Ropes and Rails: San Franciscos Cable Cars

Ropes and Railstells the story of the San Francisco cable cars in a way that is interesting to general audiences as well as enthusiasts.

The history of the cable car is shown briefly using diagrams, maps, and historic stills and film footage, then all three routes of the present system are shown. Along the way, we look behind the scenes in the carbarn, powerhouse, and underground cable tunnels to see how the cars are operated, maintained, and taken in and out of service, and how the cables are inspected and spliced.