Special Cable Car Events
Regular cable car service runs every day from 7 am - 11 pm. During the 2023 celebration of 150 Years of Cable Cars, there were numerous special events, including rides on unique cable cars from disappeared lines, tours of the carpentry shop where cable cars are built, and much more. Our nonprofit, Market Street Railway, is working to organize more such events. They’ll appear here as they’re scheduled.
Dedication of a cable car to Tony Bennett
“Halfway to the Stars” — that phrase indelibly associated with cable cars comes from a song made world-famous by the great Tony Bennett, who passed away just before the 150th anniversary date of the first cable car operation. To honor his memory, California Street Cable Car 53 will be dedicated to him on Valentine’s Day at California and Mason streets atop Nob Hill, near his statue outside the Fairmont Hotel, where he first sang “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” in 1961. It will be a heartfelt ceremony featuring civic leaders, and family and friends of the legendary singer.
See a great documentary on the cable cars
Strephon Taylor’s 2017 doc, “San Francisco Cable Cars” is, in our opinion, the best one ever done on our city’s symbols. It’s playing at Noon, on Saturday, December 9, at the Orinda Theater, just beyond the Caldecott Tunnel on Highway 24 (walkable from Orinda BART station). The filmmaker will have a live Q&A afterwards . If you can’t make it, you can buy it on DVD here or here.
Cable car history at Mechanics’ Institute
Mechanics’ Institute is a San Francisco treasure: an organization even older than the cable cars, founded in 1854. Back in the day, cable car inventor Andrew Hallidie was involved with Mechanics’, so it’s fitting that they’re hosting historians and authors of the cable car history Watermusic in the Track for a talk. Native San Franciscans Mike Phipps and Don Holmgren. board members of Friends of the Cable Car Museum, really know their stuff. You can hear them and buy their book at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 19. The event is open to the general public ($5-10) and FREE to Mechanics’ Institute members. The building alone, at 57 Post Street, is worth the visit. All the details are here.
Muni Heritage Weekend
Muni Heritage Weekend, September 23-24, celebrates San Francisco’s transit heritage with rides on rarely operated historic streetcars, vintage buses, and unique survivor cable cars. San Francisco Railway Museum, 77 Steuart Street, 10 am - 4 pm
Cable Car Crawl - legendary libations at historic establishments
Four of San Francisco’s most historic watering holes invite you to taste their special concoctions (and nibble as well), using the Powell cable lines as your chariot. Any evening! Through October, you can win cool prizes too. Here are the details!
Commemoration of very first cable car trip on its 150th anniversary date
On August 2, 1873, inventor Andrew Smith Hallidie personally gripped the very first cable car down Clay Street in San Francisco. On the actual 150th anniversary of that date, history reenactors will evoke that event on the flagship of today’s cable car fleet, Powell Street Cable Car 1, at the turntable at Powell and Market Streets, adjacent to Hallidie Plaza, starting at 10:30 a.m. They’ll ride the car to Aquatic Park (Hyde and Beach Streets), where they’ll celebrate again. Join civic dignitaries, business and neighborhood leaders, and San Franciscans of all ages in cheering this special day. Because the cable cars have been part of the San Francisco scene for 15 decades, feel free to come dressed for YOUR favorite decade, and snap a shot of yourself next to an actual Powell Street cable car painted in the accurate throwback livery of that decade.
"From Whip to Grip": the evolution of Andrew Hallidie’s cable car
Watch Taryn Edwards’ fascinating talk on Andrew Hallidie anytime on Vimeo.
See where cable cars are built, the first and third Fridays of each month through Nov. 3
In the City’s Dogpatch neighborhood is an unassuming bronze building where cable cars are restored and even built from scratch. The first-ever guided public tours of the Cable Car Carpentry Shop will be offered the first and Fridays of every month from June until November 3, 2023, from 11-11:45 AM as part of the celebration of 150 Years of Cable Cars. It’s free, but you must have a ticket. If the date you want is full, know that we do get cancellations. Check for cancellations through Eventbrite by clicking this link.
Ride an original Hyde Street grip the first Sunday of each month, July-October
The last wholly new cable car line in San Francisco opened in 1891 on O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde Streets. That line was cut apart in 1954, but not before it became the subject of a locally famous poem. The Hyde Street portion survived, using smaller Powell cable cars. But you can ride one of the cars that served this line for the first half of the 20th century, restored to its 1907 appearance complete with its gold-leaf hand lettering. Car 42 will carry passengers between the Cable Car Museum/Chinatown and Aquatic Park using the outer end of the Hyde Street line between 10:30 AM and 7 PM the first Sunday of every month from July to October, at regular Powell fares. Board anywhere between the Cable Car Museum at Washington & Mason Streets in Chinatown and the terminal at Aquatic Park near Ghirardelli Square. Combine a walk through Chinatown and a walk through Aquatic Park and the Wharf to make a day of it! NOTE: Car 42’s debut on July 2 is tentative and will be updated here as soon as possible.
SF Public Library photo & ephemera exhibition
A collaboration between the SFMTA and the San Francisco Public Library, “Innovation to Icon: 150 Years of Cable Cars” is a visual journey through time that brings to life the incredible 150-year history of San Francisco’s beloved cable cars. Combining historic photographs, original documents, and unique ephemera from the San Francisco History Center and SFMTA Photo Archive, this exhibit showcases the spirit, ingenuity, and timeless allure of a city icon.
Photo exhibit: 150 Years of Cable Cars
Exhibition of rare cable car photos from the past 150 years, with narrative explaining the cable car’s role in urban transit history and the development of San Francisco.
Ride the biggest, oldest cable car every Saturday, June 17-Oct. 28
This cable car, known as “Big 19”, is 34’ long, much bigger than the “little cable cars”. It was built by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1883 and ran on Market Street until the 1906 earthquake and fire ended our main street’s cable service. It was then modified to run on the expanded version of Hallidie’s original line, the Sacramento-Clay, where it operated until that line closed in 1942. Fully restored, it will operate on the California Street line every Saturday from June 17- October 28 at regular fares. For a special treat, come visit the Cable Car Museum and Powerhouse at Washington and Mason Streets in Chinatown when it opens at 10 a.m. on Saturdays, then board this car when it leaves the car barn at 11:15 a.m. and ride it around the loop and over Nob Hill on Jackson Street to reach Hyde, where it will change ends to get to California Street and commence its regular route. “Big 19” will be carrying passengers on California Street until 7 pm every Saturday through October.