1893)^ - Photograph of the first passengers of Professor S.C. Lowes dramatic Mount Lowe Railway, July 4, 1893. There are a couple of dozen people in the rail car (number 9) which is headed toward the camera on the circular bridge. The trestle structure is visible below the rails. The hotel on the mountaintop is visible at left as is the rail approach to the hotel. At the turn of the century (1893 - 1938), a famous Pacific Electric excursion was the Mt. Lowe trip. From Los Angeles, sightseers took a Pasadena car to Altadena and Rubio Canyon. They then transferred to a cable car on the Incline Railway that went up a 62% grade to Echo Mountain. From there they would take a narrow-gauge trolley car winding its way up the rugged San Gabriel Mtns. and finally would arrive at Alpine Tavern on Mt. Lowe, a nearly 7 mile railway ride from the base of the mountain. The views were spectacular and on most days Catalina Island, over 60 miles away, could be clearly be seen. In 1892, Thaddeus Sobieski Coulincourt Lowe, also known as Professor T. S. C. Lowe, founded the Mount Lowe project and Mount Lowe Railway. Oak Mountain, a 6,100 foot peak behind Echo Mountain, was renamed Mount Lowe in his honor. The rail system was engineered by David J. Macpherson and completed in 1893.*
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 06:16:56 +0000
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