Echo Mtn. Echoes Winter 1996, a magazine of Southern California history in general and Thaddeus Lowe and his mountain railway in particular

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" vlink="#800080" alink="#FF0000"> <p align="left">This site is best viewed with a frames enabled browser.</p> <p align="center"><img src="http://aaaim.com/echo/echo.jpg" alt="Echo Mtn. Echoes, a magazine of southern California history and collectables, especially about Mount Lowe and Thaddeus Lowe's Mountain Railway featuring many old historic photographs, stories, and biographies of the communities of the San Gabriel Mountains and valley from the 1890's on. Pictorial and editorial information about historic Echo Mountain and Mount Lowe in the Angeles National Forest area of the San Gabriel mountains of Southern California, just above Altadena in the Los Angeles foothills, including articles, historic photographs, history, biographies, and events related to Thaddeus Lowe's mountain railway. mount, Mount Lowe, Mount Lowe Railway, Mount Lowe Railroad, history, railway, railway history, railraod, railroad history, i ncline, incline railroad, Altadena, Altadena history, southern california, southern california history, San Gabriel, San Gabriel Valley, San Gabriel Valley history, Millard, Millard Canyon, Thaddeus, Thaddeus Lowe, Pasadena, Pasadena history, California, California history, California history railroads, California history railways, Pacific, Pacific Electric, Pacific Electric Railway, red, red cars, trolley, 1890s, turn of the century, photographs, old photographs, historic photographs, collectables, collectibles, spoons, stamps, postcards, post cards, antique, antique postcards, biography, Brown, Brown Mountain, camp, camping, collector, culture, cultural heritage, heritage, Dawn, Dawn Mine, mine, gold, gold mine, gold mining, East, East Fork, Echo Mountain, Inspiration, Inspiration Point, foothill, foothills, forest, founders, settler, settlers, Eaton, glen, granite, hike, hiking, hiking southern california, hiking San Gabriels, hiking Angeles, hotel, memorabilia, Baldy, Wilson, resorts, nature, nostalgia, nostalgic, observatory, old, outdoor, peak, picture, photo, photos, photo tour, river, riparian, tree, trail, vacation, valley, walking, walking era, water, waterfall, West, West Fork, 1900, azusa, Angeles, Angeles Forest, beauty, souvenir, rubio, seco, glen, arroyo" border="1" WIDTH="204" HEIGHT="82"><br> </p> <p align="center"><font color="#008000" size="5"><strong>Re-dedication of the Ramada</strong></font></p> <p><img src="gminsp2.jpg" align="right" border="1" hspace="0" width="369" height="200"><font size="3">November 16, 1996 will be the cumulation of months of hard work by the Scenic Mt. Lowe Historical Committee and its volunteers.</font></p> <p><font size="3">On that day a re-dedication of the Ramada at Inspiration Point will be held at Inspiration Point. The program will start at 10:00 AM. Included in the program will be guest speakers, displays of Mt. Lowe memoribilia, and the spectacular views of Inspiration Point.</font></p> <p><font size="3">All interested parties are encouraged to call 818-568-2610 for more information or to secure a ride to the event. Only a limited number of vehicals will be allowed access to this beautiful, remote, mountain location.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Bring along water and pack yourself a lunch. Most of all youll want to bring along a camera to record the event as well as get some special shots of this historical site and its views. The Ramada at Inpiration Point was part of the 1924-25 Pacific Electric expansion program. Located 1/4 mile from Alpine Tavern the site offered an unparrelled view of both the valleys and the heavens above.</font></p> <p><font size="3">It was a great stopping off point for hikers and also was the terminus of the famous OM& M Railroad, which stood for One Man and A Mule.</font></p> <p><font size="3">It was advertised heavily that from Inspiration Point one could observe with the aid of telescopic viewers, 56 different cities. The 2000 square miles of Southern California that visitors saw from the site showed checker board squares of orange groves, vineyards, and threaded through them were the newly built, great highways connecting it all to the shores of the great pacific ocean. On a clearooked as if the sky had turned upside down.</font></p> <p><img src="gminsp3.jpg" alt="inspiration pt 3" align="left" border="1" hspace="0" width="358" height="261"><font size="3">The millions of twinkling lights formed <a href="http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~csbdb/history.html" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~csbdb/history.html")">kaleidoscopic</a> patterns on a velvet carpet of black. No wonder it was such a popular spot on the Mt. Lowe adventure.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Nearby were other points of interest like Proposal Arbor, a shady nook for picnic parties and a post where all could leave a business card tacked to it. There was also the silver fox farm, tennis courts, Easter Rock, pony rides and the many trails winding to various points across the range.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Perhaps the most popular attraction other then the view at inspiration Point was the OM & M. The One Man & a Mule Railroad was the brainstorm of a man named Zetterwall. He had come to the mountains around 1915 looking for purer air to help with his tuberculous.