CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Inspiration Point and
The O.M.&M. Railway


During the period of World War I, the Pacific Electric Railway built a visitors' spot about a half mile away from the Tavern. It is at the base of one in a series of peaks along the front range called Inspiration Point. see map Known as Inspiration Point itself, the spot allows a look back down into the valley, L.A. basin and out as far as the ocean, conditions providing. Contrary to a number of photographs that tout the view as broad and panoramic, the slot of Castle Canyon provides only a slice of view.
To help point out some of the features down the hill, sighting tubes were mounted, like looking through a paper roll, to act as view finders of buildings and locations. As seen in the photo above, a ramada was erected to protect visitors from the open sun.

In the middle of the photo at the top, notice the narrow gage track which belonged to the O.M. & M. Railroad (One Man and a Mule.)

The Mule was Herbert who pushed–instead of pulling, in order to keep dust off the passengers–a Model T Ford framed, open bench car down a crooked three-mile of track from Inspiration Point to Panorama Point, one of the several peaks along the front ridge.

The Man was Mr. Zetterwall who was attempting to recover from tuberculosis by staying at the Tavern, what with its clean, dry air and all. Because of the costs of the hotel, he decided to take up a little income producing venture, thus, the OM&M.

 

A cute little story goes along with the OM&M:

Mr. Zetterwall used to have Herbert's hay shipped up to him via the MLR. The Pacific Electric folks were not all that fond of the micro railway, since they would rather hotel guests spend a buck on their pack mule ride than 35¢ on his. So they raised the tariff on Herbert's hay. Mr. Z responded by having the hay mailed to him. Since the MLR was an official postal route, they had to deliver the hay for free.