h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Cable Cars of San Francisco - A34198752
Author: Gnomon - U151503

This is inspired by my visit to San Francisco in April.

This is good - I'd never heard of this sort of thing before

"a heavily loaded carriage pulled by five horses slipped backwards, killing the five horses."
-->
killing the horses.

"Electric trams were quicker to repair than the cable cars so some of the routes were converted to trams."
-->
cable cars, so
cable cars and so

"In 1982, the complete system was overhauled"
-->
the entire system

"The newly refurbished system was opened in June"
-->
newly-refurbished

"In the front half, the gripman owns the middle of the car."
-->
In the front half, the gripman (see below) occupies the centre of the car.

"Outside these are running boards where passengers and hang on to the many bars."
- There's a word missing here.

"The gripper must be slow applied "
-->
slowly applied

"The third lever is one which you should never see in operation."
-->
one that

"each one has his own pattern"
-->
each has his own pattern

Alex

Thanks, Alex. All good suggestions.

I've made all those changes.

Nice work

Only one thing jumped out at me:
>>not so in America, where roads must be aligned with compass directions<<

This is not quite true, as anyone visiting Washington DC can attest. Also, it's quite common for road grids to be aligned with railroad tracks, which can point in any direction at all. It would be more accurate to say
->not so in America, where roads are so often aligned with compass directions<-

Bell ringing competitions? I did not know that.

<> The words 'San Francisco' and 'fault' in the same sentence caused my mind to jump immediately to 'San Andreas'. Could I suggest 'design flaw' instead?

You say that in the 1890s there were several companies involved. Was there only one powerhouse for the whole system - your statement later that *the* powerhouse burnt down implies there was? If so, that must have been some steam engine. Who owned the powerhouse?

Very good entry Gnomon

Thanks, pailaway. I've gone along with your suggestion.

h5ringer, I hadn't thought of that use of fault, but you're right. I'll use flaw instead.

Was there just one powerhouse? No, there were a number of different companies, and each company had at least one powerhouse. I'll have to reword that.

I've looked at it again, h5ringer, and I can't see anywhere that I say *the* powerhouse burnt down. Although there were a number of powerhouses in the early days, I don't see the need to say that explicitly, and it's not contradicted by anything I do say.

My mistake Gnomon; I must have misread it

I've added a link to a photo. If the entry is picked, I'll submit that photo to the eds.

Great entry, Gnomon. Meant to comment before, then was distratcted by something. Family, probably.

Thanks, Bel.

A small typo at the end of the Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason section:

>>Market and Powell Streets marks the begnning of two lines and is<< = beginning

It's a good read

Lovely to read more about the cable cars - and how lovely is San Francisco in springtime? Nice one, Gnomon!

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Woohoo! Thanks, Antelia.

Thanks everyone who helped me with this one. Yes, San Francisco is lovely in the spring. I believe it gets foggy and cold in the Summer.