Cablecars on billheads

Problems with horsecars included the fact that any given animal could only work so many hours on a given day, had to be housed, groomed, fed and cared for day in and day out, and produced prodigious amounts of manure, which the streetcar company was charged with storing and then disposing of. Since a typical horse pulled a streetcar for about a dozen miles a day and worked for four or five hours, many systems needed ten or more horses in stable for each horsecar. Horsecars had many limitations. Animals could only work so many hours on a given day, had to be housed, groomed, fed and cared for day in and day out, and produced prodigious amounts of manure, which the streetcar company was charged with storing and then disposing of. Since a typical horse pulled a streetcar for about a dozen miles a day and worked for four or five hours, many systems needed ten or more horses in stable for each horsecar. In addition, horrific accidents occurred with passengers and horses. In 1873 the cable car was developed. Cable cars were hauled by a cable that was long cable under the city's streets. City's converted horsecar lines to cable car lines by digging a ditch between the rails and building a chamber called a vault from one part of the track to another. The first cable cars appeared in San Francisco. The largest fleet was in Chicago. Most American cities had cable cars by 1890.