One of the most popular attractions in San Francisco CA is the cable car system. It has been in operation since 1872. Apartments in San Francisco CA often have a view of these amazing feats of engineering. Although a relic of the 19th century, the cable car continues to be a symbol of life in this lively city.
Wire Rope
Without the invention of wire rope, the cable system would not have been able to function. The material was not the product of a single person. Like so many scientific discoveries, it took the minds and efforts of several to arrive at what was a workable commodity. Andrew Smith was one of the early major players as was Robert Newall. Both men began their work to create variations on a theme in England. Andrew’s work was great, but Newall’s manufacturing process was quicker and mechanized.
Wire Rope in San Francisco CA
While a German immigrant, John Roebling, began to produce wire rope in New York and New Jersey, the son of A. Smith, A. S. Hallidie, was operating in San Francisco CA. There, among the apartments of this thriving city, he opened a wire rope business. The product, originally intended for mining operations, specifically for improving the tramways, soon found other potential uses. These included suspension bridges.
Hallidie had invented the California Cable. It was soon to make its way into the construction, not of apartments in San Francisco CA but into the operation of the country’s first cable car system.
The Cable Car System
Undoubtedly, the cable car system in San Francisco CA is the most renowned system of its type in the world. The original car began its run along Clay Street on August 2, 1873. It became instantly popular and other companies sought to emulate Hallidie. In fact, his work attracted the attention of a wealthy businessman Leland Stanford. He decided his cable car system would be the best the city could ever offer. The result was the hiring of Thomas Seale to act as the superintendent of his project.
Stanford, together with several prominent businessmen, launched his own company – the California Street Cable Railroad Company. His intent was less altruistic than that of Hallidie. Hallidie intended to save work horses and people who lived in small homes and apartments in the city, the difficulty of struggling up San Francisco’s hills. Stamford wanted to provide service along California Street where he and the rest of the wealthy citizens were beginning construction on what were to become the city’s wealthiest homes. Much to his annoyance, Stamford had to pay Hallidie a patent licensing fee. Nevertheless, his work was opened up in 1878.
The two lines marked the beginning of what became the growth of the Cable car system in San Francisco CA. In spite of the Earthquake of 1906, two World Wars, a Depression and the misguided attempts of politicians to derail it, the Cable cars continued to run. Today, some people deliberately choose their apartments in San Francisco CA based on the location of the famed cable cars.
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