Re: Knott's Train Farm

Not all went back to San Francisco. Orange Empire Railway Museum obtained #43. Being a 42" gauge car it is kept with the Los Angeles Railway collection.

The cars that were sold to Knotts were cars from Cal Cable's O'Farrell and Hyde Street line. This was the north-south line that crossed the east-west California Street line at the Cal Cable power house/carbarn. Cable grip systems of the two lines were different and the cars for the two lines were kept on separate levels of the building. The original California Street line used a side grip while the later used a top grip similar to the Powell Street lines. After the City acquired the Cal Cable it rebuilt the California line to operate with top grip, connected the north end of the Hyde line to the Powell Street lines and abandoned the southern end of that line, and closed the Cal Cable power house moving all the cars to the old Powell Street line.

The Hyde Street line was one of the few north-south lines in San Francisco and was the last cable line built and as such had to take the inferior (lower cable) position at each crossing. On a round trip there were 21 let-go locations! It even had a poem written about it.

See:
Ballad of the Hyde Street Grip
Gelett Burgess’ "The Ballad of the Hyde Street Grip"

Brian Norden