The Cable Car Museum was established in 1974. It is operated by the Friends of the Cable Car Museum as a nonprofit educational facility. Free Admission!
San Francisco, CA
Joined August 2011
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San Francisco Cable Car Museum retweeted
Working at the @BAERA_WRM Archives yields many oddities, but none like this prototype Northern Electric Ry. steel car!
Designed on Oct. 9, 1908, this McKeen-esque motor-combine would have been the N.E.'s first steel car. Evidently, it was never built. Maybe for the better.
San Francisco Cable Car Museum retweeted
Toronto streetcars once ran in San Francisco. We owned one of them.
In the late 70s, Muni acquired 11 PCC streetcars from Toronto. Originally from Kansas City. "Red Rocket" #1190 was sold to us in 1979. It left in 2006.
In our 80th Anniversary Documentary, see footage of it!
San Francisco Cable Car Museum retweeted
🍇 Before the Wine Train, tourists rode electric trains to Napa.
From Vallejo's ferry slips, the Napa Valley Route hurried commuters and wine country tourists to Napa, St. Helena, and Calistoga. Abandoned in 1937, footage of these trains is very rare.
So, enjoy this video!
San Francisco Cable Car Museum retweeted
I think this is my best poster yet.
It's inspired by C. Coles Phillips' Life Magazine cover, with the reference being a hodgepodge of volunteers around the museum.
It's time to volunteer.
History moves here. Find your purpose in a community driven by passion. Forge friendships, build lifelong bonds, and learn the tips and tricks of yesteryear.
From Archives to Operations, there's a place for you here.
📝 See: wrm.org/support/volunteer
San Francisco Cable Car Museum retweeted
Right now we are focused on restoring three of the cars in our collection: Pittsburgh Railways M1, Philadelphia Transportation Company 8042, and Red Arrow Lines 73.
(3/)
The days of ferries & cable cars, all meeting at the Ferry Bldg...
San Francisco Cable Car Museum retweeted
Resting beneath the fragrant eucalyptus, Sacramento Northern #22 lives its final days at Greendale, on the Holland Branch — 1940.
#22 was built in 1905 for the Chico Electric Ry. and rebuilt in 1920 for the Suisun City-Vacaville branch. It was retired in 1938 and laid to rest.
Finally, Market St. Rwy Co. took over the URR properties in 1921. They continued the Pacific Ave. line until 1929, when its franchise expired and promptly closed it. Farewell to the "Toonerville Trolley"--a reminder of the old days in the City.
That Fair included the fabulous "Calvecade of the Golden West" show, from the early stage coach & Railroads to California. Look closely, about 6:50 min. and you will see the old Sutter St. Rwy co. dummy & trailer dummy come gliding by on stage!!
youtu.be/YpaVZV-WJMw?si=n_kw…
One of my most significant found photo collections to date. A few hundred color Kodachromes of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island.
IN COLOR.
Very few color slides of this event exist. I found what may be the largest known collection of these in existence.
Kodachrome film had only been out since 1936. It was slow and expensive. The fair was built on a man-made island to celebrate the new Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. They called it the Pageant of the Pacific. It ran in 1939 and 1940. Almost everything that survives is black and white.
Charles Cushman shot some color frames that are now at Indiana University. OpenSFHistory has published six 1940 night color slides and a smaller number of daytime ones. A few others are in private hands. That is most of the known color record outside of this set.
These came out of an estate sale in the Oakland hills. The Gayway with Sally Rand’s Nude Ranch and the sunburst lights down the middle of the street. The Tower of the Sun lit at night and reflected in the lagoon. The Court of Pacifica. The Japanese pavilion. Crowds in hats on the wide midways. Fountains and statues. The whole fair still sitting in the mounts.
What a time to be alive in San Francisco.
I am working through this collection but I've published the first 40 or so here (more to come): flickr.com/photos/thomashawk…
San Francisco Cable Car Museum retweeted
Before billionaires and boutiqes, Tiburon was a railroad town; a port that ferried trains over the Bay.
As the Northwestern Pacific RR's southern terminus, Tiburon housed a roundhouse. In this 1930-view, we find it fully stocked, ready to send engines up north to Eureka.
Omnibus RR Co. also had an auxiliary powerhouse, located at Oak & Broderick Streets, to help power the Ellis, Oak, and Post Street lines, as they reached out far beyond the main powerhouse.
The Omnibus 10th St powerhouse, opened in 1889, & contained the winding machinery & cables that drove the Howard/26th, Howard/24th, Post Street, Ellis Street, and Oak Street lines.
San Francisco Cable Car Museum retweeted
New for May, 2026 on the Cable Car Home Page:
On the Cable Tramways in Australia and New Zealand page: A ten year update about Dunedin, New Zealand's Kaikorai Tramway, including newspaper articles.
cable-car-guy.com/index.html
