Riding the FAMOUS San Francisco CABLE CARS
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
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Edited by: Kyle Robb
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When I was in high school in the late 1960s, my boyfriend took me on a San Francisco cable car ride during a date. All the seats were taken when we hopped on. We faced in, grabbed the vertical bars, and stood on the platform. Going around a corner, the centrifugal force lifted my feet off the platform and swung me out over the street by my arms. That was a terrifying, exhilarating, and memorable moment.
I love this memory! Thank you for sharing! ❤️
Wow!
I’m lucky to live along one of the cable car lines in SF. Riding these beauties at a stately 9.5 mph is a lovely way to get around. Loved this episode, especially because I’ve enjoyed the St Charles Ave street cars in NOLA as well. Both cities have unique vibes and characteristics and are my two favorite cities in the US. Thanks for your terrific videos!
That once happened to me as a kid on the back of a golf cart. I can only imagine that if it happened to me as an adult (especially if one of the biggest guys in high school hadn’t been driving) I would’ve probably tipped the entire thing over.
if this was in 1960 and you were in high school then, then your writing this at the age of 95
You know it's a good day when Downie uploads
Yes 👏🏾
He’s just the epitome of Calming
You got that right 👍
It's a good day if he uploads and you are able to watch.
Great stuff! Native San Franciscan here, and you did us proud. What I like most about your videos is the pacing - it never drags. No real-time walkthroughs of airport lobbies. You get in, get the shot, get out and keep it moving.
It’s great to see Cities like San Francisco and New Orleans recognise other modes of transport. Sydney has regretted closing and destroying their trams and tracks in the 50’s which at one point was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. The NSW government has spent billions of dollars putting light rail back into Sydney.
I live in Los Angeles and I’ve been to SF many times in my life, it’s always such a cool feeling riding the cable cars. Being able to hop on and off, and ride so freely! There’s nothing like it!
Thank you for bothering to visit the Cable Car Museum. That's one of my favorite places to visit when in S.F. and not a lot of people know about it. I first rode the Cable Cars in 1975 when I was a wee lad.
And then in 1977 we visited New Orleans for 3 days late summer, ate beignets each afternoon (I remember big thunderstorms) and strolled along the Mississippi, rode the streetcars, and to top it off, we rode the Sunset Limited Amtrak back to Los Angeles in coach class. What a great adventure.
"Two dollars for picture, five dollars for video"...that guy needs a raise! I mean, if I ever went to San Francisco, I'd be riding the cable cars all day too! They're just too dang cool! With maybe a break at Ghirardelli...for good measure of a perfect SF trip 😂 As someone who lived in Jersey City for a bit, my favorite streetcar historically is the North Hudson County Railway in NJ. You see, the North Hudson County Railway was a complex streetcar network that connected Journal Square in Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, and Union City (which the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail tries to accomplish today; minus Journal Square). However, a portion of Hudson County is a line of pretty steep cliffs that makes up part of the Hudson Palisades. So how did they get the streetcars down these dangerous cliffs to low-lying Hoboken and Weehawken by the Hudson River? With everything from a huge and long elevated trestle, funicular wagon lifts, and an elevator! Tackling the cliffs this way was an engineering feat, especially for the time.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and these lines were abandoned by the 1940s. However, there are still remnants of this streetcar feat, like two former trolley buildings next to the Supremo market on Palisade Ave in Jersey City (one of them is a doctor's office I had to go to...boy do I wish it was still a trolley house), and leftover trolley tracks on Hudson Place in Hoboken next door to Hoboken Terminal.
Sad that you didn't ride one of BART's brand new Bombardier trains. Those are pretty sleek. But since the old BART trains are in the process of being retired, I guess it's good that you caught them before they are gone.
It would be cool to see a video from you on all of San Francisco's new trains. All the SF train operators and more broadly the Bay Area ones are all getting new trains and various major upgrades. The Muni Metro is switching to Siemens S200 trains. BART is in the process of upgrading to Bombardier trains. Caltrain is getting electric Stadler KISS trains. The Amtrak San Joaquins is getting Siemens Charger+Venture trains. There is a ton of state of the art, modern rail to see in the Bay Area.
The Bay Area takes rail transit seriously and already has one of the best rail networks on the continent. With all these new trains, we'll also have one of the most modern passenger rail networks in North America. I would love to see what you think.
If you like SF trains going to the Railway Museum in Rio Vista is a must see!
One thing I loved about living in San Francisco was how easy it was to travel by rail to San Jose or around the city and peninsula. I've lived about a third of my life in Europe and also spent a few years in Southeast Asia and both hundred-year-old City layouts and very modern Asian Metropolis take rail travel seriously... Sadly the US just wanted to sell cars.
