How They Work: SF's Cable Cars and PCC Cars

Experience the thrill of San Francisco's famous cable cars as we take you behind the scenes to uncover the secrets of these incredible historic marvels. How do they manage to tackle some of the steepest hills in any city without an engine? We'll show you!
We also explore the PCC Streetcars, the most successful streetcar design in American history. These iconic streetcars were once a common sight in 32 North American cities in the 1940s, and now you can still ride them today! Join us on this exciting adventure as we discover the fascinating history of these two historic transit systems and why they remain a must-see attraction for any visitor to the city by the bay.
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[@blue9multimediagroup]

Fun fact: The PCCs on the F Market and Wharves, originally operated in San Fran, in Philadelphia (15 cars + 1 for parts) and in Newark NJ (orig from Minneapolis MN). Although they're painted for cities that operated PCCs, most never operated these particular cars and a few never even operated PCCs, but were added because of their trolley heritage or the beauty of their former liveries.

[@SharingtheRoad]

Very well made video! I was always interested in how these worked, and you covered it well, with great footage too! Well done!

[@RailWeekly]

Thank you so much for the encouraging words!

[@marcogeurts9881]

@Rail Weekly the PCC railcars where also in service by the HTM(the public transport company of the region Haaglanden) from 1949 to 1993 in 1983 they went out of service and almost all dutch PCC cars where screpped except from 16 PCC cars wich came into the musuem 10 in the Haags Openbaar Vervoer Musuem abd that musuem uses 4 as toirist trams,1 tram is now by the NTM(Nederlands Transport Musuem),1 as monument, 1 by the Elektrische Musuemtramlijn Amsterdam, 2 in the trammuseum in Hannover, 1 in the Trammuseum Saint-Mandé, Paris, 1 in the National Tramway Museum,Crich, England and 1 in the National Capital Trolley Museum nearby Washington DC

[@RailWeekly]

Wow! Yeah, these things were everywhere. What a successful design!

[@marcogeurts9881]

@@RailWeekly yes indeed and in Belgium some are still in service in Gent and Antwerp by De Lijn and in Brussels by the MIVB

[@evanstonbalce9588]

The PCCs aren’t the only streetcars that run on Market street. There are streetcars from Milan, Italy which are called Peter Witt streetcars

[@RailWeekly]

I’m not sure if I saw any of those on my trip. I would love to learn more about that!

[@ckildegaard]

​@@RailWeeklyThey haven't run much since the pandemic started. I asked an operator about that once and they said they don't have many staff who are qualified on them right now

[@marciomesquita1976]

It's good to see your channel growing.

[@RailWeekly]

Thank you so much! I’m very grateful.

[@markambus]

Great video. However, you mention 4 cable car lines. Actually, there's 3 cable car lines. Powell/Hyde, Powell/Mason and California St. No fourth line.

[@RailWeekly]

Thank you! And you are correct! Totally misspoke there. No idea how I missed that. Thank you for watching!

[@sfmike711]

Hey Mark, it's Mike Pavini (retired from BART out of W40 in 2013 shortly after the tragic picket line 2.0). How are you these days? Still union rep? Confusion over "four lines" stems from the power house using four ropes under Powell, Mason, Hyde, and California streets.

[@nathanshanas6046]

Sooo.... if the cable runs under the streets between the rails.... then how does that turntable work at the end of the line? Is there another pulley there that reverses its direction and the cars roll freely for a few feet? Or is it something else?

[@RaymondHng]

Yes. There is a pulley that is separate from the turntable. The cable car releases the cable before being pushed onto the turntable.

[@scottfw7169]

For a good overall education on how cable car technology works, and a full history of cable car systems across the US, go find book titled, "The Cable Car in America" by George W. Hilton, published by Stanford University Press, 1982, revised 1997.

[@Mr.Kaveh1983]

whats the intro music name ?

[@RailWeekly]

It's from my music service website that I use called SoundStripe. The song is called "Fairydust Fantasy" by PALA.

[@RailWeekly]

Here is a link to the track on KZbin. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3qaaqB-erGharcsi=P3w_zFJAyXRMzN-N

[@Zilla__man]

Ghays power them