Bob Harris
Carpenter Supervisor, 30 years
Its not like you just get here and can build a cable car. You may be a journeyman carpenter, but you have to serve an apprenticeship here too. Its similar to furniture building.
I like to fix the cars that got in a wreck. Its a challenge putting them back together. My favorites were the ones other people thought were totaled. Its like being a doctor and mending something that is broken. The cars haul up to 100 people a day and take a lot of abuse.
When we work on a car, we pull off the front panel. Then just before we put the panel back on, well sign our names and put in newspapers from the era, like a time capsule. Its a tradition going on from before I got here. Everyone takes a lot of pride in what they do here and feels fortunate to have a job like this. Only nine carpenters in the world build these cars.
The cable cars have become a part of my life. They are environmentally sound. They dont use gas or diesel. My kids do reports on cable cars and bring their classes down for a tour. I take a fancy to old stuf, and the kids do too. |