I used to love getting on Caltrain just to watch all of the MacBooks open up in people continue their work! I moved away a few years ago so I wasn't aware of all the upgrades! Thanks for the information!!
San Francisco native here. I'm proud of our Muni Metro rail, even though I admit it can be greatly improved. Unlike BART, the Metro is on standard gauge rail (1435 mm) and therefore its easy and cheap to replace the cars. If you look at the lifespan of Muni's fleet, its much shorter than BART. BART kept its old rail cars far too long. I still can't believe how many old BART cars are still in service.
@@stevens1041 Definitely!
But in all fairness, Muni is definitely rushing to get rid of the Bredas as soon as possible. They've been a disastrous LRV for Muni. Their reliability rates are full-on under 1/4th of the reliability of the new Siemens sets!
A ton of the issues Muni has had over the years, from basic but endemic broken doors to premature track degradation due to the extreme weight of the LRVs, all of this has been either caused or exacerbated by the Bredas. An unreasonable number of them is non-operational at any given moment, severely restricting Muni Metro service.
It's no wonder that Muni has zero appetite for trying to extend the less-than-honorable career of the old fatsos. That's also why Breda has been blacklisted and not allowed to bid to supply the new vehicles.
I love this vlog. I was raised in SF and went to UC Berkely in the early 70's when BART was just starting out. I didn't need a car because I took a combination of cable car / street car / bus and BART. Also taking the St. Charles street car in New Orleans as well as Cafe Du Monde and the fabulous restaurants made my visit there so memorable. Thanks for starting this new series.
Thanks for sharing!!
I was once a coordinator for a convention in NoLa and decided to bribe my volunteer workers to do some tedious work... I walked in with a huge cardboard box of two layers of beignets and had never seen such happy workers!
I forgot to mention that I lived in San Francisco and although I was in the center of the city I found out that the best jazz and many good restaurants were in Oakland or Berkeley. Taking the BART easy peasy but at that time I don't think the BART ran after midnight... I didn't necessarily want to get stuck on the East Bay for just great jazz but there was a bus line that ran...
I’m an Oakland girl and I just wish the cable car could go to Oakland one day
I went to SF with my siblings and Grandparents in the 90's. It was beautiful. Definitely a place I will never forget.
Oh, that last view of a soon-to-be demolished beignet was priceless!
Now for my usual quibbles. That block of Lombard Street is not particularly steep. One block south is Greenwich that is partially a staircase. Two blocks south is Filbert, the first half of the block is flat and the second half is a plunge. There are several streets even steeper. Also, Vermont Street on Potrero Hill is crookeder but not as pretty. It used to be that your paper transfer on a streetcar, a trolley, or a motorcoach allowed you to get on a cable car because it was viewed as just another part of the system. It's much pricier now and that's a shame. Oh, it's not "The" BART unless you want people to think you're from Los Angeles - it's just BART.
Now back to the praise: I especially liked seeing the streetcars in New Orleans. Absolutely beautiful. As always, you expand the horizons of those of us who don't travel much.
You're not kidding about BART appearing futuristic when it first opened. In 1974 when the Transbay Tube finally opened bringing BART to S.F., they offered folks free rides from one station to another and back to see what it was like. I think that was one day only, before regular service actually began. Our entire family went downtown to do it, and even my curmudgeonly dad grinned from ear to ear! Also, the amazing thing about our beloved Cable Cars is that they're used by regular residents. The California line was invaluable for getting around when I worked in the Financial District. This was before they charged higher fares for the Cable Cars than the rest of MUNI. Sadly when I visited New Orleans I neither got to ride the streetcars or go to Cafe du Monde, but I did ride a riverboat on the Mississippi. Thanks for making me feel young again and eat a virtual beignet, Mike - instantly subbed!
We will be in San Francisco in 5 days. Riding the cable cars again is on our list of things to do.
Pro tip: make sure to do this exact route, it's the best one! I believe it goes from Beach St. in Fisherman's Wharf to Union Square, but you can get off at Lombard, take some pictures, and from there walk to the original Swenson's ice cream for some delicious dessert!
Pro Tip from someone who lived in San Francisco for years: If you want to hang out the side like many tours do you may want to wait in line at the Stockton or Masonic Street turnarounds. Depending on if you go in the high tourist season everyone wants to do this and no one wants to sit inside. Locals sit inside or hang on depending on what's available. You might as well have the ride you want sissy will pay big bucks for the ticket whereas local commuters get them free on monthly Muni passes.
