San Francisco Cable Car Museum: Free & Dog-Friendly

Cool information, dog-friendly location* AND free!? It’s all our favorite things coming together at the San Francisco Cable Car Museum.

After riding on an iconic San Francisco cable car, it made what we were seeing at the museum so much more fascinating. Located in Nob Hill, it was only a short walk from the hotel we were staying at.

We’d been walking all around, hearing the hum of the cables under the streets, seen the operators at intersections making adjustments and now it was time to find out the inside scoop!

Here’s a video that shows just what you hear and see as you walk around the streets of San Francisco.

Once you head inside you’re greeted by historical artifacts immediately. You enter and can go upstairs to the main part of the museum or downstairs to the Sheave Room viewing area.

Go downstairs first. You get a really cool view of what’s happening under the streets in the Sheave Room and then you can head upstairs and take your time with all of the information. While it’s not excessively loud, if you or any of your party have hearing sensitivities you may want ear plugs or ear coverings while in the museum because there’s always a hum of the cables as they move the cars around the city.

Have a look at this video showing what you can see under the street in the Sheave Room at the San Francisco Cable Car Museum.

Once you head upstairs you find out more about the inner workings of the cable cars, the history of the cable car system and about the San Francisco fire.

When you arrive at the top of the stairs, the first thing that draws your attention is watching the cables move for the different lines. Each is labeled and I personally found watching the way each cable moved mesmerizing.

Here’s a video of what the inner workings of the winding look like in the San Francisco Cable Car Museum.

When you can pull yourself away there are great exhibits to learn even more about the cable cars of San Francisco. Like the Clay Street Hill Railroad Car No 8. It’s the only surviving car from the 1873 original fleet and now the oldest cable car in the world!

There were originally 8 different cable car companies and each had their own cable/track widths so that no other company could use their cables.

Even with only 3 remaining routes, all of these cables need a lot of maintenance. The cables are run for 19 hours a day; for those other 5 hours the cables are stopped for maintenance.

How do they keep up with all those miles of cables in only 5 hours a day? They have an ingenious method for finding out when a cable begins to fray. They have a strand alarm and then they splice the new cable in with the old making it as good as new.

The cable cars are supported by trucks which are the mechanical pieces of the body. The trucks could run without the wooden body, but that provides the shelter and seating for the people riding the cable cars.

Another fascinating display is the new and used components of the cable cars including cables, brakes and tracks.

One exhibit that I found particularly interesting was the token exhibit. It shows the different types of tickets and tokens used in the cable cars over the years. There’s also a lot of cool artifacts from the operators including their badges and ticket punches, although now you get a paper ticket or you use an app. (Boo! The paper ticket is so much more fun!)

There’s even more to see, but you’ll have to go for yourself to find out all that the San Francisco Cable Car Museum has to offer – plus there’s a great gift shop. One final thing that’s special is watching vintage photos and “view master” style machines to see pictures from the fire of San Francisco – so get some change from the gift shop and take a peek.

One thing Stephen mentioned in his post about the San Francisco cable cars is that they were threatened in 1947. But one woman stood up and organized the people of San Francisco to vote on whether or not their cable cars should be taken away. Read more about Frieda Klussman “The Cable Car Lady” below.

We had a great time – taking a little over an hour – at the free and dog-friendly* San Francisco Cable Car Museum. It’s a must-visit when you’re taking in the sites. It’s not as well known as the cars themselves, The Golden Gate Bridge or even the Pier 39 sea lions, but it will give you a better understanding about one of the most iconic things you can see and do in San Francisco.

*Full disclosure: We didn’t bring Truffles with us that day but we asked at the end and they confirmed they were indeed dog-friendly. The cable car rides are also dog-friendly if they have a ticket and wear a muzzle or are in an enclosed carrying case. They were kindly flexible with us, having Truffles in her backpack that night, but be aware that we were lucky and want to pass on all the correct info for any cable car rides with your pet.