TRIPS INTO HISTORY

san francisco cable car power house — Cable car Power House

Out of all the various means of public transportation, the cable car, most notably the San Francisco cable car, is the only vehicle that doesn’t have a readily apparent exterior means of power. Cable cars of San Francisco have no overhead wires, no exhaust fumes, no electric third rail. The cable car glides along it’s tracks effortlessly whether the terrain is flat or highly steep.

One of the remarkable things about cable car technology is that it is relatively simple. By the same token, a cable car system such as the cable cars of San Francisco was very expensive to build. Aside from laying cable tracks, the task of building a cable car system, requires a massive Power Plant which contains large engines and wheel mechanisms. Quite different and more expensive than hanging electric streetcar wires.

Andrew S. Hallidie and the Early Cable Cars

It just so happened that the father of cable cars of San Francisco’s was a man named Andrew S. Hallidie. Hallidie was quite knowledgeable about wire. His father held several patents in Great Britain involving wire cable or sometimes referred to as wire rope. Andrew Hallidie had wire cable patents himself in the U.S. Hallidie was the first person to make wire rope in California having used wire rope cable to pull ore cars during the California Gold Rush.

cable car control mechanism — Cable car control mechanism

During the early days of the San Francisco Cable Cars there were cable tracks all over the city. Each one was run by a separate railway company. Over time there were mergers and acquisitions. After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire things changed immensely. The electric streetcar was on the scene and the devastating earthquake gave many companies a reason to abandon certain routes. The earthquake signaled the time of everlasting change to San Francisco’s cable car lines.

You’ll find the following two articles on our Western Trips site of interest. A Visit to the San Francisco Cable Car Museum and The Electric Railroads.

The Power House

A good argument could be made that the most important part of the street cable car system is it’s Power House. It is from the power house that the wire cable itself enters and leaves. It’s the Power House that feeds the entire cable system. In the beginning, every separate cable car line had it’s own dedicated Power House and their own cable tracks. Some systems actually had more than one Power House. During the heyday of the cable cars, San Francisco had no less than nine different Power Houses and Car Barns.

cable car grip — Cable car “Grip” mechanism

Inside the Power House are very large winding wheels and engines. The wheels are referred to as “sheaves“. The wheels turn with the power of the engines and feed the cable out of the building and under the street surface. When this technology was first developed, the engines were powered by steam and as a result burned quite a lot of coal every day to heat the steam boilers.

The wire cable is wound around the sheaves or wheels in a figure eight. In addition to this, additional sheaves that are known as a “tension carriage” is employed so that the lines stay taut at all times. The tension carriage can adjust tension as required. This will vary by the number of cars on the line as well as the passenger load.

The Street

cable tracks — slot between cable car tracks

Chances are, when you’ve taken a ride on a San Francisco cable car, you’ve noticed the slot between the two rails that the car travels on. It is in this slot, slightly under the street surface, that the cable wire runs. You most likely will hear it’s whirring sound. It is the one and only power source for a cable car. You might find it interesting to note just how much cable car wire is used today in San Francisco. According to the San Francisco Cable Car Museum, the grand total of cable used in all three of today’s cable car lines is 56,750 feet. The cable itself is a very strong bundle of metal wires. Today’s cable car cables run at a constant 9.5 MPH.

The Cable Car

While the Power House provides a constantly moving cable wire, it’s the cable car operator who decides how and when to use the cable. The cable car operator uses what is called a “grip” to engage the moving cable. It’s an appropriate name in as much as what the “grip” does is grip the cable. When the operator pulls back on the “jaw“, the mechanism grabs the moving cable. When the grip is completely engaged on the cable, the cable car will move at 9.5 MPH, the constant speed of the moving cable. The cable car operator can also reduce speed by letting up a bit on the grip. When the grip is unengaged from the cable, the car will stop.

In addition to the grip mechanism, a cable car has brakes. Today, there are three types of brakes on a San Francisco cable car. One is a foot pedal brake. The foot brake operates the brake shoes located on both the car’s front and back wheels. Another is a track brake that essentially sticks wood into the cable slot below. Yet another is the emergency brake which is referred to as a “guillotine brake“. This emergency braking mechanism consists of a piece of steel about one and one-half feet long that hangs under the cable car. If it is deployed, the piece of steel wedges tightly into the cable slot on the street. It wedges so tightly that sometimes a torch is needed to get it out.

The very fact that the grip can fully engage the cable and hold on tightly is why cable cars can go up very steep inclines and do it in wet weather. As you can appreciate, the advent of the San Francisco cable car was a welcomed event.

san francisco cable car museum — Cable Car Museum in San Francisco

The early cable car could go up and down a steep hill where horse carts would sometimes get out of control and cause accidents sometimes leading to the death of the animals. It was this very problem that led Andrew Hallidie to devise the cable car concept.

San Francisco was by no means the only city employing cable cars. Cable cars at one time operated in Sydney and Melbourne Australia, Bogota Colombia, Lisbon Portugal, London England and several more cities.

If you travel to San Francisco California, you do want to add the faThe Cable Car fascinating Cable Car Museum to your trip itinerary. The Cable Car Museum is located at the corner of Mason and Washington just a few blocks north of Nob Hill. The museum is free to visit and showcases some excellent historic exhibits of both the cable cars and old time San Francisco.

Two excellent books on San Francisco’s cable cars are The Cable Car Book by author Charles A. Smallwood and San Francisco’s California Street Cable Cars by authors Walter Rice, Emiliano Echeverria and Michael Dolgushkin.

