October 10, 2007
Powell-Hyde Street Cable Car Line Closed
The Powell-Hyde Street cable car line shut down for the rest of the day today. The cable running beneath the car was "frayed," it seems. Frayed? That...sounds scary. We wonder if any cars have plummeted down one of our lovely hills due to frayed cables snapping.
We hope not, but we wonder. Anyway, less aesthetically-pleasing shuttles buses will go along the route until the line reopens tomorrow.
| Advertisement: SFist Continues Below!
Post a comment (Comment Policy)
When the car operator pulls a lever, the grip latches onto the moving cable and is pulled along. When the operator releases the lever, the grip disconnects from the cable. The car comes to a halt when the operator applies the brakes. Keyword there is brakes. A snapped cable would not cause any plummeting. God bless the brakes.
The cable wears out pretty routinely. When it frays, even a little bit, it needs to be replaced.
Unlikely that a cable car would run away due to a cable failure. The slot brake will see to that. (It is jammed into the slot and the friction welds it to the tracks. Not a smooth stop.)
I believe the cables need to be replace once or twice a year (maybe more, I forget). At the Cable Car Barn, one was often able to see them splicing them together; I don't know if you can still see that. If I recall correctly, the overlap was a good twenty or thirty feet.
And aren't there two cables per line? Running at different speeds?
@mpantone: looks like SF's system only uses one cable. (Other systems used multiple.)
Interesting reading if you're a nerd like me:
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/cchow.html
Ah, looking at the Cable Car Museum's website, you are right: one cable. But my memory was more accurate about the cable lifespan: 6-8 months.
As long as what happened to the cable car in the movie "The Rock" doesn't actually happen, we're cool.
It just better be fixed by Nov. 3 when me and my boys hit SF. :)