And if you're going to hang off the edge and try to take video, please take off your backpack and put it inside or the engineer might tell you to do so. There have been accidents caused by tourists with backpacks getting snagged by a passing truck or even an approaching cable car. 😮
One of the best channels out there. The variety of travel methods and Mike's always positive attitude are a great combo. Yea Mike!!!
I appreciate that
Great to see you visit my part of the world, San Francisco. Besides the 1940s streamlined streetcars, the transit system also runs cars from 1898 to 1924, but runs them less often.
Thank you for mentioning that. I just left a comment because Donnie forgot to mention the orange one which I nicknamed the Frida. It was from the 1890s as I recall and had benches around the perimeter instead of front facing seats.
I used to hate taking the F to the wharf for business as I had a client down there but when I took the F it was always interesting to see which one you caught!
You know, I wish the cable car went to Oakland, where I live
I grew up in SF and lived on Broadway, half a block from the Hyde Street line. I would take the cable car to Market and get on the M streetcar to go to college at SF State.
When the combined BART and Muni Metro subway opened in the 1970s and '80s, it was planned that the old streetcars running up and down Market would be removed. Unlike the beloved cable cars, the streetcar network was seen as old and unreliable, and, with a shiny new subway, superfluous.
In a separate development, in 1979 it was determined that the cable car system was so old and decrepit that it needed to be overhauled, which would take 18 months, from late 1982 until summer 1984. Since so many tourists loved riding the cable cars, it was decided that the old streetcars would be brought back into service and used as a 1983 substitute summertime attraction, running from the Transbay Terminal to the Castro, and called the San Francisco Historic Trolley Festival.
It was such a hit, not just with the tourists (who would sometimes get off the line at the Castro terminus in the heart of San Francisco's gayborhood, take one look around and head back downtown), but with residents as well, that it was done again for the next 5 summers, whereupon it was decided to make it a permanent, year-round transit line.
Since nothing in San Francisco happens quickly, over the next 8 years, new tracks were put in, and the first segment, from the Ferry Building to Market & Castro and augmented with newly acquired streetcars from around the world, was finally opened in 1995. (For those of us who endured BART/Muni subway construction in the 1960s and '70s, having Market Street ripped up yet again was reliving a nightmare)The line was subsequently extended to Fisherman's Wharf in 2000.
I rode the Cable Cars in San Francisco way back in 1989 and visited the Museum and Cable Powerhouse as well. Haven't been to New Orleans but you captured the atmosphere very well. Now, as Jordy mentioned in comments below, ya gotta come downunder to ride Melbourne's tram network.
Interesting challenge to cover the whole system in a day (I haven't tried that yet), but our historic W Class trams run a circuit around downtown during daylight hours and that ride is free. You need a Myki card to ride the system outside of downtown (I kid you not - our transit smart card at present is called Myki !!). Cheers from Michael.😀
My first trip to San Francisco was spring break from an eastern college in 1969. The last day of my visit I bought two 6-packs of Coors beer to take back to my roommates, to a state where Coors wasn''t sold. Toward evening, returning to the Sir Francis Drake Hotel I was on the Powell St. cable car riding up the hill when the cable car came to a sudden stop. The brakeman said that had been happening all day and it would probably be 20 minute to a half hour delay. Some people got off but most of us just waited patiently. Soon a couple of joints appeared and were passed around, shared even by the conductor and brakeman. If it was party time I was gonna enjoy a beer so I opened one up and asked if anybody else wanted one which left me with one six pack instead two. OK easier to pack for the flight home. One of my favorite SF experiences typical of the wonderful culture there in 1969.
The engineering behind this is impressive thanks for showing us all Mike much appreciated from New Zealand
I live far from America in the UK, but I visited San Fran once and it was absolutely amazing to see. I saw several cities on that holiday as it was like an American road trip, but the only city I loved just as much as my favourite European cities, it was the only place where I didn’t have a car and I didn’t feel like I needed or even wanted one. We took the subway, the buses, the streetcars, and of course the cable cars. We also walked up plenty of their huge hills, so I definitely understood the need for the cable cars. We walked up a hill to catch the nearby cable car line, rode it until the end, then turned around and went back in the other direction until we hopped off at the cable car museum, and it was an amazing experience. There was so much cool stuff and it was incredible that it was free, especially considering it was FREE! This video was really interesting and really made me miss San Fran, if I ever go back to America I’ll definitely have to stop by again, and seeing this definitely made me want to check out New Orleans as well.