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Zetterwall laid almost three miles of track along the ridge east of Inspiration Point taking visitors to another view of the eastern San Gabriel valley. Passengers were charged 35 cents and children were 20 cents. The open railroad car was powered by Herbert the mule, who would push the car both ways to keep the dust off of the passengers.</font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#008000" size="5"><strong>A Metz on the Mountain Top</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">Eighty one years ago on June 22, <a href="http://www.ausbcomp.com/~bbott/winrr/w15fga.htm" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.ausbcomp.com/~bbott/winrr/w15fga.htm")">1915</a> guests from the surrounding area and from around the country were treated to an unusual visitation at the Alpine Tavern. The locals from <a href="http://aaaim.com/altadena/index.htm" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://aaaim.com/altadena/index.htm")">Altadena</a>, Pasadena, and Eagle Rock mingled with seasoned travelers from <a href="http://kalamazoo.inetmi.com/cities/kazoo/hisf.htm" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://kalamazoo.inetmi.com/cities/kazoo/hisf.htm")">Kalamazoo</a>, <a href="http://www.vivanet.com/rochester/vishist1.html" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.vivanet.com/rochester/vishist1.html")">Rochester</a>, and <a href="http://www.dayton.com/dayhis.html" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.dayton.com/dayhis.html")">Dayton</a>. Some rode the rails up to the tavern as an escape from the day to day routines in the growing cities below, while for others it was the highlight of a vacation that perhaps took years of toiling and saving.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The guests were savey to the ways of gaining access to the mountain. The route most known to tourists was the incline railroad from Rubio Platform up to Echo Mountain and then a trip on the Pacific Electric's Alpine Division to the rustic Alpine Tavern. Other then that you had to hike it on one of the trails that zig-zagged up the mountain.</font></p> <p><img src="gmcircl2.jpg" align="left" border="1" hspace="0" width="353" height="200"><font size="3">So, you can just imagine the surprise of the guests that day as they stepped down off the porch of the Alpine Tavern to see an automobile parked in front under a canopy of huge oaks. The site attracted quite a number of onlookers as the <a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/hfm/index.html" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.caranddriver.com/hfm/index.html")">car, driver</a> and owner posed for photos in the picturesque setting.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The car, a Metz roadster, was being delivered to Mr. H. B. Brown the manager of the tavern by the local Metz agent Mr. F. L. Wing. This sporty roadster manufactured in Waltham, Massachusetts had a conventional four cylinder motor and a novel new engineering feature, a continuous speed transmission with a friction drive. The car put to the test a number of questions the Metz manufacturers had about the unusual transmission, passing all with flying colors. Also put to the test that day were the <a href="http://www.cohums.ohio-state.edu:80/history/projects/bfgoodrich/erlyauto.htm" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.cohums.ohio-state.edu:80/history/projects/bfgoodrich/erlyauto.htm")">Goodrich tires</a> which prior to the accent of the mountain had accumulated 6000 miles on them. The Goodrich, a company magazine dated October 1915 did a nice write up about the stamina of the rubber tires stating that they stood the punishment like men and there were no problems as they were built for service.</font></p> <p><font size="3">How did the Metz get to the Alpine Tavern? Well, Mr. F. L. wing the Metz auto agent in Los Angeles was a bit like our Professor Lowe in that he loved a promotion and a challenge. It's been said that he would try anything once. So, after a challenging trip to the depths of the Grand Canyon a friend said to Wing as he eyed Mt. Lowe, "F. L. just because the gods were with you on your canyon trip don't monkey around with the machinery. Let well enough alone, anyway you couldn't get a car up that mountain unless you shot it up! there's no road just railroad ties."</font></p> <p><img src="gmcircl1.jpg" align="right" border="1" hspace="0" width="323" height="200"><font size="3">That was enough for Wing to get the venture underway. He rode the rails to Rubio Platform where they loaded the Metz onto an incline flatcar and pulled it up to Echo Mountain. At echo F. L. picked up two ride along guests Mr. A. G. Waddell of the Los Angeles Times and Mr. C. S. Lawrence of Echo Mountain. (Mr. Lawrence took many of the great photos depicting life on Mt. Lowe seen in todays books on the subject.) With his guests holding on for dear life Wing took off on a five mile journey across giant crevices and grand gorges hundreds of feet deep. The little Metz roadster bounced steadfastly from tie to tie giving the trio a true "white knuckler" of the day. the ties were 12 to 14 inches apart and as The Goodrich is quoted as saying, "only two feet and a perfect set of Goodrich tires stood between the riders and eternity as they rode over the spans."</font></p> <p><font size="3">Along the way to the tavern C. S. Lawrence took a number of photos which have survived to this day depicting the event. Perhaps the most thrilling part of the ride was Circular Bridge. Lawrence took quite a few shots of this event as well as the car passing through Granite Gate, reaching the top at Mt. Lowe, and a great shot at the Alpine Tavern.