Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About San Francisco’s Cable Cars
Ever since they became a part of the city’s transit system, they have been iconic mainstays of its cityscape
- By Jeff Greenwald
- Smithsonian.com, January 04, 2013
(Courtesy of the SFMTA Photo Archive/©2011 SFMTA)
Building a cable car is an exacting art that takes several dozen craftsmen 18 to 24 months to complete.
“Skilled carpenters create the frame and body, mainly of oak and other hardwoods” says Norbert Feyling, whose family has worked in cable car maintenance for three generations—since the 1880s. “The roof is tongue-and-groove Alaskan spruce, covered in canvas. The fittings are of iron, steel and polished brass. The fresh wood smell and bare oak grain of an unpainted cable car is a thing of rare beauty.”
New cable cars are painted at the cable car barn. The seats, stanchions and ceiling receive multiple coats of varnish. “It’s a slow, precise process, all hand brushed,” Feyling adds reverently. “No spray guns are used.”
Comments (2)
Here's a great film taken from a San Francisco streetcar in 1906, just before the earthquake: http://www.flixxy.com/san-francisco-1905-historical-footage.htm
Posted by Don on January 8,2013 | 05:42 PM
I really enjoyed reading about the history of the cable cars, and the sound tracks of the bells added to the fun !! What a great touch !!!
Posted by roslyn miller on January 5,2013 | 09:28 PM