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THE OMNIBUS RAILROAD & CABLE COMPANY – 1889
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 streetcars.
The Omnibus Cable lines followed the pattern of the
Market Street Cable routes, on less traveled streets
however. 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
Street Railway took over the failing company in October
1893 and promptly converted the cable lines to electric
streetcars or closed them. The powerhouse at Oak and
Broderick Streets in the Western Addition converted
to electricity in 1895, along with the Oak and Ellis
cable lines. The remnant of the Howard Street line,
from the Ferry Building to the powerhouse at 10th
Street stopped operating in 1899, as did the Post
Street line.
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