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39-513: The LaSalle–Wacker Building , at 221 North LaSalle Street (also known as 121 West Wacker Drive ), is a 41-story skyscraper at the north end of the LaSalle Street canyon in the Loop community area of Chicago , Illinois , United States. Originally planned as a 37-story building, the developer bought an L-shaped building aside original lot and expanded the site. Clad in limestone and granite ,

78-472: A grip on the cars was the Fawdon Wagonway in 1826, a colliery railway line . The London and Blackwall Railway , which opened for passengers in east London , England, in 1840 used such a system. The rope available at the time proved too susceptible to wear and the system was abandoned in favour of steam locomotives after eight years. In America, the first cable car installation in operation probably

117-482: A car would leave the terminal every 15 seconds. A few funicular railways operate in street traffic, and because of this operation are often incorrectly described as cable cars. Examples of such operation, and the consequent confusion, are: Even more confusingly, a hybrid cable car/funicular line once existed in the form of the original Wellington Cable Car , in the New Zealand city of Wellington . This line had both

156-492: A continuous loop haulage cable that the cars gripped using a cable car gripper, and a balance cable permanently attached to both cars over an undriven pulley at the top of the line. The descending car gripped the haulage cable and was pulled downhill, in turn pulling the ascending car (which remained ungripped) uphill by the balance cable. This line was rebuilt in 1979 and is now a standard funicular, although it retains its old cable car name. The best-known existing cable car system

195-510: A period, economics worked in favour of cable cars even in relatively flat cities. For example, the Chicago City Railway , also designed by Eppelsheimer, opened in Chicago in 1882 and went on to become the largest and most profitable cable car system . As with many cities, the problem in flat Chicago was not one of incline, but of transportation capacity. This caused a different approach to

234-458: A system in that its cars are not permanently attached to the cable and can stop independently, whereas a funicular has cars that are permanently attached to the propulsion cable, which is itself stopped and started. A cable car cannot climb as steep a grade as a funicular, but many more cars can be operated with a single cable, making it more flexible, and allowing a higher capacity. During the rush hour on San Francisco's Market Street Railway in 1883,

273-462: Is a historic landmark located at 219 South LaSalle Street. Completed by John Wellborn Root and Daniel Burnham of Burnham and Root in 1888, it is considered one of their masterpiece buildings. It measures 181 feet (55 m), is twelve stories tall and is one of the oldest standing high-rises in Chicago. It has a unique style with exterior load-bearing walls and an interior steel frame. LaSalle

312-421: Is a type of cable railway used for mass transit in which rail cars are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required. Cable cars are distinct from funiculars , where the cars are permanently attached to the cable. The first cable-operated railway, employing a moving rope that could be picked up or released by

351-479: Is due to the economy of centrally located power stations, and the ability of descending cars to transfer energy to ascending cars. However, this advantage is totally negated by the relatively large energy consumption required to simply move the cable over and under the numerous guide rollers and around the many sheaves . Approximately 95% of the tractive effort in the San Francisco system is expended in simply moving

390-573: Is often known as the Hallidie Cable Car . In 1881 the Dunedin cable tramway system opened in Dunedin , New Zealand and became the first such system outside San Francisco. For Dunedin, George Smith Duncan further developed the Hallidie model, introducing the pull curve and the slot brake; the former was a way to pull cars through a curve, since Dunedin's curves were too sharp to allow coasting, while

429-416: Is relatively constant depending on the number of units gripping the cable at any given time. The cable car begins moving when a clamping device attached to the car, called a grip , applies pressure to ("grip") the moving cable. Conversely, the car is stopped by releasing pressure on the cable (with or without completely detaching) and applying the brakes. This gripping and releasing action may be manual, as

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468-750: Is the San Francisco cable car system in the city of San Francisco, California . San Francisco's cable cars constitute the oldest and largest such system in permanent operation, and it is one of the few still functioning in the traditional manner, with manually operated cars running in street traffic. Other examples of cable powered systems can be found on the Great Orme in North Wales, and in Lisbon in Portugal. All of these however are slightly different to San Francisco in that

507-659: The Amtrak / Metra Rail yard from Taylor St to 1600 South. It runs parallel to the Rock Island District Metra line. South of 26th Street, it serves as a frontage road for the Dan Ryan Expressway until 47th street, where it merges with Wentworth Avenue. South of 47th, it starts and stops as a local street until it finally terminates at Sibley Boulevard in Dolton . The stretch of LaSalle Street and its adjacent buildings in

