San Francisco Cable Car Museum

The Cable Car Museum is a free museum in the Nob Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Located at 1201 Mason Street, it contains historical and explanatory exhibits on the San Francisco cable car system, which can itself be regarded as a working museum.[1]

San Francisco Cable Car Museum
Exterior of the Ferries and Cliff House Railway Co. Building Constructed in 1887. Houses both the cable car winding station, engines, and museum. The smoke stack in the rear was damaged in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, restored then soon decommissioned when steam power was replaced with electrical power at the winding station.
Location within San Francisco County
San Francisco Cable Car Museum (California)
San Francisco Cable Car Museum (the United States)
Established1853
Location1201 Mason Street
San Francisco, California, United States
Coordinates37.794675°N 122.411396°W / 37.794675; -122.411396
TypeRailway museum
Websitewww.cablecarmuseum.org
Engines and winding wheels of the San Francisco cable car system
A 2010 photograph of the power house. The signs above each of the three cables ("California", "Mason", "Powell") show which line it is driving.

The museum contains several examples of old cable cars, together with smaller exhibits and a gift shop. The cable cars displayed include:[2]

The museum is part of the complex that also houses the cable car power house, which drives the cables, and the car depot ("barn"). The car depot is not open to the public, but two overlook galleries allow the visitor to view the power house, and to descend below the junction of Washington and Mason streets in order to view the large cavern where the haulage cables are routed via large sheaves out to the street.[2]

The museum was established in 1974, and is run by the Friends of the Cable Car Museum. It is entered from an entrance at Washington and Mason and is open from 10 AM to 6 PM between April 1 and September 30 and from 10 AM to 5 PM between October 1 and March 31, apart from some public holidays.[1][2] The museum main level is wheelchair accessible via a separate entrance.

References
  1. "Cable Car Museum Review". Fodors Travel. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
  2. "About the San Francisco Cable Car Museum". Friends of the Cable Car Museum. Retrieved 2008-07-01.


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