Celebrate Cable Car Day Every January 17
Background image © BrokenSphere / Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0
Today is Cable Car Day. The day we celebrate the first patent for the cable car. Andrew Smith Hallidie got that patent in 1871.
As the story goes, Hallidie saw horses struggle to pull cars up the steep hills of San Fransisco. Many fell and some died. So he invented a system where strong cables would move the cars up and down the hill.
With this system, huge steel cables were spliced to form loops. Powerful steam engines moved the loops over gigantic wheels and pulleys. These cables ran just under the street. The cable cars would then latch onto the moving cables to move and let go to stop.
People were skeptical, and Hallidie could only find a few investors, so it took a while to get it built. But in 1873, the first cable car line opened on Clay Street. Horses around the city gave thanks.
After that things moved more quickly. By 1890 most large cities in America had at least one line.
Of course, by then the electric streetcar had also been invented. These cars operated by connecting to overhead electrical wires instead of underground moving cables. Cities quickly started switching to these newer (and presumably easier to install and operate) cars.
Today San Francisco is the last American city to still run any true cable cars. Three lines run out of one powerhouse. That powerhouse is also home to the Cable Car Museum where one of the original cable cars from that original line, Car #8, sits proudly on display. You can also see displays of the various parts, from grips to brake mechanisms, that make the whole system work.
Other cities do still run electric streetcars.
Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this fun and unofficial holiday.
Celebrating Cable Car Day
So how can you celebrate Cable Car Day?
Well, if you’re near San Francisco, go ride the cable cars!
Of course, most of us won’t be near any functioning cable cars. So we’ll have to admire them from afar.
But there’s plenty of places to learn about them and see pictures.
Learn More About Cable Cars
Check out these facts and photos of San Francisco’s Cable Cars.
Market Street Railway also offers a lot of cable car information, including:
Finally, take a quick, 3-minute tour of San Francisco’s cable lines with Larry the Cable Guy:
[…] Cable Car Day: Today we celebrate the ingenuity that saved horses’ lives and helped San Francisco grow. Cable cars quickly spread around the country, but today San Francisco is once again alone in having operating cable cars. […]
[…] Celebrate Cable Car Day Every January 17 […]
[…] Cable Car Day: Celebrate the public transportation of days gone by. The only operational cable cars in the US are in San Francisco. But like so many other things, they shut down due to COVID-19. It just wasn’t safe to run them. They’ll hopefully come back at some point, but until then you can still read about them & see pictures & videos. […]
[…] Cable Car Day: If you happen to be in San Francisco, ride a cable car to celebrate this day! Otherwise, just learn about them & celebrate in spirit. […]