546-507: The Holabird and Root -designed structure ( Andrew Rebori was the associate architect) serves as an office building. When built, the beacon on the top of the building could be seen from as far as 200 miles. As with other buildings in Chicago, the structure is upwardly lit at night with moonlight, and the peak of building is typically lit in cobalt blue. The nights illumination design was a common contemporary Chicago architectural theme, seen also in

585-523: The Wrigley Building , Tribune Tower , Jewelers Building , Palmolive Building , and Chicago Board of Trade Building . The building was used as a backdrop in the 2005 movie Batman Begins . WFMT , America's first radio superstation , maintained studios in the building from 1954 until 1995. LaSalle Street South of the Financial District, LaSalle Street gets cut off for a while by

624-735: The LaSalle tunnel was turned over to cable car companies in the 1880s, since it was impossible for cable car systems to span the movable bridges. Closed in 1906, the tunnel was deepened and reopened to electric street car traffic in 1911-12. The tunnel was closed permanently in 1939 to make way for subway construction. In 2023, the City of Chicago approved a series of plans to convert buildings on LaSalle Street from office space to residential. In total, plans have been approved to convert five office buildings into residential spaces with 1,600 apartments, 600 of which will be affordable housing. Moving north from

663-569: The Loop is recognized as the West Loop–;LaSalle Street Historic District . The south end of LaSalle Street terminates at the art-deco Chicago Board of Trade Building , a Chicago Landmark and National Historic Landmark . The LaSalle Street Station commuter terminal is located directly south of the Board of Trade. An art deco skyscraper at 135 S. LaSalle and a modern skyscraper 190 S. LaSalle line

702-744: The Loop, the street crosses the Chicago River using the La Salle Street Bridge . In the Near North Side , 300 North LaSalle is located on the north banks of the Chicago River , one block east of the Merchandise Mart . On the corner at Chicago Avenue , LaSalle is adjacent to the entrance of Moody Bible Institute . The street ends 10-blocks north, in Lincoln Park , just past its intersection with North Avenue , where Moody Church stands on

741-535: The cable, the Minimetro system from Poma /Leitner Group and the Cable Liner system from DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car both have variants that allow the cars to be automatically decoupled from the cable under computer control, and can thus be considered a modern interpretation of the cable car. The cable is itself powered by a stationary engine or motor situated in a cable house or power house. The speed at which it moves

780-402: The cable. Because of the constant and relatively low speed, a cable car's potential to cause harm in an accident can be underestimated. Even with a cable car traveling at only 14 km/h (9 mph), the mass of the cable car and the combined strength and speed of the cable can cause extensive damage in a collision. A cable car is superficially similar to a funicular , but differs from such

819-478: The canyon has been used in the movies The Untouchables , Public Enemies , Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon and Road to Perdition . The canyon was in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off . 41°52′43.2″N 87°37′56.1″W  /  41.878667°N 87.632250°W  / 41.878667; -87.632250 Cable car (railway) A cable car (usually known as a cable tram outside North America)

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858-415: The car. As many early cable car operators discovered the hard way, if the grip is not applied properly, it can damage the cable, or even worse, become entangled in the cable. In the latter case, the cable car may not be able to stop and can wreak havoc along its route until the cable house realizes the mishap and halts the cable. One apparent advantage of the cable car is its relative energy efficiency. This

897-501: The cars into and out of the terminals. After 1896 the system was changed to one on which a motor car was added to each train to maneuver at the terminals, while en route, the trains were still propelled by the cable. On 25 September 1883, a test of a cable car system was held by Liverpool Tramways Company in Kirkdale , Liverpool . This would have been the first cable car system in Europe, but

936-399: The cheaper to construct and simpler to operate electrically -powered trolley or tram started to become the norm, and eventually started to replace existing cable car systems. For a while hybrid cable/electric systems operated, for example in Chicago where electric cars had to be pulled by grip cars through the loop area, due to the lack of trolley wires there. Eventually, San Francisco became

975-483: The combination of grip car and trailer. Rather than using a grip car and single trailer, as many cities did, or combining the grip and trailer into a single car, like San Francisco's California Cars , Chicago used grip cars to pull trains of up to three trailers. In 1883 the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Railway was opened, which had a most curious feature: though it was a cable car system, it used steam locomotives to get

1014-413: The company decided against implementing it. Instead, the distinction went to the 1884 Highgate Hill Cable Tramway , a route from Archway to Highgate , north London, which used a continuous cable and grip system on the 1 in 11 (9%) climb of Highgate Hill. The installation was not reliable and was replaced by electric traction in 1909. Other cable car systems were implemented in Europe, though, among which