I think the coolest part about the cable cars is the open sides, it feels great to hang out the side and feel the wind on my face as the cable carries you up and down the hills. I genuinely think my ideal Public Transit system would be something like them, I’ve always wanted to just be able to hop onto a moving car and hang out the side clinging to a pole then hop off at my destination, especially if it was free. Needing to organise around stops and get on and off when the driver opens the doors like a modern bus really limits my usage of transit, it feels more restrictive. I just want to be able to hop on and off as I please, especially if it’s free. (Like I feel transit should be)
I have lived all over the world and my favorite cities always have wonderful transit systems be at European systems built on centuries of public markets and and boulevards, or very modern SE Asian metropolises who took Rail and commuting to heart and didn't bother with parking garages and highways as much.
I loved reading your comments but as someone who lived in San Francisco for years I cringed when you said "San Fran". It is a joke that locals never call it "Frisco" but "San Fran" will also make a local queasy! I used to joke that as a New Yorker I wanted to save syllables so I spoke in acronyms so my friends got used to me saying SF, but never "San Fran" or "Frisco"!
I was green as grass and straight out of Iowa the first time I visited San Francisco in 1985. Rode the BART from Oakland and got off in China Town. What an experience. Loved every second.
11:27 The 900 series cars were built in 1923-1924. Car 952 was sent on long-term loan to the San Francisco Municipal Railway, where it operates on that city's E-Embarcadero and F-Market & Warves lines as part of the Heritage Fleet. 913: Car 913 was sold to the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Riverside County, California in 1964 when the Canal line was discontinued. Later, it was sold to San Francisco Municipal Railway to augment service there by car 952. So far, it has not been refurbished for service, but is stored for future use.
As an SF resident, I love the (rare) occasion that the cable car takes me somewhere I actually need to go that day. Too bad it costs 3x the streetcars, but it's always fun! Glad to see my city represented here.
Also pro tip for tourists, don't get on at the end of the line where you might face a 30+ min wait. Instead walk one or two stops up where there's less people waiting and you can usually catch the next one that goes by.
nice video! as a local it still blows my mind that it's allowed to stand outside, and that there aren't more accidents. i love the cable cars!
I used to ride the cable car to work back in 60's. The cable car was usually my mode transportation around the city. Thanks for the memories - Aviva from Israel.
I love riding the cable cars. Catching that VW bus there was great. I remember San Francisco from the mid to late 60s what a place. New Orleans , full of wonderful things to see, and do and eat.
That Mardis Gras sneaky flash we got there 😂 I actually laughed out loud. I also enjoyed the fact that you’re still wearing the beads the next morning, as if you haven’t been to bed. BRILLIANT video..totally appreciate the casual thing you’ve got going on here.
Glad you enjoyed!
When I lived in San Francisco, my MIL lived right near the Cable Car Barn and she babysat my daughter. So every evening, I would get on the cable car to pick my daughter up. Since I had a monthly transit pass, I paid NOTHING EXTRA to ride these lovely old cable cars.
And any excuse to ride those or the street cars was always welcome. SF is just great fun that way.
Nice job, Mike! I learn something new every time I see one of your videos. I'm 72 and if you can keep an old guy like me learning, you're doing an amazing job. Thank you so much.
Right on!
The F Market PCC Cars are 1947-49 cars mostly from here in Philadelphia, PA and Minneapolis, MN (via Newark, NJ).
They're painted in the liveries of systems that used PCC Cars.
One of the many reason that make San Francisco such a beautiful city and is a world leader in tourism. I'm a local and will never forget when I moved back to the city in the late 70's as a young man seeking fun and fortune. I was very familiar with it already, having lived there before we moved to the suburbs when I was a kid. Of course, may late Dad worked there and commuted by ferry. I found a top floor two bedroom on Russian Hill with a view of the GGB on Hyde St.. I wrote out a check on the spot, $150 a month with a 25 dollar key deposit! As the cable cars clanged by on my new street below. I found work downtown and took the cable car to down and back, hoping on and off, there was a 10cent fare. I thought I was so cool and fortunate living there in heaven and it turns out I was!
It should be illegal for boomers to comment how little they spent on rent
@@PutiFlip Aaahhhhh the advantages age....looking back at the 'good old days'. You see kids, that's before greed and white collar criminal hucker's like tRump ruined everything for the now extinct Middle Class(Thanks also to Reagen and the Bushes!). Too bad our youth has been placated by phones, or people like tRump and his ilk would never be in power to ruin their future.
Thank you for coming to San Francisco and showing it on your channel.
I've been on the cable cars in SF but never knew you could go to the museum and power plant to see how it works. So cool!
Right?!
And it's totally free to visit!
Hey Mike, Bob here. I remember taking the BART in the late 70’s and thinking how spacey it looked. Also love the SF cable cars, such fun to ride. I’m really enjoying this series, it looks like you are having a lot of fun. Thanks.
