CHAPTER SIX

The Great Incline

 

The picture above shows the panorama over Altadena from the passing tracks of the Incline. These cars pictured here are from the later period when Mount Lowe was part of the Pacific Electric Railroad system, referred to as the red cars of Henry Huntington. There were four cars, two in service and two in spare, named ECHO, ALPINE, RUBIO, and LOWE.

 

Note in the picture to the right the little incline car, called opera box style, ascending the precariously piered Macpherson trestle. Beneath it is a chasm of decomposed granite, but the worse thing that ever happened to it was it burned down in a 1935 fire and was immediately replaced.

The Great Incline was a modern marvel of railroad engineering, but added to it was a trestle whose incredible structure gave Professor Lowe to name it after his chief engineer, thus, The Macpherson Trestle.

In the picture to the left the arrow is pointing to the Macpherson Trestle with an incline car ascending it.

The trestle was peculiar to the realm of railroading because of its role in bridging a chasm whose upper end was 141 feet higher than its lower. It crossed a granite gorge of a 150 foot depth with a span of track over 200 feet long.

 

The second most fascinating feature of the Great Incline is the passing track, the design borne from Lowe's ingenuity to save the installation of a whole fourth rail. The photographer of the picture to the left is more than likely in the ascending car taking a photo of the descending car as they prepare to pass each other at incline's center. see map

Note the small white sign to the left of the rails. It reads "INCLINE TURNOUT", and is one of the many touring signs posted along the right-of-way for the riders' benefit.

Also note the elaborate cable and idler wheel assemblies which not only guide the incline cars, but are rigged to provide a safety braking system which was designed to actuate should the cable break. The system was tested regularly by releasing the cars for a free fall. If they didn't stop within an allowable distance, the lines were tightened until they did. Fortunately, the system never had to be put to true test.

Nearing the top of the Incline, the slope becomes a gentler 39% grade, but the level of the cars adjusted for the convenience of the riders, as seen to the right. The building at the crest is the Echo Chalet, which was ready for opening day. It was a modest 40-room hotel with a basement kitchen and service tunnel. Other outdoor amenities were available, such as a fountain, a lookout section, love seats built into retaining walls. see map

 

Still the plans for Echo Mountain had so much more in store.

 

 

 

The incline cars arrived at a landing at the top of the rise. Each side was fitted with a stepway that accommodated the on-and-off-loading of the passengers. In the picture to the left you can see that the right side car is up with people onboard awaiting to go down. Across the landing passengers await the left side car, or down car, which will, with the reversing of the switch, come up with a new load of visitors and prepare to take these folks down.
As guests arrived, they would find themselves facing a scaffold upon which stood Charles Lawrence, the Mount Lowe Railway official photographer. He would call for a smile and snap a photo… see map
…and for 25¢ visitors could send for a souvenir copy of their arrival, like the one seen to the left.

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For you mechanical buffs, I have provided some insight into the Incline cable mechanism as so aptly described in John Harrigan's latest book, "Mt Lowe Power" (see chapter 20).

The Incline was powered by a DC motor that drove a series of gears culminating at an 8 foot bullwheel called the cable gripwheel. It consisted of 72 sets of opposing fingers that when contacted by the taut cable would bite down to statically grip the cable. The cable was kept taut by an 8 foot sheave wheel located on the right hand side and forward of the grip wheel. The cable was spliced in two areas each about 60 feet below each incline car. This upper portion of cable was referred to as the working cable. The lower section which ran down and under the rubio platform wound around a tensioner wheel and was called the trailing cable.

Along the incline were located several pairs of guide wheels, like castors. At the change of incline there were larger sets of guide wheels that would accommodate the cables change in angle. At the very top there 6 foot guide wheels that lead the cable to and from the grip wheel, and below there were two wheels that lead to and from the tensioner.

At the passing track there were several sets of capstans that allowed the cables to be guided outward thus keeping them aligned with the cars as they veered to pass each other.

I have provided an oblique drawing of the incline to accompany this description. To view a full size image, click on the drawing.

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