Friday, December 4, 2009

~ 1905 Vintage Film of Cable Car in San Francisco ~



ABSOLUTELY A MUST TO VIEW THIS PIECE OF HISTORY~ Enjoy! This film is one of the most fantastic pieces of REAL documentation of a day in a cable car, going from Market St to the Embarcadero ... notice how few women (& their bustles & hats) are on the streets, the horse &carriage,covered wagons,..

Early Cable Car History:

The driving force behind the San Francisco cable car system came from a man who witnessed a horrible accident on a typically damp summer day in 1869. Andrew Smith Hallidie saw the toll slippery grades could extract when a horse- drawn streetcar slid backwards under its heavy load. The steep slope with wet cobblestones and a heavily weighted vehicle combined to drag five horses to their deaths. Although such a sight would stun anyone, Hallidie and his partners had the know-how to do something about the problem.

Hallidie had been born in England and moved to the U.S. in 1852. His father filed the first patent in Great Britain for the manufacture of wire- rope. As a young man, Hallidie found uses for this technology in California's Gold Country. He used the wire-rope when designing and building a suspension bridge across Sacramento's American River. He also found another use for the wire-rope when pulling heavy ore cars out of the underground mines on tracks. The technology was in place for pulling cable cars.

The next step bringing Hallidie closer to his fate was moving his wire- rope manufacturing to San Francisco. All that was now needed was seeing the accident for the idea to become full blown-a cable car railway system to deal with San Francisco's fearsome hills.

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6 GIVEAWAYS ~ Enter on our Dec. 2 post @ blushingrosetoo.blogspot.com

10 comments:

  1. I love the cable cars!
    Blessings, andrea

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  2. DEAR MARYDON,
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    WHEN SOMEONE'S CHILD DIES THEY NEED COMPASSION AND UNDERSTANDING AND TO JUST LISTEN....THAT A MOTHER OR FATHER THAT HAS HAD A CHILD DIE HAS A BILL OF RIGHTS
    WE ARE ALL SEEKING AND STRUGGLING TO BUILD A FUTURE FOR OURSELVES. WE REACH OUT TO EACH OTHER IN LOVE TO SHARE THE PAIN AS AS WELL AS THE JOY, SHARE THE ANGER AS WELL AS THE PEACE, SHARE THE FAITH AS WELL AS THE DOUBTS, AND HELP EACH OTHER TO GRIEVE AS WELL AS TO GROW.
    WE DON'T HAVE TO WALK ALONE OR MEASURE UP TO WHAT OTHERS THINK WE SHOULD DO OR HOW WE SHOULD ACT...BECAUSE IN A BLINK OF AN EYE THEY COULD BE IN OUR SHOES.
    I ALSO FOUND OUT THAT I AM OKAY....I AM A BEAUTIFUL PERSON THAT HAD MUCH OF MY HEART RIPPED OUT AND I AM DOING OKAY EVEN THOUGH I HAVE DAYS THAT I CRY AND CRY....THAT, THAT IS OKAY AND TO BE EXPECTED......THAT PEOPLE BASICALLY ARE SELFISH AND WHEN THEY HAVE NOT LOST A CHILD, THEY WANT TO GO ON WITH THEIR LIFE AND NOT LISTEN TO YOU AND YOUR SADNESS AND THAT IS OKAY..........I'LL SEND AN E MAIL FOR THE REST OF WHAT I HAVE TO TELL YOU.
    ANGEL HUGS
    DEBBIE

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  3. Facinating story and video, Marydon...necessity is the mother of invention, so they say, and they surely needed something in those days, as those steep streets are treacherous, even to some degree today. I remember driving up one of them when about 19 years old, with a stick shift car, and was sure I would roll backward, killing myself and zillions others. Thanks for sharing this!

    God bless,
    Mary

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  4. Great history lesson. We were in SF a few weeks back and my youngest (18) just couldn't understand why they still had Cable Cars.....talk about a generstion gap!
    *hugs*deb

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  5. I love love love cable cars!! We ride them everytime we're in SF. Can't get enough of them. Thanks for posting this!

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  6. Love those cable cars! I was in San Francisco about 5 years ago and that was on thing that hypnotized me. Amazing video. Have a blessed day!

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  7. You have an award on arise 2 write.
    andrea

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  8. I can't believe that this vehicle still working in our days, I mean it's old like granny, inclusive my parents been in there when them was children.

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  9. After trying out the cable car, you'll realize that you wouldn't wish to do this on a daily basis and opt for one of the cars available in used cars San Francisco lots.

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