November 2025 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- November 3, 2025

I just put the November 2025 version of my Cable Car Home Page on the server:

http://www.cable-car-guy.com/

It includes some new items:

1. Picture of the Month: The Las Casitas Railway is a private funicular on San Francisco's Russian Hill. It still serves a group of townhouses. (Source: San Francisco Examiner, 1960-10-02).
2. On the new Northern California Funiculars page: Added new items about the Shasta Springs Incline, the Shadowbrook Restaurant, Capitola and Private Funiculars. Moved Telegraph Hill Railroad, the Fillmore Hill Counterbalance and the The Fairfax Incline Railway from the San Francisco Miscellany page.
3. On the Kansas City page: A postcard showing the Kansas City Cable Railway's destination, the Union Depot and a banner from the opening of the KC Streetcar's Main Street Extension

Ten years ago this month (November 2015):

1. Picture of the Month: A Churchman's Cigarettes card shows a cable-hauled train leaving a tunnel on Brazil's São Paulo Railway.
2. On the Other Cities page: A new article about Brazil's São Paulo Railway, a British-built line that used cable traction to haul freight and passengers up and down the Serra do Mar

Twenty years ago this month (November 2005):

1. Picture of the Month: Valencia Street cable car, 1904.
2. On the San Francisco page: San Francisco Cable Car Service, 1903 -- based on the San Francisco Official Street Railway Directory, 1903. Thanks to Walter Rice.
3. On the San Francisco page: A Photo Album of 1970s Cable Car Supporters by Walter Rice
4. On the More MSR Photos page: Valencia Street cable car, 1903
5. On the New York/New Jersey page: 1886 newspaper articles about the first cable car line in Brooklyn, New York. MR. RICHARDSON'S CABLE ROAD, about an early petition for permission to build the line and TO ADOPT JOHNSON'S SYSTEM, about the choice of the Johnson ladder cable system to operate it
6. Added News item about new Powell Street cable car book

In January 2024 I started on a long overdue process of cleaning things up on my site. I started with the development pages. Actually, I guess I started the year before with making most thumbnails 200 pixels instead of 100.

Coming in December 2025: On the San Francisco page: With Christmas coming, it's a good time to visit the late Joe Lacey's article Christmas on the Cables, and the Decorated Cable Cars page.

The Cable Car Home Page now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CableCarHomePage/

The Cable Car Home Page also has an Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/cable_car_guy/

Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 01-November-2025)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-October-2024)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 31-October-2025)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (updated obsessively)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/

September 2025 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- September 6, 2025

I just put the September 2025 version of my Cable Car Home Page on the server:

http://www.cable-car-guy.com/

It includes some new items:

1. Picture of the Month: Lisbon has three street-running funiculars. On 04-September-2025, the Elevador da Glória (Route 51e) suffered a fatal crash when the upper car ran away and hit a building. At least 17 are dead. Image courtesy of Google News.
2. On the Cable Car Lines in Other Cities page: A ten-year update about street-running funiculars in Lisbon, Portugal , with several Carrus website items about the Elevador da Bica, the Elevador da Glória and the Elevador do Lavra. The Elevador da Glória suffered a fatal crash.
3. Added News items about cable car operating issues and the crash in Lisbon

Ten years ago this month (September 2015):

1. Picture of the Month: Car 4 of Lisbon's Camões-Estrela line was built by the German Maschinenfabrik Esslingen. I wonder if it on a transfer table. Photo courtesy of Maschinenfabrik Esslingen.
2. On the Other Cities page: A new article about the street-running funiculars in Lisbon, Portugal , with several photos of the Elevador do Lavra
3. On the Municipal Railway page: The San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency announces measures to improve the safety of cable car crews

Twenty years ago this month (September 2005):

1. Picture of the Month: A Peter Ehrlich photo of Dunedin, NZ cable tram 95.
2. On the Australia/New Zealand page: Peter Ehrlich's photos of a Dunedin cable tram
3. On the San Francisco page: Part Four of Walter Rice and Emiliano Echevarria's "When Steam Ran on the Streets of San Francisco: The Ocean Shore Railroad"
4. Added News and Bibliography items about accidents at Powell and California and California and Drumm. Also news items about the abusive $5 fare and the presentation of a cable car bell to the outgoing Archbishop
5. On the New York/New Jersey page: More 1887 newspaper articles about the first cable car line in Brooklyn, New York. The Rope Broke, about a rope break, and DISSATISFACTION ON THE CABLE ROAD, about labor unrest and a possible shutdown
6. On the Decorated Cable Cars page: Cable cars in the 2005 San Francisco Carnaval Parade.
7. Added more Chronology items

175 years ago - 1850
Sep 9 - California was admitted to the Union as the 31st state
Sep 17 - The Fourth Great Fire destroyed the area bounded by Dupont, Montgomery, Washington and Pacific

125 years ago - 1900
Sep 04 - Front Street Cable Railway (Seattle, Washington) converted to electricity. The section on Queen Anne Hill was converted to a counterbalance.

