Andrew Hallidie and the trolley

Andrew Hallidie was born in London on March 16, 1836, the son of Andrew and Julia Smith. His father was an engineer and inventor and developed a fascination for “wire rope.” In 1835, he patented an invention and it became widely used in the mining districts of England. When Andrew became baptized, he honored his uncle, Sir Andrew Hallidie, a physician to King William the IV and later to Queen Elizabeth and his name was recorded as Andrew Smith Hallidie.

Andrew became interested in his dad’s work and became highly proficient and knowledgeable in the use of “wire rope” and, when his father went to California in 1852 to perform some work in his mines, Andrew went with him. When his father returned to England, Andrew remained in the mine country and prospected for gold. In addition, he became a consultant to the miners in the use of wire suspended-flumes to carry water and use of the wire in ore haulage.

In 1857, Andrew went to San Francisco and began a plant that manufactured wire cable. The plant, A.S. Hallidie and Company, was successful and he designed suspension systems for bridges and numerous systems for hauling ore out of mines and over hilly terrain. During this time, the use of horses propelled the few trolleys attempting to provide transportation in the lower part of San Francisco. The horses, he observed, were poorly suited for the steep hills and many were killed while working the hills. Another problem arose using horses. A horse produces 10 pounds of manure per day, every day of their life. This manure was everywhere and became a health concern. What to do with the thousands of pounds of manure produced in one day?

In 1869, according to the story told by Andrew, he observed a trolley being pulled up one of the many hills to the west of downtown. It was rainy and the horses struggled to move the trolley. Suddenly, the trolley and horse began sliding down the hill — the brakes had failed and the cable car began pulling the horses down the slippery hill. When the trolley reached the bottom of the hill, the horses were badly injured. Hallidie swore to himself he was going to make a better system to haul the trolleys up hills without use of a horse.

Hallidie began working out plans for a new type of trolley, one that did not use horses but a cable of wire instead. In 1872, Hallidie obtained a franchise from the city to run a trolley up California Street. After financing proved difficult, he decided to build the cable-car trolley up Clay Street as many of his investors lived on that street. In 1872, Hallidie began the practical work needed to actually build a cable system. The cable car was to begin at Kearny Street and run to the summit at Jones Street. It would climb up the east side of Nob Hill, climbing a total of 305 feet. The powerhouse would be west of Jones Street at Leavenworth Street. An endless wire cable would run underground in a conduit with a narrow slot just wide enough for the “grip” to enter. Stretching of the cable was a problem to be worked out. All of this had to be worked out and be working by the opening date of Aug. 1, 1873. It was a day and night of constantly solving problems for Hallidie because he had to supervise and OK everything that was done.

The night before the public demonstration, Hallidie and workers were at Clay Street at 5 a.m. on a foggy morning. Andrew wanted to do another run and check out the equipment before the 

Rediscovering the Peninsula runs every weekend. It is compiled through our archives created by Jim Clifford and the late Darold Fredricks.