. >> i think it was gilette burgess wrote a very nice story about that in an article called the pickaroo. s about this retired cable car conductor who eventually retired. and the old car he once operated out in the dunes. >> reporter: but the reality never really lived up to the romance. >> they were very lightly constructed. they were designed to carry people, not for people to live in. i would suspect they got cold, drafty and windy. and they were continually patching and repairing, caulking windows. >> reporter: following the 1906 earthquake, some moved here in a desperate search for housing in a devastated city. by 1908 carville's population had grown to 2500. but in 1913, mayor sunny jim rolf expressed horror at what he called the miserable living conditions and ordered carville cleared out. most of the converted cable cars were burned down to make way for development of what would eventually be called the sunset district. still very few of the carville homes have survived within houses that have grown up around them. this house on the great highway lacks like nothing special fr