San Fran Cable Cars

There are two things San Francisco is famous for: steep streets and cable cars. Once the primary mode of transport now a historic tourist attraction.

The first car was introduced in 1873 after manufacturer Andrew Hallidie witnessed an accident where a horse drawn carriage faltered and rolled all the way back down a hill, dragging the horses behind it.

The cable car gets its name from the moving cable that runs in a channel under the road.  The cable car’s grip attaches itself to the cable and is pulled along.  The driver stands in the middle of the car manoeuvring the levers that make the car stop and go.

There are three routes the cable cars take and the cost is $7 for a single ride, there are day passes that cover both the cars and streetcars.

The Cable cars are very popular and the queues can be horrendous.  Taking the advice from our tour guide we avoided catching the car from Union square. Instead we woke early the next morning and headed down to the stop on the corner of Hyde and Beach St near Fisherman’s Wharf.  Being there before the queue had a chance to build we only had to wait for around 15 minutes for the next car to turn up.  The Powell Hyde line was recommended to us as the longest and the most scenic ride.  All I can say is thank god for that large burly driver we had - to watch him pull on those levers with all his might as he slowed us going down those steep hills had you clutching for dear life, as if it helped.

No return trips here and everyone has to hop off at the end of the track, and exactly as our guide had suggested, the queue at Union Square had already snaked around the corner.