Search title image

TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

October 2008

Fannie Mae Barnes:
Carrying the Torch for Women as First and Only Female Cable Car Grip

Fannie Barnes relaxes in her home away from home: the San Francisco cable car barn. (Photo: Noah Berger)

When the hiring managers at S.F. Muni employed Fannie Mae Barnes as a bus driver in 1981, little did they know that this easygoing, then 35-year-old woman would become the first female to complete their rigorous cable car grip program 17 years later. “Pulling grip” for a cable car is no small feat for a man, let alone a 52-year-old single mother.

As a San Francisco bus driver, Barnes noticed that all of her friends in the cable car barn were constantly happy. So at first she decided to try out for the job of conductor — and became one of only three females to hold that position at the time. In the cable car hierarchy, the job of conductor is actually higher up than the grip, although it’s less strenuous work, involving assisting on the back brake and collecting fares. It was a significant achievement for Barnes, but she wanted to drive. Several of the other grips said she couldn’t do it — that it was impossible because women lack the upper-body strength. “Anytime I hear someone say a woman can’t do it, I want to do something about it,” Barnes said. “I believe a woman can do anything.”

At the helm of a San Francisco cable car, the driver is required to control the vehicle by pulling a lever known as a “grip” — a 260-pound device that attaches the car to the cable. The driver must run the cable car at a steady pace of about nine miles an hour. To stop the car, the driver releases the grip and applies the brakes. If the grip slips, so does the cable car. It takes coordination, strength and mental concentration. And did we mention that a cable car weighs eight tons?

The coveted job of being a cable car grip is a physically demanding one — that is, if you make it through the training program. The 25-day training trial puts wannabes on the line, and approximately 80 to 85 percent drop out within the first five days, according to Saadat Ahmad, cable car line trainer. As a result, there is an elite crew of drivers — only about 35 at the time Barnes passed the test.

She wasn’t successful in her first attempt. But armed with her mantra — that a woman can do anything — she began a weight training program. A year later she was up to 65 pounds on lateral pull-downs, 20 pounds on arm strengthening exercises and 160 pounds on a back-exercise machine. She was ready. Her determination impressed her co-workers. Trainer Ahmad says he “put her through the paces like everyone else.”

“I take my hat off to Fannie,” he said. “She prepared herself ... she’s tough. She set her mind to do it, and she did it.”

Barnes did have a bit of an advantage, having first been a cable car conductor. But still she recalls the physical agility and coordination required: “On rainy days, it was hard to stop the car. The driver has to put sand on the cable tracks and use a pedal to pump the sand down on the slick tracks. We had to stay away from moving the cable car into certain positions, because there’s no such thing as reverse on a cable car.”

In August 1998, Barnes was honored with the title of Systemwide Operator, an award given by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to employees exhibiting excellence. She now adds an MTC 2008 Award of Merit to her list of honors. While she was a grip for only about four years, and retired in 2007, her co-workers still have a huge respect for her accomplishment. “Fannie came along and changed the term grip man to grip person,” said Byron Cobb, fellow grip and line trainer.

Barnes had the honor of pulling the grip on Cable Car 9 as it carried the Olympic torch up the Hyde Street hill in the run-up to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. As the only female to ever become a San Francisco cable car grip, she’s still carrying the torch. 

— Pam Grove

See VIDEO: Fannie Mae Barnes

Contents