San Francisco. A commenter informs: "It was filmed only four days before the quake and shipped by train to NY for processing. Amazing but true! Which would place the date of filming on Saturday, April 14, 1906."
Not speedy, those old streetcars.
KentG said:
Those are cable cars, notice the slot between the rails. There were some streetcars (trolleys) crossing Market Street, notice the electric pickup (trolley) on them.
Cable cars are still not speedy.
"Not speedy, those old streetcars."
ReplyDeleteThose are cable cars, notice the slot between the rails. There were some streetcars (trolleys) crossing Market Street, notice the electric pickup (trolley) on them.
Cable cars are still not speedy.
Thanks. I've not been to a city with either. (Though Copenhagen still had streetcars when I was little, I think.)
ReplyDeleteI can understand cable cars in San Francisco, but why in LA, that's pretty flat... ?
Not speedy compared to what? The cable car outpaced all the horse-drawn carts. Most of the cars were only slightly faster. One car and a bicycle were maybe double the speed.
ReplyDeleteSomething else I noticed was not only the absence of crosswalks and signals, but the absence of any need for them. If everything, including pedestrians, travels at similar speeds, there's not nearly as much need to keep different types of traffic separate.
Pat
I didn't know they had cable cars in LA.
ReplyDeleteCable cars seem pretty quick today, they rattle up and down the hills quite fast. It's fascinating how the system works with one big winding house driving all the cars in the city. I thought they were reserved for the hilly routes, and am surprised to see them on Market street, which is now serviced by BART and MUNI in subterranean thoroughfares.
Today SF has busses (diesel, natural gas, and probably hydrogen), trolley busses (look like a diesel bus, but have a pick up for electricity), trams (MUNI -trolley or streetcar ), rail (Caltrain), underground 3rd rail (BART), and cable cars. The cable cars I believe are all old (100yr+) and some of the trams are vintage, imported from all over the world.
I guess speedy is really relative. They are faster than walking and probably not faster than a bicycle at least on the flats. Awfully fun to ride tho. I believe the cable cars were developed because "Hallidie was the instigator, inspired by a desire to reduce the suffering incurred by the horses that hauled streetcars up Jackson Street, from Kearny to Stockton Street." (Wikipedia)
ReplyDelete"It's fascinating how the system works with one big winding house driving all the cars in the city."
ReplyDeleteReally? Holy fork! I'd have sworn that was impossible. I'd say the combined weight and friction would be much too great to be practical.
http://www.sfcablecar.com/
ReplyDeleteSays it all, just about.
Wasn't the Glasgow underground a cable system for a bit?
That was great! I'm glad they had a nice day to film. I thought the whole thing looked slowed down a bit. In particular the people running looked like they were going a bit too slow. A hand cranked camera mabye?
ReplyDeleteLA had a fantastic public transportation system for a while. I believe the railroad crossing gate with flashing lights was invented in LA. The movie, 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' uses the destruction of that system in the plot.