Rails of the Golden City • NEW!
Streaming Rental $4.50
50th Anniversary of Cable Cars in San Francisco • 1873-2023
In 1873, Andrew Hallidie utilized wire rope to run a Cable Car on the Clay Street hill in San Francisco. This film celebrates 150 years of railroads in the City by the Golden Gate. Drawing on archival footage dating back to the Earthquake of 1906, and stills from 1873, the story is told of trains running in SF. Motion Picture film sources include major footage from the archives of the Western Railroad Museum in Suisun City, and from the Prelinger Archive.
Operations of the Southern Pacific Railroad, the Municipal Railway of SF, and the Market Street Railway are shown in detail. Footage of the earthquake – before and after – highlight the moments when San Francisco closed the doors on the halcyon days of the Big Bonanza of the Comstock, richly detailed by the eloquent writings of Lucius Beebe. Kodachrome footage of the city between 1940 and 1955 allows one to visit a time which will never come again.
16mm COLOR FOOTAGE OF:
8 Cable Car Lines
6 Lines of Market Street Railway’s White Front Cars
3 Abandoned Muni Streetcar Lines
Southern Pacific Steam in 1955
Shops, Carbarns, Maps
”There's only one word that describes this DVD, and that word is ‘Wow’. I mean, literally just wow. The footage here is so rare, so crisp, so clear, some of it looks like it was filmed yesterday. There is so much to absorb here. Great value for the money. Very highly recommended!”
- Frank Garon, Railfan and Railroad Magazine
64 Minutes • Stereo Sound – Wide Screen