(Photos from author’s private collection)

bataan memorial museum in santa fe — Bataan Museum, Santa Fe New Mexico

There is a small gem of a museum in Santa Fe New Mexico, operated by the New Mexico Guard which is a must stop for anyone interested in the military as well as the history of the New Mexico National Guard/ Militia. The Bataan Memorial Museum is one of the more interesting New Mexico museums…a one of a kind venue and a real trip into history, displays an enormous amount of genuine military artifacts from centuries past to today’s modern times. In addition to the amazing displays of uniforms, weapons, personal items, flags, patches, photos and more, the Bataan Museum also tells the story of the New Mexico National Guard/Militia from 1598 until today.

While this museum is named the Bataan Museum, the venue essentially honors the sacrifices made by the New Mexican’s in all U.S. wars. According to the museum, their goal is “to preserve the past, present and future of the New Mexico National Guard and to educate visitors about our proud history both in peace and war time”. The museum began as a tribute to the Veterans of the infamous Bataan Death March and has grown to showcase the contributions and sacrifices of soldiers in many theaters of war.

bataan memorial museum — Bataan Memorial Museum

Displays include Civil War weapons and uniforms, Japanese and German military artifacts, flags and weapons, United States military weaponry and uniforms which not only span the earlier times of the 1800’s and the first half of the 1900’s but also through the Vietnam and Desert storm eras. Also included is a 1859 McCellan saddle, a WWI Harley Davidson motorcycle, a WWI freight wagon, a Korean War commemorative Thompson submachine gun, two AK-47 assault rifles, and much more.

You can also view the 24 minute video titled, The Tragedy of Bataan, which was developed in conjunction with PBS.

Bataan Memorial Museum Exhibits

One fascinating exhibit inside the Bataan Museum is a M61A1 six barreled rotary cannon firing a variety of electrically primed 20mm cannon shells. This cannon was used by aircraft during the late 1950’s into the 1960’s. Weapons such as this were designed after the Second World War with the creation of the Air Force. It was widely recognized that military aircraft needed improved weapons systems. The M61A1 weapon largely replaced the Colt Mk. 12 20 mm gun. The Colt had good muzzle velocity but was known to jam, especially in a dogfight.

The M61A1 could be mounted either inside the aircraft or mounted outside on a pod. It has also been used on land based vehicles and trailers as essentially an anti-aircraft weapon. As you can see from the photos, the gun is quite a complex bit of engineering. The M61A1 can be driven hydraulically, electrically, or by ram air. The rate of firepower is between 4,000 and 7,200 rounds per minute.

civil war sword — Civil War Bayonette Sword

Another very interesting exhibit at the Bataan Memorial Museum is a collection of Civil War artifacts. The collection is large and impressive and includes a Civil War Bayonette Sword, a three inch cannon ball which was found at Glorieta Pass, twelve miles northeast of Santa Fe. The Battle of Glorieta Pass was the decisive Civil War battle in New Mexico which stopped and turned back the Confederate advance in the territory. Also featured in the Civil War collection is a Union Army cap.

The Bataan Death March

The Bataan Memorial Museum tells much about the story of what was referred to as the “Bataan Death March“. The Bataan Death March was one of the most brutal events during World War Two in the Pacific. The Japanese military captured and force marched 12,000 Americans and 68,000 Philippines from the island of Corregidor to northern Luzon. The prisoners were denied food and water and many stragglers were killed along the way. It is estimated that the Japanese killed about 1,000 Americans and more than 10,000 Philippine soldiers during the Bataan Death march. Many of those who did survive the initial march died later while being transported to Japan on what were called “hell ships”. It was beyond a doubt, one of the largest atrocities of World War Two.

civil war cannon ball — Three inch Civil War cannon ball found at Glorieta Pass New Mexico

The New Mexico National Guard

The history of the New Mexico National Guard goes all the way back to 1598 as the Spanish militia. The citizen soldiers were involved in their particular vocation during the day and were ready to serve when called to duty. The New Mexico Guard units were involved during the Indian War campaigns of the old west as well as during the Civil War years. The two most significant battles of the Civil War was the battles of Valverde and Glorieta Pass. New Mexican units were also involved in the Spanish American War as part of Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders.

In addition to the above, New Mexican Guard units were involved in General John Pershing’s pcampaign in Mexico against the forces of Poncho Villa. Their duty extended to World War One, World War Two, and Vietnam. The 188th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the New Mexico Air National Guard spent one year in Vietnam. New Mexico Guard units were also involved in the Desert Shield and Desert Storm actions in 1990-1991.

Two additional articles you’ll find interesting are the World War Two Sinking of the Robert E. Lee in the Gulf of Mexico and on our Western Trips site, the World War Two Defenses at Galveston Texas.

world war two japanese hand grenade — Exhibit of World War Two Japanese hand grenade

Visiting the Bataan Memorial Museum

The Bataan Memorial Museum is dedicated to the bravery and sacrifice of the 200th and 515th Coast Artillery regiments who fought at both Bataan and Corregidor until ordered to surrender to the much larger force of the Japanese Army. It should be noted that New Mexico’s World War Two involvement extended past the Philippines. New Mexico’s 804th Tank destroyer battalion and the 120th engineers battalion fought in Europe.

The Bataan Memorial Museum, operated by the New Mexico National Guard, is located at 1050 Old Pecos Trail in Santa Fe New Mexico. Admission is free and the hours are 10A-4P, Tuesday through Saturday. The location is just a very short drive south of the Santa Fe plaza in the direction of Museum Hill.

The Bataan Memorial Museum is an extraordinary museum and would be a great addition to your things to do in Santa Fe trip planner. When you’re deciding which of the many New Mexico museums to visit, be sure to add this one to your itinerary. Your stop there will be an interesting trip into history.

(Photos from author’s private collection)

Cable Cars of San Francisco / Cable Tracks

New Mexico Guard / Bataan Memorial Museum