I like old trains

I like the older steam locomotives. They were noisy, dirty but they could pull a city behind them. When I was six (1951) my mother took me on a train from San Francisco to Los Angeles. One of these behemoths towed the train:


Union Pacific owns the last of the operating Big Boys and will be doing a tour of the middle of the U.S. with Big Boy No. 4014. If you are interested, take a look at:
https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm

I love trains as well.

I've been told it is a common trend in transgender women to like trains.

a trains geek... lol.. niceeee...

Well, yes I quite like old trains..... but I LOVE Trams.... especially old wooden ones!!!! They are sooooo cute!!!!!

I get Cable Cars instead of trams:



The island in the background is Alcatraz. When I was born, this was the toughest prison in the U.S. and I remember the prisoners waving at the party fishing boat I was on with my mother (age 6). I landed a #28 Striped Bass that trip - first fish I ever caught!

BTW, I have never visited Alcatraz, or any of the bunch of the other tourist traps in The Bay Area.

I have seen those on tv many times, do they have overhead lines then? Or is their a live rail? Here it is either train, tram or trolley bus, but there have been no trolley buses for quite some time! Cable Cars take one up a mountain over here!!!!Wow, Alca traz, where Robert Stroud wrote his physiology books on Birdies and Clint Eastwood made a daring escape.

Celia Eriksson wrote:...do they have overhead lines then? Or is their a live rail?

Neither. There are two surviving cable car lines and on each line has a continuous cable run underground and the cable is driven by a separate drive motor. The cable itself is driven at a constant speed. These cables are driven in a central facility called the Cable Car Powerhouse. The Powell/Mason line has 28 cars available to be put on the cable.

In the image below is the cable drive for (L) the California St. line and on the (R) for the Powell/Mason St. line:



The cable cars themselves ride on rail tracks with a split housing 'Slot' (as in the Cable Car image above) that allows the car to be attached to the cable.

A good read of the history and workings of this relic of the past that should never be forgotten or destroyed is at: http://cablecarmuseum.org/mechanical.html

The car operator, called a gripman, controls the speed of the car by applying pressure to the cable. To brake, the operator loosens the grip on the cable and uses the brakes on the wheels, or by applying pressure to the tracks to stop the car. In the case of an emergency, the operator can loose a 'dagger' into the cable trough jamming the car and coming to a complete and mostly immediate stop. Unfortunately, doing an emergency stop can scatter passengers on the roadway. (Think Isaac Newton and his damn inertia!!!!).

Hi Michaela!!!!

Thank you for the explanation!!! I think that is amazing! It is something I never knew.... a cable under the street, how it goes round in a loop. I will have to look up.

So it truly is a cable car.... please forgive my pics1!!!! I had thought that it was you Americans trying to be different with English, I like to think it's kind of WOI and 1812 hangover....

...Rather like your use of 'hood' and 'trunk' on a car for example! For a hood I would wear over my head and a trunk is to be found on the front of an Elephant!!!!

Celia xx