The new Bombardier BART trains are pretty cool, but they don't look as shocking groundbreaking as the original space-age BART cars did in the 70s. Still they're pretty good trains. Check them out next time you're here.
No longer in San Francisco I now live in Seattle and we have the monorail built in 1962. I doubt if the entire route covers a mile but it definitely has that futuristic floating on magnets feel!
2 cities that are on my bucket list!
That crazy hippie van going down that street was hilarious!
Riding the cable cars in San Francisco is on my bucket list. Just like meeting a guy named Mike Downie
I love San Francisco! Your walk down Lombard street and the ride on the cable cars reminds me of my last visit. I actually drove down Lombard St. It was so cool. Thanks for bringing us along.
Keep up all the fantastic content fellow Canadian! 🇨🇦🇨🇦
Much appreciated!
I enjoyed your casual take on this video though you are pretty casual on most of your posts. Your excitement and enjoyment of riding the San Francisco and New Orleans rails as well as stopping for beignets, made this video fun to watch. Keep up the great work!
I lived in SF for ears and the cable cars are not just for tourists. One fact you did not elaborate on which I only knew because I had conversations with the engineers who run the cable cars... you mentioned the braking system and how it would be difficult to brake steel on steel cables... but the true solution was wood blocks. Depending on the season you can smell a smell like woodburning fireplaces as the cable cars go downhill. The braking system utilizes big chunks of wood almost the size of cinder blocks. It is still the best solution but when you see a worn-down brake which one of the engineers showed me it almost looks like a doorstop having rubbed against the weight for so long.
One minor, technical thing I noticed was that you gave the hippie van on Lombard Street the peace sign. I'm assuming that you were doing it that way for the camera, but a backwards ✌ is actually a lewd insult.
Glad you squeezed in the NoLa St. Charles line but here's a fact that you missed. The San Francisco street cars are all not from the forties. They vary in different decades and the oldest are from the late 19th century and a couple of them still run on the F line. I nicknamed an orange one the Frida because I took them quite often and it did not have front facing seats but instead benches along the perimeter so that there is tons of room for straphangers. It always reminded me of the image of the streetcar that Frida Kahlo was injured in and that's why I ominously named it the Frida.
I was actually on one of the 1940s streetcars on the F line once when it SUV decided to make a turn into us on a rainy night. The SUV was crumpled and could not escape and when I later got off the streetcar which completed its route there was barely a mark on the paint. Don't mess with those behemoths if you're in a car!
It's wild seeing a vid from one of my favorite creators that was filmed a few blocks from my apartment! Great vid!
Awesome! Thank you!
Good video as usual Downie!!! Just to let anyone who plans on visiting San Francisco some advice from a SF resident. The Cable Cars are about $8-10 USD one way I believe. I have not rode them in about 3 years. The street cars do accept day passes and they have kiosks that you can buy your tickets/passes at. and are usually at the MUNI Metro/BART stations on the first level underground. Then the MUNI Metro is below that and BART below that. The cable cars ticket booths are manned at either end of the Powell/Mason or the Powell/Hyde Cable Car turn-arounds. During peak tourist season you may be waiting a good while, because of the lines, just to get on one at one of the turn-arounds. And the operators of both the Street Cars and Cable Cars carry no change nor do they have credit card readers. Those are only at the Ticket Vending Machines or from the Cable Car ticket booths.
As part of my charmed life, I lived in San Francisco for 7 months in 2001, until the company that brought me there laid me off (I failed up to an even better job, so the charm continued). The cable cars were $2 a ride, I think, but I used a monthly pass for all of my transportation, and the cable cars were included. I loved living there. I would turn a random corner and be surprised by stunning view of Alcatraz or one of the bridges. And then a few days later I'd turn that same corner and be surprised again! Maybe something was drawing me to those corners and it wasn't so random after all. I'd take a shortcut through "Barbary Lane". My daily commute took me down the Filbert Steps (and back up after a long day of engineering software). 299 stair steps to my tiny apartment near Coit Tower.
I haven't been back there since 2001, but I hope to take my kids there someday. We had a cruise leaving from there planned in the summer of 2020, but it got canceled when everything got canceled.
I got to ride the cable cars on one of my trips to San Francisco. It is defiantly worth the visit to see the power house and see how the cable system works and how the operator has to connect and unconnected from the cable. I did get one unique ride late at night ridding down hill. The grip man asked if we were roller coaster fans and we said yes. So after we got going where their was no traffic he disconcerted the car from the grip and let gravity take over. Needless to say we went faster than if he maintained the grip. After a bit of fast ridding he engaged the wooden break you mentioned and re griped the cable for the balance of the ride. However he did provide a unique and exciting ride to a group of fun tourists that night.
