The System of Wire-Cable Railways for Cities and Towns: The Original 1887 Prospectus Featuring San Francisco’s Cable Cars

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In 1873, the first cable railway in the United States began operation in the hilly city of San Francisco. In subsequent years, the Clay Street Railroad was joined by many other operators throughout the U.S.A., including systems in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The rise of the electric trolley made most cable car systems obsolete, but San Francisco’s Municipal Railway managed to survive not only because of tourism, but because cable cars make for practical transportation on steep grades. Originally published in 1887, this prospectus was prepared by patent holders in hopes of attracting additional operators and investors. The document describes the cable car system and its operation in text, diagrams and rare 1880s photographs, and presents a detailed list of patents. This easy-to-read reprint of this rare text is presented in soft cover form. It is sightly larger than the original, and slightly reformatted. Care has been taken to preserve the integrity of the text.