a car sent over the road." (Daily Alta California, Friday, October 11, 1889)
• "By order of the Omnibus Cable Company there will be offered at the auction of Von Rhein &. Co., on the 24th inst., a large piece of property on Tenth street near Mission..." (Alta California, Thursday, April 10, 1890)
• "A Chinaman named Ah Bang was thrown from one of the Omnibus cable cars yesterday on Howard street, near Fourth..." (sorry about the perjorative) (Daily Alta California, Monday, May 10, 1890)
• "George Hereford, an aged man, living at 1212 Howard street, was run into by one of the Post-street cable cars last evening..." (Daily Alta California, Thursday, May 13, 1890)
• "...the branch of the line running from South San Francisco and connecting with the Howard-street cable line will be in operation in about one week..." (San Francisco Call, Saturday, May 15, 1890)
• The New Cable Road (that was never built) (Daily Alta California, Sunday, January 25, 1891)
• "...$5000 damages for injuries sustained when a car ran into a hack..." (Daily Alta California, Thursday, July 30, 1891)
• "...the yellow Howard-street cable cars will leave the points mentioned at 12:40 a. m. instead of midnight as formerly..." (San Francisco Call, Monday, January 29, 1894)
• "There is a cable line on Oak street requiring a cable 26,000 feet I long that is now under reconstruction as an electric road." (Daily Alta California, Friday, April 25, 1896)
• "Work will be soon commenced reconstructing the cable and steam roads operated by the Market street systems." (Los Angeles Herald, Thursday, August 5, 1897)
• "It is the intention of the railroad company to change the Howard street cable system to an electric line." (San Francisco Call, Wednesday, March 8, 1899)
• "Work to Commence Immediately on the Reconstruction of Howard and Post Streets." (San Francisco Call, Sunday, November 12, 1899)
• "With a working force of 200 men Foreman Thomas B. Egan of the Market Street Hallway Company made a start yesterday morning on East street for the reconstruction of the Howard street cable line into an electric service." (x, Friday, December 8, 1899)
• "...it was shown that the non-union pavers are more expensive than their brothers belonging to the union." (San Francisco Call, Saturday, March 24, 1900)

0603 served as the sand car at the Oak and Broderick. This is appropriate because it was built in 1889 by Hammond as an Omnibus cable car. The Market Street Railway rebuilt it as an electric car in 1898. This image was taken at Funston Yard, where 0609 was usually stationed after Oak and Broderick was closed in 1938. It later ran out of Haight Street. 0607 was scrapped in 1947. Wayne Miller Collection. All rights reserved. Thanks to Emiliano Echevarria for the details about the car.

The Omnibus's 143 steel under-framed, almost-new cars wound up all over the place. Market Street Railway used some on its cable lines and converted others to electric passenger and work cars, including the 772-778 class. Cable mail cars "A" and "B" were former Omnibus cars. Two of the post-1906 Castro Street cable cars (1 & 7) were rebuilt from ORR cars. Some were used in Seattle - on Front Street, Madison Street, and Yesler Way. One served as the first passenger car on the Mill Valley & Mount Tamalpais (later the Mount Tamalpais & Muir Woods) Railroad.

A former Omnibus cable car used as passenger car 5, pulled by Shay locomotive 498 on the Mill Valley & Mount Tamalpais Railroad. Despite the numbers, they were the lines' first passenger car and locomotive. May, 2002 Picture of the Month

A former Omnibus cable car converted to electricity crosses South Drive (now Martin Luther King Drive) in Golden Gate Park before 1906. Note the trotter approaching from the direction of the beach.

An ad for Cahill and Hall, who manufactured the elevator in the Tenth and Howard powerhouse. From The Western Engineer, compiled by John H Godbold, 1890.

Tenth and Howard powerhouse in 1899. Howard is at the left and Tenth at the bottom (Source: Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, San Francisco, 1899, Vol 2, Sheet 145).

Oak and Broderick powerhouse in 1899. Oak is at the left (Source: Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, San Francisco, 1899, Vol 3, Sheet 349).

Oak and Broderick in 1921, serving as an electric car barn. (Source: San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, AAC-8376).

Gustav Sutro, Omnibus Railroad president.

from Poor's Directory of Railway Officials, 1887 P. 233 Omnibus R.R. and Cable Co. operates 8.5 miles of road, and owns 395 horses and 57 cars. Directors, Daniel Stein, Gustav Sutro, C. D. O'Sullivan, Eugene Le Roy, E. Hull, San Francisco, Cal -- Gustav Sutro, Pres., Daniel Stein, Vice-Pres., G. Ruegg, Sec., M. M. Martin, Supt.& P. A., Wm. Barry, Mast Tr. Rep., M. M. Martin, Mast. Car Rep. -- PRINCIPAL OFFICE, 727 Howard St., San Francisco, Cal.

Can't find someone to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge? Buy Omnibus Cable Company bonds. From the 01-August-1889 Daily Alta California.

A notice that a portion of the property at Tenth and Howard would be sold at auction. From the 13-April-1890 San Francisco Call.