I've been to San Francisco a few times in the past, the last time I was there me and my aunt took nothing but public transportation for the whole day it was simply amazing! Next time you visit I suggest stopping by the Buena Vista for an Irish coffee but order just one!
The streetcars are amazing, they must bring something really special to the city. Thanks for taking us along Michael.
You bet
Been to San Francisco a few times, but never have I ridden a cable car. I've seen them, but have yet to ride on one. Love your adventures!
0:31 "But of course... hang off the side."
Best way to ride a cable car. We went to SF for our anniversary a LONG time ago. I was standing up at the front and my wife was sitting in the front seat. A woman with her 10 year old daughter got on and sat near us. There were not many people riding at the time. The daughter whispered to mom and looked at me. At the next stop, the daughter stood up. I asked her if she wanted to go to the front. I sat down and let her pass. I think I created a monster!!!
Wow, my two favorite American cities in one video. Awesome!
Those green 1930s streetcars were in regular use up until 1980 or so. That's why they still had plenty to restore.
Those are called PCC streetcars. It was a common design adopted by transit systems across North America as a way to improve efficiency and cut costs versus building bespoke cars for each system. SF acquired a lot of them second- or third-hand and rehabbed them including paint schemes of former operators.
The PCC design was licensed around the world. IIRC one of the big European manufacturers built upwards of 10K of them. I wish someone would build a modern version. For many people they're what they see when someone says "streetcar".
I was in SF over the weekend and rode the cable cars, street cars and MUNI light rail from our hotel to Pier 39. Such a cool way to see the city! ❤🔥
We use to do this all the time when I younger and went to visit San Fran with my aunt every summer. I loved watching them rotate them at the end so we could get on.
I lived and worked in SF for 12 years and my daily commute to and from work was riding the cable car.
Great cities to ride the vintage transits cars. Snappy editing style, works well. Looking forward to seeing your visit to Palm Springs. Live there 10 years. The light, sky, and mountains do not disappoint.
Great video on SF and the different cable cars. Not sure if anyone told you this but, when you were talking about the cable system and showed it on the street. It reminded me of the opening sense to a movie from 1988 in SF called Shoot to kill starting the late great Sydney Poitier and Tom Berenger. So in a way you and your team have brought so light to a great city, cable system and movie! Keep it up I’m there with you my friend!
January 1991 I road the cable cars in San Francisco, hanging off the side. The funnest 2 days of my life.
I went to San Francisco on a school trip over 20 years ago now and rode this same cable car line from the wharf to Chinatown. This was a throwback.
SF is the most famous remaining cable car system. Llandudno, in North Wales has Europe's longest cablecars. Lisbon in Portugal also has 3 short ones. In Wales, the system has cars which are fixed to the cables and they operate in pairs on two consecutive cables; one car is ascending the Great Orme and one descending. So if one car stops, they all stop. The 'driver' has to signal to the wheelhouse if an emergency stop is required. At the midpoint, passengers change cars to continue on the next cable.
Sounds like you also watched the recent The Tim Traveler video!
We got to the end of a line in Fisherman's wharf and was able to talk with some of the cable car workers. One told us to get the San Francisco Muni App and buy a 1 day Visitor's pass. The cost was $13 for any bus, tram, or cable car rides for the whole day. That was cheaper than buying 2 Cable Car rides. This pass was only through their app. We did 3 cable card rides which would have cost $24 otherwise. I like to walk a lot but my wife gets tired so it is very convenient to take any tram, cable car, muni train, or bus for $13. A lot of the tourist spots are really close together like Fisherman's wharf, North Beach, Chinatown, Union Square, Lombard Street are within 2 miles but the hills makes it a lot harder for many people to walk.
Great tip, thanks!
Oh, I hope that you enjoyed your visit to San Francisco. I grew up near the "N-Judah" street car line. We lived about half-way, between the "downtown" area, and the Pacific Ocean. I spent hours on those cars. School children could buy pass-cards for, I believe, $1.00. That was good for 20 rides. 5 cents, a ride, is PRETTY GOOD.
It's been years, since I've ridden a cable car. For years, women were not allowed to stand on the outside "running boards," holding on to the poles. I think it was in the mid-sixties, that was rescinded.
I'm glad that you moved on to New Orleans, from here. I've always felt a "oneness," between the two cities. After the LOMA PRIETA earthquake, I wanted to go to New Orleans, for a certain emotional refuge. Recently, I met a woman from New Orleans, who felt the same feeling, after their disaster with hurricane Katrina. She wanted to come to SF, for comfort.
