Now that tram has no horses pulling it and no electrical wires above it. Once again the cop and the guy he's standing with are the only ones looking at the photographer. Photographers must have been pretty common at that time.
Well, that article you linked does make that statement but it has no evidence to back it up. I don't believe there is an underground cable powering the above tram, its easy to see that all three rails are just that, rails, with nothing under the ground. You can even see a gap between the center rail and the ground, at the closer left.
The reason I was interested in that tram is that it must be powered electrically, like this one in Innsbruck which is similar to ones I have ridden in Nurnberg, Tram nostalgia in Innsbruck
which we called Strassenbahn. You will notice it gets its power from the accordion-like device on the roof that runs along the wire overhead. The tram above does not have any wires overhead and I find it hard to believe its drawing power from the rails on the ground, which don't look very well insulated, so that would mean it is running on batteries. That would require some pretty good deep cycle batteries for the fall of 1900. Possibly the center rail has power and some sort of insulation to keep it from grounding out, but it would cause a danger to people stepping on it if there were very much.
Also notice that wobbly-ass right rear wheel on the horse cart to the right of the tram, against the curb. Must have caught an edge going over the rails.
What do you define as evidence?
Its not an electrical cable. Its an endless cable/rope/wire using the same mechanism as overhead chair lifts use.
The trolley driver operates a clamp which grabs the moving cable and it moves along the tracks. When he backs the clamp off the trolley slows and stops the cable carries on moving.
Whether you believe it or not its how it is and was done.
Go to San Francisco and see a system in action. Ask questions, observe. Cable Cars
Or go to any ski resort and observe the chair lift system.
Just found this;
Source
Cable Vision: How many times have the streets around Union Square been dug up? Here’s one of the very first times, in 1891, as workmen install a cable line for New York’s very first cable car system. Notable about this particular stretch is the fact that this would become part of the notorious Dead Man’s Curve, where cars would speed around the northwest corner of the park.
