Streetcars that once traversed SF hills
Photo courtesy Bernal History Project
Over at Bernalwood today, Todd posts photos of streetcars climbing and descending Bernal Hill. Amazing relic photos, and a nice writeup by Todd. Check it out at Bernalwood.
That reminds us of other streetcars and cable cars that used to ferry passengers up, down, and around our hilly city by the Bay. The Fillmore cable car is one of our favorites.
Photo courtesy Cable Car Guy
Did you get a chance to ride any of these now-extinct lines? Tell us about your experience.
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June 21st, 2011 in
Muni historical photos | tags: 1940s
The Fillmore Hill Counterbalance was one of the more interesting in the city. It was built to extend the 22 Fillmore streetcar line into the Marina District. An un-powered cable was used to allow the tiny streetcars to climb the hill. You see, the weight of the descending car pulled the ascending car up the hill after both cars were attached to the cable. A device called “the wishbone” worked like a cable car grip on these cars. At the end of the day a weighted dummy car was let down the hill to allow the last car to come up. The first car down next morning brought the dummy back up. The entire service was converted to buses in 1941 (and the buses used less steep Steiner Street to climb the hill).
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By the way, I am too young to have actually ridden the Fillmore Hill Counterbalance line, but its operation has been well documented in books like White Front Cars of San Francisco by Charles Smallwood and on film (check the Prelinger Archive). The Counterbalance line ran from Fillmore and Broadway to Fillmore and Marina Blvd. The cars it used were some of the oldest streetcars in the city but they were enclosed and repainted to keep up with a modern appearance.
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