Great episode.
Another great video! Makes my day way better getting to “hang out” with Mike ❤
Was there in 1967 to stay with my aunt. You could just jump on the street car and jump off. Fun for a 17 year old from the southwest. We did everything including Alkatraz boat tour, Golden Gate Bridge and as they called it then the crooked-est street, China town but not Fisherman’s Warf as it had a large fire and was undergoing repairs. Thanks for the fun reminder. Love your videos❤
These are so cool! Visiting SF for the first time in June. Will definitely check out the museum!
Always a fun time with you. I love that you take us along with you to the coolest places. San Francisco, oh yes good memories riding those cable cars when I was a little girl. Thank you, Mike🌸V
You are so welcome!
Very good videos! First time i have seen them. I live in San Francisco and the guy reporting and showing how cable cars work gave a great presentation. He is fun to watch. Great to learn from 👏 👏
Always a delight when another DownieLive video appears in my queue. Thank you for highlighting two unique and beautiful public transit systems. I was in New Orleans in December. Rode the St. Charles line and had beignets a few times. Two of the many delights available in New Orleans.
Your adventures are so inspiring
The Streetcar is too cool! Such a cool and retro style.
I’ve always enjoyed traveling to San Francisco, and the cable car rides are a delight! Would love to go again.
Great video! I was in San Fran my first time in December and rode the Hyde/Powell line and visited Alcatraz
Very cool!
Fabulous to see the old street cars and teams ! Thanks :)
I live in New Orleans. As a kid we lived on the Westbank of the river and my family would take the ferry. Once across the River we’d use the streetcars to get around. It was always nice, especially around Christmas time going to Fulton Street.
Really great video, excellent editing and entertaining. 🎉🎉 San Francisco is so picturesque. Looked like heaps of fun at New Orleans
It was!
Great nostalgia and a blasts from the past. I really enjoyed this trip down US history memory lane.
Glad you enjoyed it
Those cable cars in San Fran look like fun. I love New Orleans and can say that I have experienced a Downie mode of transportation! I was impressed with the seats that were flipped so that you were always facing forward.
You have an excellent show Michael.your historical knowledge is amazing and your humor is great.I love your show
Wow fantastic information. I’ve seen other documentaries about the San Fran cablecars but this one’s way more entertaining
Thanks for going to my hometown-San Francisco-beloved city in my heart! And I have never been to the Cable Car Museum-great to see-both my parents were raised and met and married there! My family rode on the first of the BART trains-loved it back then in the 80's-we were a military family and moved around alot but The city by the bay was always home base.
I don’t live nearby anymore, but at least in the “before times”, groups could reserve a San Francisco cable car close to Christmas and turn it into your own personal Christmas Caroling Car! Epic!
This was very enjoyable! I love historical landmarks and I really love trains and streetcars. This is so much fun!
I haven't been to SF in a few years. Whenever I go, I ride the cable cars. I love riding them at night. The F line is also amazing especially if you take the whole line. It's a nice view. Lombard Street isn't the steepest street in SF. It's Bradford Street, which is a 41% grade. Lombard Street is only 27% grade.
Looking forward to the Pittsburgh/WVU episode since it’s my hometown. The SFO air train and many of the automated airport trains all have been designed/built/tested/shipped from Pittsburgh since the Westinghouse Skybus debuted in the 1960s.
Great tour of SF. I'll have to check out the Museum next time. You really don't Steep until you are at red light there with a Manual Miata, where all you see is hood ahead. I Survived but would recommend automatic only! the Hills are crazy!
I lived in San Francisco and now live in New Orleans , both are nice but I love the California weather better. S.F. use to have street car lines all over. Old family members were police officer in S.F. at the beginning of 1900's during the 1906 Quake , And they lived a couple blocks from the police station were he worked his whole life and the Catholic Church he went to every day before work. there was a cable car line down the street and the busses. They passed away in the early 70's and they were both in their late 90's, and in the garage was a 1938 LASALLE SERIES 50 with less than 20 K miles on it. Every where they went was on cable cars , busses or Muni. Also he walked on his neighbor hood patrol route, rain or shine.
I moved to SF for work a few years ago and live right by the cable car line in Russian Hill. It's awesome. Feels like I'm in a movie whenever I leave my apartment.
@@ashm7922 It is so hard not to. The view of Alcatraz Island & Angel Island are really something.
What a great video Downie. I had no idea about the engineering and the underground mechanicals that operated these cable cars. TY for a fun educational treat 😊😊👍👍
Me neither!
Fascinating to see how they work. Great stuff as always, Mike. Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
Wow such a unique way to travel. Interesting and loved the atmosphere of the video.
