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This is a 1/24 scale cable car. The model is mostly wood, with cast metal chassis, wheel and suspension parts along with various small details like the wrought iron brackets above the entrances. The kit contains brass rod that you have to bend to shape to create all the grab handles and handrails. All paint is acrylic craft paint, the wooden bench seats are real wood, stained and varnished to look like oak. All markings come printed on a sheet of plain paper and have to be cut out and applied using an adhesive... I painted the area to receive the marking with Future and then placed the marking onto the Future. It works great!

The base came courtesy of Terry Sumner, and I added the scratchbuilt "asphalt" and "concrete" surfaces, along with the rails. The "asphalt" is model railroad ballast that I glued down to the base and painted gray, the "concrete" area where the rails are is plaster of paris that I poured into molds, then painted and glued to the wooden base, and the rails are strips of cardboard.

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These cars don't have a front and a back... they have two fronts! Both ends are a "front" and are identical, with the same operator controls, headlight, etc. The operator stands in between the wooden benches. When the car gets to the end of the run, it doesn't turn around... the operator just goes to the opposite end, and what had been the "back" becomes the "front," and the car makes the return run.

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Great build Harry. I've got a plastic kit buried somewhere of one of these cable cars that I bought way back in the mid 70's when my wife and I visited San Fran on a vacation trip. I've never built it. Your build is beautiful, as are all of your builds.

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Lovely model Harry. The only tram kits that come to my mind are made by a Spanish Company named OC-CRE. Is it one of theirs? Besides the San Francisco Cable Car, they have a number of trams including, London, Lisbon and Berlin trams to name but a few in their series. Look on their website for more...all in 1/24th scale....nice!

I can remember building many years ago a little San Francisco Cable Car kit by Hawk models in 1/48th scale (I think!).

Maybe Testors have the moulds and re released it? Perhaps someone can confirm this?

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Great work as always Harry! I really enjoy your scale models of early transport and the somewhat off beat ones. I have the mislabeled scale kit, believe its around 1/32. I would love the challenge of the 1/24; p,ease provide details of the kit and where to purchases it.

I do have a question though. While I realize the two ends are interchangeable, I remember that large turntables are used at the ends of the run to turn the trolley around for the return trip. In fact the dio I was planning would place the model on one of those turntables.

Thank you again for showing your craftsmanship!

Cheers Misha

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Great work as always Harry! I really enjoy your scale models of early transport and the somewhat off beat ones. I have the mislabeled scale kit, believe its around 1/32. I would love the challenge of the 1/24; p,ease provide details of the kit and where to purchases it.

I do have a question though. While I realize the two ends are interchangeable, I remember that large turntables are used at the ends of the run to turn the trolley around for the return trip. In fact the dio I was planning would place the model on one of those turntables.

Thank you again for showing your craftsmanship!

Cheers Misha

The line that this particular model represents uses double-ended cars (two "front ends") that are not turned around.

From wikipedia:

The California Street (Line 61) line runs east and west on California Street from a terminal at California and Market Streets, close to the famed Embarcadero to Van Ness Avenue. The California street cable-cars use double-ended cars with "grip" levers at either end of the longer cars which are operated in each direction without the cars being turned at the ends of the line, where the double tracks converge into a single "stub-end" track.

The other cable car lines use single-ended cars (only one "front end") that must be turned around on turntables at each end of the run.

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Lovely model Harry. The only tram kits that come to my mind are made by a Spanish Company named OC-CRE. Is it one of theirs? Besides the San Francisco Cable Car, they have a number of trams including, London, Lisbon and Berlin trams to name but a few in their series. Look on their website for more...all in 1/24th scale....nice!

I can remember building many years ago a little San Francisco Cable Car kit by Hawk models in 1/48th scale (I think!).

Maybe Testors have the moulds and re released it? Perhaps someone can confirm this?

Your exactly right, this kit is from Oc Cre.

http://www.occre.com/index.php?option=com_productos&task=listcat&id_cat=18&Itemid=30&lang=en

I have also built quite a few of their other trams and carriages. I used to buy the kits online at Model Expo, but they seem to now have discontinued carrying them. I guess ebay might be the best choice now:

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/occre

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