The Omnibus Company The Omnibus Company was one of the earliest transportation systems in San?Francisco, dating to 1861. Gustav Sutro owned the firm and in 1889 replaced the firm?s horsecar lines with cable operations. The company was the second largest cable system in the City with 11.3 miles of rail, but was not successful. Electric Trolleys were improving rapidly and only eleven years after the line opened, all routes were eliminated or converted to electric streetcar. The Omnibus Cable lines followed the pattern of the current Market Street Cable routes, but on less traveled streets. Meager revenues forced the company to abandon the Howard Street line, from 10th Street to 26th Street, in 1893, after only four years in operation. Market …show more content…
Two ships are now unloading iron. The route to Lone Mountain is to be finished first. The road is to have a double track throughout. The Company has twenty-four cars on the way from New York, and has ordered Casebolt & Co. to make six cars of the Crystal Palace pattern, with windows of cut glass, colored.? As for the other street railroads that are to be built, we shall notice them after they get to work seriously. The Market Street Railroad, running from Battery street to the Mission, is three miles long, but as it has heavy cars, heavy rails and uses steam, it is not properly a city railroad.? [footnoteRef:17] [17: Alta California. June 30, 1863] The Stockton Street Horse Car Line The Stockton Street horse car line converted to cable cars in 1877 Sutter Street Railway Sutter Street Railway The Sutter Street Railway was originally a horsecar line in San?Francisco. In 1877 the line was converted to cable car operation. The line introduced the side grip, and lever operation, both designed by Asa Hovey. Sutter Street Railway's grip car 46 and trailer 54 have been preserved and are displayed in the San?Francisco Cable Car Museum. Since service began in 1866, Sutter Street lines have run horse cars, steam trains, cable cars, streetcars, motor buses, and trolley …show more content…
As San Francisco grew, the once unwanted property surrounding and within Carville became desirable. By the 1930s and 1940s, as development increased and property became more valuable, the cars disappeared to razing or were engulfed into more substantial structures. While it is possible that a number of Carville-style structures still exist in the area, only one is widely known. Steam Dummy Era 1879-1902[footnoteRef:18] [18: Rice PhD, Walter and Echeverria, Emiliano, When Steam Ran on The Streets of San?Francisco, Nov-Dec 1999 issue of Live Steam.] Ownership Timeline Steam Dummy era[footnoteRef:19] [19: Rice PhD, Walter and Echeverria, Emiliano, When Steam Ran on The Streets of San?Francisco, Nov-Dec 1999 issue of Live Steam.] Sutter Street Railroad