Cable cars began on the steep streets of San Francisco when inventor Andrew Smith Hallidie introduced them as an early form of public transportation.
Cable-operated railways began in England in the 1820s but were abandoned and replaced with steam locomotives after the ropes used for the system wore out easily.
Andrew Smith HallidieWhile working to manufacture wire rope in California, Hallidie invented the Hallidie ropeway for transporting ore and other materials in iron buckets across mountainous districts using an elevated, endless moving cable.
To improve the strength and stability of the cables, Hallidie developed a crucible steel cable with six strands of nineteen wires each that could bend and straighten repeatedly and not break.
On January 17, 1871 Hallidie was granted patent 110,971 for an "improvement in endless wire ropeways" which would be the basis for his cable car system.
According to a 1871 report to the Mechanics' Institute, Hallidie was inspired to work on the cable car system after seeing horses having a difficult time trying to pull cars up San Francisco streets.
Hallidie and engineer William Eppelsheimer adapted the successful mining system and secured funding to try it at the intersection of Clay and Kearny Street, on a route that covered 2800 feet and rose 307 feet up a hill.
The system would haul cars on a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. The cars could be started and stopped by gripping and releasing the cable. In the original system, a grip car gripped the cable under it and towed the trailer cars behind which had carriage wheels. A gripman would operate a hollow screw in the grip car that had two hand wheels used to open the jaws of the grip and lower the grip to grab the cable.
In August of 1873 the Clay Street Hill Railroad was successfully tested, and the Clay Street line began operation on September 1.
The line was a financial success and it would eventually become part of the San Francisco cable car system. In the 1880s cable cars were used in many cities around the world. Hallidie became rich from the strict enforcement of his cable car patents.
Though no longer the main mode of transportation, there still are cable cars operating in San Francisco. The Clay line doesn't exist anymore, but an original grip car is on display in the San Francisco Cable Car Museum (see photo below).
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@2cv:Op maandag 28 juni 2010 17:17 schreef Paladijn het volgende:Met de hoeveelheid onzin die je verkondigd is het geen wonder dat je geen PTA-mod meer bent
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vorige deeltjes, statistieken, wie post er het meest enz enz
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