75 years ago - 1950
Sep 17 - "Service on Line No. 59 (Powell-Mason cable car) will be discontinued on account of construction work on the Broadway Tunnel. A partial substitution of service will be instituted by motor coaches to connect with Line No. 60 (Washington-Jackson cable car) at Powell and Washington Streets." Muni "NOTICE TO PUBLIC" dated September 13, 1950.

In January 2024 I started on a long overdue process of cleaning things up on my site. I started with the development pages. Actually, I guess I started the year before with making most thumbnails 200 pixels instead of 100.

Coming in October 2025: On the San Francisco page: A new article about private funiculars in San Francisco

The Cable Car Home Page now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CableCarHomePage/

The Cable Car Home Page also has an Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/cable_car_guy/

Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 06-September-2025)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-October-2024)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 31-May-2025)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (updated obsessively)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/

Train Station #46 -- May 8, 2012

I took this photo of the upper station of Angels Flight when we visited in July, 2011.

The original Angels Flight (no apostrophe) opened in 1901. Colonel J W Eddy, an old associate of Abraham Lincoln, built the line to carry passengers up to the splendid homes on Bunker Hill in Los Angeles. The fare was one cent. The two cars carried passengers without a single fatal accident until 1969, when the city redeveloped the area. The city saved the cars and other relics and promised to rebuild the line. The new line, operated by the Angels Flight Railway Foundation, opened in 1996, about a block away from the original site. Critics charged that the new system left out some of the safety features of the old. A fatal accident in 2001, when one of the cars ran away, proved that the critics were right. The line sat in limbo for almost ten years, but finally reopened in 2010 with safety improvements. 

Angels Flight Returns -- March 16, 2010

On Monday, 15-March-2010, Angels Flight returned to operation. The original Angels Flight (no apostrophe) opened in 1901. Colonel J W Eddy, an old associate of Abraham Lincoln, built the line to carry passengers up to the splendid homes on Bunker Hill in Los Angeles. The fare was one cent. The two cars carried passengers without a single fatal accident until 1969, when the city redeveloped the area. The city saved the cars and other relics and promised to rebuild the line.

The new line, operated by the Angels Flight Railway Foundation, opened in 1996, about a block away from the original site. Critics charged that the new system left out some of the safety features of the old. A fatal accident in 2001, when one of the cars ran away, proved that the critics were right. The line sat in limbo for almost ten years, but the line has now been restored and the system redesigned to be safer.

I'm happy to see it back and I look forward to riding Angels Flight. Learn more about it on my Cable Car Home Page: http://www.cable-car-guy.com/index.html

Alaska #4 -- July 19, 2008

On Wednesday we woke up very early and looked out the cabin window. No land. Soon after, however, we started to see low islands. The captain had announced that we would arrive late at Ketchikan. When we got down to Deck 5, about an hour early, a line had already formed. By the time they allowed people to disembark, the lobby was jammed. Repeated announcements asked people not to go to Deck 5. No one cared.

I have read that it rains 300 days a year in Ketchikan. This was one of those days. We found three other cruise ships in port. We visited a gift shop near the pier, then moved on to look for a store that the naturalist had recommended: Ketchicandy. We picked up some chocolate-covered Oreos, which were as good as he had said they would be. We moved on to the Wells Fargo branch to patronize the atm, then proceeded to Creek Street. I wanted to take photos of the funicular, which leads up to the Fox Point Lodge, a restaurant. Beyond the funicular, the street reminded me of Sausalito during a flood.

We wandered around a bit more. My daughter was shocked when I pointed out the store that sold reindeer sausage. We stopped at a coffee place (I didn't note the name) and had something. My daughter expressed a wish for a proper cookie. She pointed out that there was nothing like that on the ship.

We had had about enough Ketchikan, so we stopped at another store near the pier, then reboarded the ship. This required scanning our cruise card and passing through a metal detector.

When the ship sailed, the naturalist talked about what we were seeing. I enjoyed seeing the rest of Ketchikan spread out along the water. Almost everything is built on piles. I saw some bald eagles and two ships of the Alaska Marine Highway. We saw a couple of whales, and he said there would be whale watching at about 7:30.

After dinner, we went out and saw more whales breaching and sounding.

My daughter took the photo of the Creek Street sign. All rights reservered.

Last night we went to the ball park to see the Giants play the Brewers. Before the game there was a crab feed in the parking lot to honor Crazy Crab. We received a Crazy Crab bobble head and a good crab sandwich. We did not wait for the guest of honor. We each got another bobble head when we entered the park. Our seats were in the very top row of the upper deck section behind home plate. The wind blew through the arches and the green material stretched across kept banging me in the back of the head. The temperature reminded me of Candlestick, but all the flags were blowing the same direction.

Crazy Crab ran across the field once and showed up on the video screens during the 7th inning stretch.

CC Sabathia almost had a shutout. The Brewers won 9-1.