Editor’s Note – In order to make it easier to locate an item of interest or just browse, this roster has been divided into Powell Street single ended combination cars that today run on the Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde lines and California Street double ended cars.

Powell Street Cable Car Rosters

By scrolling through the Powell Street section the following information can be obtained:

• Data about Powell Street cars
• Background – Powell Street Cable Car builders
• Builder and history of each car current and former car that was assigned the same number.
• Roster and car assignments of Powell Street cable cars before and after the 1906 Earthquake.
• Brief History Powell Street Open Cars.

The photo below of Powell-Mason cable car No. 501 represents the transition period of Powell Street cable car service. On September 2, 1956, the then second Powell Street cable car – Washington-Jackson – had been discontinued. The date for the new second Powell Street cable car – Powell-Hyde – would be April 7, 1957. No. 501, which is at Powell & Pine Streets, dash sign reads "Powell and Market, Jackson and Mason Sts. Only" is providing temporary fill-in shuttle service for the second Powell Street line. Note, the red color of the window frames.

Powell Street Cable Car Rosters

California Street Cable Rosters

By scrolling through the California Street section the following information can be obtained:

• Data about California Street cars.
• Background – California Street Cable Car builders.
• Builder and history of each current car and former car that was assigned the same number.
• Pre-1906 Roster
• Post 1906 California Street line Roster of Side Grip Era Cars (1906-1956).
• Post 1906/07 O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde Line Roster (1906-1954).
• Post 1906/07 Jones Street Shuttle Roster (1906-1954).

New Muni built California Street cable car No. 60 awaits final hardware installation before it was to enter revenue service in February 2003. Adjacent No. 60 are two other California Street cable cars stored at the Washington-Mason cable car barn, November 2002. Jose Godoy photo.

California Street Cable Rosters

Muni’s New Cable Cars (1986-2002)

The listings shown below are based on the builders' plaques that have been put on the cable cars at the Woods Division carpenter shop since 1986. All of the cars are new cars except for No. 16, which was re-introduced to the public as a Carter Bros. car.

Each car takes about 18 months to build, at a cost of approximately
$400,000 as of 2003. Given the skills of the Muni craftspeople and the care that is taken in building the cars, it is easy to see why the cars have been called some of the finest rail cars ever built for service on city streets. For example, new Powell car No. 9 and California car No. 60 are regarded by the gripmen as the best performing cable cars of the entire fleet.

Nos. 49, 52, 59, and 60 are California cars, and the others are Powell cars.

The year listed is the year the car left the carpenter shop, not necessarily the year of dedication. (Please refer to the current rosters of the Powell and California cars for the year of dedication.)

The name shown after the year is the name of the lead carpenter in charge of building that car. Although it is important to honor that person, it also must be said that it takes the efforts of a team of craftspeople -- at the carpenter shop, the cable car special machine shop, and the cable car barn -- to put a new cable car on the streets of San Francisco.

The Cable Car Museum thanks Tim Reilly of the carpenter shop for providing this information.

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