1053-612: The downtown area, three stations are present in between Harrison Street and Van Buren Street: LaSalle Street Station on the Rock Island District line, LaSalle station on the Blue Line , and LaSalle/Van Buren station on the Loop Elevated . As LaSalle Street becomes a throughfare through downtown, CTA bus routes 134, 135, and 136 run from Jackson Boulevard or Adams Street to Upper Wacker Drive. CTA bus route 156 runs through nearly

1092-423: The east side of LaSalle. North of the river until the terminus at DuSable Lake Shore Drive, City of Chicago signage refers to LaSalle Street as “LaSalle Drive.” As a frontage road of I-90/I-94 (Dan Ryan Expressway), LaSalle Street accommodates bus routes heading due north, either as a through route (CTA bus route 24) or to connect to one of several Red Line stations along the way (CTA bus routes 31, 39, and 43). In

1131-417: The four cables at 15.3 km/h (9.5 mph). Electric cars with regenerative braking do offer the advantages, without the problem of moving a cable. In the case of steep grades, however, cable traction has the major advantage of not depending on adhesion between wheels and rails . There is also the advantage that keeping the car gripped to the cable will also limit the downhill speed of the car to that of

1170-529: The latter forced a wedge down into the cable slot to stop the car. Both of these innovations were generally adopted by other cities, including San Francisco. In Australia, the Melbourne cable tramway system operated from 1885 to 1940. It was one of the most extensive in the world with 1200 trams and trailers operating over 15 routes with 103 km (64 miles) of track. Sydney also had a couple of cable tram routes. Cable cars rapidly spread to other cities, although

1209-422: The major attraction for most was the ability to displace horsecar (or mule -drawn) systems rather than the ability to climb hills. Many people at the time viewed horse-drawn transit as unnecessarily cruel, and the fact that a typical horse could work only four or five hours per day necessitated the maintenance of large stables of draft animals that had to be fed, housed, groomed, medicated and rested. Thus, for

LaSalle–Wacker Building - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-489: The only street-running manually operated system to survive – Dunedin, the second city with such cars, was also the second-last city to operate them, closing down in 1957. In the last decades of the 20th-century, cable traction in general has seen a limited revival as automatic people movers , used in resort areas, airports (for example, Toronto Airport ), huge hospital centers and some urban settings. While many of these systems involve cars permanently attached to

1287-509: The street. One North LaSalle , the former Field Building , Chicago City Hall and the James R. Thompson Center are located within the Loop on LaSalle Street. The street was nicknamed "The Canyon" due to the tall, steep buildings that lie on both ends of the relatively narrow street, with the Chicago Board of Trade Building as the abrupt end of the apparent box canyon . The Rookery Building

1326-414: The whole arterial section (from Jackson Boulevard or Adams Street to Stockton Drive). Bus routes 72 and 151 briefly runs along LaSalle Drive in Lincoln Park . The street, Chicago Board of Trade Building, and 200 North LaSalle were used in the 2005 film Batman Begins its sequel The Dark Knight , and the 2021 film The Batman , as well as in the 1999 movie Payback . The view facing south down

1365-509: Was issued U.S. patent 97,343 . Other cable cars to use grips were those of the Clay Street Hill Railroad , which later became part of the San Francisco cable car system . The building of this line was promoted by Andrew Smith Hallidie with design work by William Eppelsheimer , and it was first tested in 1873. The success of these grips ensured that this line became the model for other cable car transit systems, and this model

1404-468: Was one of three streets in Chicago to have a tunnel under the Chicago River , the other two being W. Washington St. and W. Van Buren St. Constructed in 1869-71, the 2,000-foot (610 m) long tunnel alleviated interruptions from bridge openings due to heavy river traffic and served as an escape route during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Originally open to only pedestrians and private vehicles,

1443-741: Was the Glasgow District Subway , the first underground cable car system, in 1896. ( London , England's first deep-level tube railway, the City & South London Railway , had earlier also been built for cable haulage but had been converted to electric traction before opening in 1890.) A few more cable car systems were built in the United Kingdom , Portugal , and France . European cities, having many more curves in their streets, were ultimately less suitable for cable cars than American cities. Though some new cable car systems were still being built, by 1890

1482-522: Was the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway in New York City , as its first-ever elevated railway which ran from 1 July 1868 to 1870. The cable technology used in this elevated railway involved collar-equipped cables and claw-equipped cars, proving cumbersome. The line was closed and rebuilt, reopening with steam locomotives . In 1869 P. G. T. Beauregard demonstrated a cable car at New Orleans and

1521-420: Was the case in all early cable car systems, or automatic, as is the case in some recent cable operated people mover type systems. Gripping must be applied evenly and gradually in order to avoid bringing the car to cable speed too quickly and unacceptably jarring passengers. In the case of manual systems, the grip resembles a very large pair of pliers , and considerable strength and skill are required to operate

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