If you want to see the most unusual streetcars in San Francisco -- the ones they rarely ever use -- visit during Muni Heritage Day. If it's not raining you can even ride an open-top streetcar.
Well, that sounds amazing!
Loved riding the cable cars in San Francisco and the super cool streetcars to Castro
BART has their own cable car made by Doppelmayr called a Cable Liner, which is basically a people mover hauled by a cable that's at different locations from London Luton Airport in the UK, the Mandalay Bay Tram in Las Vegas, to the LINK at Toronto Pearson. The one that BART has connects Coliseum station (Amtrak station too) to Oakland International! BART system likes to bill itself as the first modern automatic rapid transit line in the country, but that title actually belongs to the PATCO (also the second automatic line in the world after London's Victoria Line) which connects southern New Jersey to Philadelphia! PATCO opened in January 1969, while BART opened in 1972! And while BART has an 80s aesthetic, PATCO has a 60s aesthetic as they simply refurbished their 1968 fleet.
i bet u don't have that in north korea 🤣
PATCO was a single line. BART was an entire system built from scratch and incorporating a ton of new technologies. As much I like PATCO as surprising oddity. BART was a much bigger leap forward both in terms of the new technologies developed for the system that later became standard on other systems and for the concept of a regional metro that was widely copied all around the world.
@@TohaBgood2 I think he meant the Oakland Airport shuttle train that is cable hauled
@@AshmewStudios That little Doppelmayr line was only built decades after BART proper, way too recently to be considered the first automated line. It's also not a true rail line, just an airport-style peoplemover.
BART was the actual first fully automated rapid rail system in the US and in the world. The train operators on BART are there only for security reasons and for emergencies. They are supposed to watch for passengers not to get stuck in the doors, etc. They don't actually drive the train under ordinary circumstances. The trains start, stop, open door, report on their position, etc. completely autonomously. The entire BART operation is 100% automated. Theoretically, they could get rid of the operators altogether. Although, the last thing that BART needs right now is to have even fewer staff and police in the system!
The PATCO Speedline was indeed the first automated line in the US, but PATCO itself is not an automated system. It's just single exotic line. BART was the first fully automated system with all the bells and whistles. The Washington Metro is it's twins sister that adopted some of the same technologies just a few years later.
I’ve lived in Pittsburgh, Montreal and San Francisco. I take Amtrak from SF to go skiing in Truckee. And Vancouver is one of my favorite cities. So of course I got a real kick out of your videos!!
I went on the cars last summer when i went to sf, we found it easyer to get on the cars, after china town, where people had just got off to go to china town.
I've gotten so much joy out of watching your videos. I've been to both of these cities, and these videos brought back so many memories for me. :) This is my second-favorite of your videos--the first being your ferry commuter cruise from Bellingham WA to Alaska. Keep showing us the world! ❤
Glad you like them!
Wellington, New Zealand, has a cable car service too used by both commuters and tourists. Travelling a steep slope from downtown to the botanic gardens it's stunning views of the city and harbour are well worth a ride if you're ever in town.
I finally did something before you did! Yah me! I rode the Charles line streetcar in NO back in 2012. We rode it to the end of the line. We were there 2 days after Mardi Gras and the trees were still covered in beads. It was AWESOME. I surprised you didn't show the seats switch when the cars go back the other way, since the cars don't turn around. And later, we rode it back. Awesome series Mike, keep it up!
Bravo sir! You brought me back to a visit to San Francisco 25 years ago. There is trick to not queueing up with the rest of the tourists that you alluded to. Your smarter viewers will be able to figure it out.
Again Michael and team🌺🌺🌺💞💞💞
Wonderful journey!!!!
So wonderful seeing our city... being born and raised in San Francisco, Ca.
(Our grandparents came from Tuscany Italy and resided in North Beach, San Francisco, Ca.)
Loved how you then went directly to New Orleans!!!
Your channel is so much fun💞💞💞🌺🌺🌺
Stay safe and be well.
Hello to your family and friends i!!!
Thank you for taking us with you!!!
Your San Francisco And Sacramento friends 💞💞💞🌺🌺🌺
Nice video 👍 i have been on the cable cars many of times and I will be back in SF again this summer ☀️😎
Wasn't expecting a Downie video on Tuesday, but definitely glad for it!
Loved every second of this one!! 🤩🙏💖🚆🎿⛷️
Oh this is such a fun trip! I enjoyed riding the cablecars in San Francisco. Did not get to ride the NOLA street cars, sadly. BUt one day I can.
Apparently the BART was used for some scenes in THX-1138 while it was under construction (1971 I think?)