Back in the early 80’s I was riding a Hyde car home when we (somewhat) lost the rope on the Hyde hill below Lombard St. The brakeman yanked hard on the hand brake and the gripman jumped hard on the peddle while simultaneously trying to pull back hard on both the brake lever and the grip. (Try doing that while descending a steep slope). With the smell of burning metal we blasted through Bay St. (Happily the traffic signals were preempted) and slowed enough to stop at North Point. The tourists thought it was a lark but the crew had sweat on their brows.