Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Marland formulated the question :
cable trams like in San Francisco where they can be released by
a grip mechanism.

Thanks, I have always wondered how they worked!


Probably more than you really wanted to know at

http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/cchow.html

There were examples in the UK , Edinburgh was the most extensive but
converted to electric in the 1920s.
The Glasgow Underground was also cable hauled till the mid 1930s.


GH