SFist: Powell-Hyde Street Cable Car Line Closed

dwightsupremacy

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 07:15:11 -0800

It just better be fixed by Nov. 3 when me and my boys hit SF. :)

Agent510

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:41:45 -0800

As long as what happened to the cable car in the movie "The Rock" doesn't actually happen, we're cool.

mpantone

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:46:33 -0800

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.

wilfink

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:35:26 -0800

@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

mpantone

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:11:32 -0800

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?

aj

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:56:13 -0800

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.)

Elizabeth

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:54:46 -0800

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.