From the Cable Car Museum Andrew Smith Hallidie tested the first cable car at 4 o'clock in the morning, August 2, 1873, on Clay Street, in San Francisco. His idea for a steam engine powered — cable driven — rail system was conceived in 1869, after witnessing horses being whipped while they struggled on the wet cobblestones to pull a horsecar up Jackson Street. As the story goes, the horses slipped and were dragged to their death.