What’s the difference between a streetcar and a cable car?
A streetcar’s speed is regulated through the use of a controller the operator uses to regulate the amount of electricity going to the motors. The more electricity that goes the motors, the faster the streetcar goes. Cable cars use a “grip” that grabs on to a moving cable located beneath the street. Cable cars are then pulled by the cable at a fixed rate of speed, usually between 9 – 12 mph. One advantage of a cable car is that it can go up and down very steep hills because it does not rely on the traction of the wheels to move the car forward. A streetcar works best on level ground and hills that are less than 7 percent grade (a rise of 7 feet over a distance of 100 feet).
