This silent film “Ascending to Heaven on the Great Mt. Lowe Incline” dates to the year 1907. The film shows a view at :24 of the Pacific Electric Railway car #1 making its way down into Rubio Canyon. At :33 is a shot of the ascending view from car #2. At :53 the termination point, Echo Mountain House, is shown as well as the cable driving the funicular. At 1:10 are views inside a trolley car as it makes its way towards the Alpine Tavern. At 1:19 is a sign for Willard’s Canyon. At 1:28 is a view of the famed Circular Bridge. At 1:58 a group of riders on horseback trek up the mountain. At 2:25 a sign for the Mt. Lowe Scenic Railway Mule Train followed at 2:29 by a shot of the mule ‘Herbert’ on duty with the rail car.
The Mount Lowe Railway was the third in a series of scenic mountain railroads in America created as a tourist attraction on Echo Mountain and Mount Lowe, north of Los Angeles, California. The railway, originally incorporated by Professor Thaddeus S. C. Lowe as the Pasadena & Mt. Wilson Railroad Co.[1] existed from 1893 until its official abandonment in 1938, and had the distinction of being the only scenic mountain, electric traction (overhead electric trolley) railroad ever built in the United States. Lowe’s partner and engineer was David J. Macpherson, a civil engineer graduate of Cornell University. The Mount Lowe Railway was a fulfillment of 19th century Pasadenans’ desire to have a scenic mountain railroad to the crest of the San Gabriel Mountains.
The Railway opened on 4 July 1893, and consisted of nearly seven miles (11.2 km) of track starting in Altadena, California at a station called Mountain Junction. Atop Echo stood the magnificent 70-room Victorian hotel, the Echo Mountain House. Only a few hundred feet away stood the 40-room Echo Chalet which was ready for opening day. The complement of buildings on Echo included an astronomical observatory, car barns, dormitories and repair facilities, a casino and dance hall, and a menagerie of local fauna
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
