Quite how the bureaucrats haven't closed this down is anyone's guess: San Francisco Cable Cars. Controlled by the operator clutching a 1960s style bus handbrake lever on to a cable running up the centre of the road, with passengers hanging off the side of the incredibly low capacity 80 year old plus vehicles. It is nuts and must be the maddest and most dangerous form of public transport in the western world. Absolutely fabulous - I went to SF in 2012.
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| On-street running, rails embedded in the road surface, and the centre 'rail' is actually a hole with a moving cable. |
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| Reversal at termini is via a turntable in the middle of a pedestrianised street! |
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| The nature of the traction means the cars are man handled to reverse. |
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| The pulleys operating the San Francisco Cable Car are open to the public to view as part of the museum of the cable car. |
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| Cable car in operation, the services are operated over the steep inclines between the Market Street commercial centre and the North Beach/Fisherman's Wharf area. |
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| Cable car in motion complete with passengers clinging on the side. |
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| And the rider's view! Of course when in SF you have to have a go! |
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| Cable car climbing away from Fisherman's Wharf, |