February 27, 2021March 21, 2025 Rick Laubscher

Chronicle, 1947: cable cars ‘surely dead’

February 27, 2021March 21, 2025 Rick Laubscher Features, History Spotlight

In February 2021, controversy around the future of San Francisco’s iconic cable cars swirled again, after a Chronicle column by Heather Knight that seemed to imply the three cable lines could be junked in 2023 unless San Francisco voters pony up lots more bucks for SFMTA/Muni to keep running them. (For the record, SFMTA denies the cable cars would be junked. We have covered this controversy in Inside Track, our exclusive member magazine.

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February 12, 2021March 21, 2025 Rick Laubscher

End of (last original) track

February 12, 2021March 21, 2025 Rick Laubscher History Features, History Spotlight

When street railway companies laid tracks in San Francisco streets, they were responsible for maintaining the area around the tracks. That’s part of the reason it was customary to lay a row of basalt pieces right next to the outer rails. The dense, heavy, gray stone is correctly called Belgian block or sett though often mistakenly called cobblestone. (Cobbles are more egg shaped.)