Ride the Cable Car Lines

There are three different cable car lines that operate in San Francisco, The Powell-Mason, Powell-Hyde, and California Street lines. Following is a brief description of the routes of each line and their inbound destinations.

The Powell-Hyde & Powell-Mason Lines

Two of San Francisco’s three cable car lines connect downtown with Fisherman’s Wharf. The Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde lines begin their inbound runs at the most-photographed cable car turntable, where Powell meets Market Street.

Both Powell Street lines (Powell-Mason cars carry yellow destination signs, Powell-Hyde cars maroon) share the tracks on Powell Street, past Union Square and up Nob Hill, where they cross the California Street cable car line.

When you’re on an inbound Powell car, watch the gripman as you approach California Street. Because the California Street cable crosses above the Powell cable, the Powell cable must be dropped lest it slice the California cable in half,

and the cable car must coast across the intersection. The cable car gripman must “drop the rope” precisely as the Powell car crests the hill, or the car will lose its momentum and slide backwards to Pine Street. It’s probably the trickiest maneuver a grip has to execute on the system.