Ridin' the Hills on the Cable Car

Besides the Golden Gate Bridge, the other most well-known icon of San Francisco is its cable cars.  San Francisco operates the only cable car system in the world.  There are three remaining lines that run in the main tourist area of the City -- Powell-Mason, Powell-Hyde, and California.  The first cable car line started in 1873, and more than a century later, the simple mechanical technology remains the same.

Turning around on the Lazy Susan

Giant cables are constantly moving beneath the streets. These cables are constantly moving at 9.5 mph, being propelled by giant sheaves (often called pulleys).  The cable car has no power of its own.  The cable car "grips" the cable and is pulled along the street.  The operator is referred to as the grip man. This proved to be the most effective method of transporting up San Francisco's steep hills.  At the end of the Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason lines, the cable cars are rotated on a giant Lazy Susan to make the trip back in the opposite direction.

Giant sheaves propelling the cables underneath the streets

A great place to check out the history of cable cars and see how the system operates is to visit the Cable Car Museum. It's a small museum located at the operations center of the cable car system.  We could see each of the giant sheaves in action and walk below the street to see the various pulleys and guides keeping the cables moving.

Up and down the hills

We were able to ride all three lines during our stay.  I suspect most of the riders these days are tourists like us given the limited areas the cable cars cover and the fact that they only move so fast. That being said, they were a great way to get around and help us navigate all of the hills in and around out neighborhood.