</font></p> <p><font size="3">This writer would like to thank men like C. S. Lawrence whose photos preserve the large and small segments of history that depict our early pioneers challenging their environments.</font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#008000" size="5"><strong>A Tenderfoot in So. Cal.</strong></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">Mt. Lowe, By M. D. Yeslah </font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">This piece is reprinted from "A Tenderfoot in Southern California." Published as a limited edition, autographed copy by J.J. Little & Ives Co. 1908. It is one chapter of seventeen dicussing Southern California.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">As all tenderfeet are expected to do, I took the trip up Mt. Lowe. Its all right, that trip is, except that it makes you feel that if you ever get down on the level again you'll go to church a little oftener, and be prepared for the next world.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">By gum, there are spots on that trip, and then some!</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">I went up with a fellar named Smith, and as we got half way up that blamed incline, I got to thinking pretty hard.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">You see, Bill, at the bottom of that incline, there's a solid wall of rock, fifty feet high, not more than twenty-five feet from where those cable cars stop. Yes-sir-ree, I got to thinking that if anything busted, and we shot back down the hill, they would never be able to tell which was me and which was Smith when they gathered us up to ship back East in the baggage car.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">You bet I kept my mouth shut and I guess I held my breathe too, for someway I felt that too much laughing and loud talking would jar that dinky car and mebbe loosen something.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">I as mighty glad when I reached level ground at the top of the incline.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Then began a foot race for another dinky car, a bobbed tail electric this time, that takes you on further up the mountain to Mt. Lowe. There were about seventy-five people all trying at once to get into one lonesome little car, that groaned with only twenty-five aboard, but they all got on somehow or somewhere, and the rest of the ride we wiggled up and down, in and out, around corners and across squeaking bridges, that looked like they'd go down for a cent and a half, and all the time everybody was "oh-ing" and "ah-ing" and no wonder.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Say Bill, if you ever get to California, dont miss this trip. They skin you on the price of it, all right, but its the most satisfying "skinning" I've had since I came out here.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Be sure and take your mother-in-law along, Bill, and half way up that incline, if there's anything on earth you want, ask her for it, while you are hanging onto the side of the mountain at an angle of 65 degrees.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">You'll get it all right, if she's got wind enough left to say, "Yep!"</font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#008000" size="5"><strong>Prof. Lowe on the Web</strong></font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">The treasure hunter, explorer, historian, and collector will sometimes search around the globe for those treasures he seeks. Little did I know I would find the years best treasure in my own office.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Last Thursday night, just before the <a href="http://www.dol.gov/dol/opa/public/aboutdol/laborday.htm" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.dol.gov/dol/opa/public/aboutdol/laborday.htm")">Labor Day</a> weekend this member of the Land-Sea Discovery Group experienced the internet for the first time. What a thrill it was browsing through the various pages seeing what others have to offer. For a researcher it is sheer paradise. For a collector it is a world wide playground. I spent nearly thirty hours that long weekend on the net. I highly recommend to those that can swing the fee (mine is $19.95 a month) and that have the computer and software.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">So, needless to say after a while I typed in Thaddeus Lowe. I also tried variation of the name and initials to see what would come up. I searched through Civil War pages, <a href="http://www.stc.net/~hotairfl/links.html" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.stc.net/~hotairfl/links.html")">balloon sites</a>, and railroad sites.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">I'm sure I didn't cover all the aspects but I'm working on the combinations every chance I get.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">So in my first tour, what did I find? I found a site on <a href="http://aaaim.com/altadena/" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.aaaim.com/aaaim/maltaden.htm")">Altadena</a>. The site has an events page, history, and a bit about Altadena. What they did not have was Mt. Lowe. I used my e-mail (<a href="mailto:jakelsdg@earthlink.net">jakelsdg@earthlink.net</a>) for the first time and contacted the webmaster. I eventually offered up some pictures and my newsletter to the site's webmaster and Mt. Lowe is now on the internet with <a href="http://aaaim.com" target="_new" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.aaaim.com/aaaim")">AAAIM's</a> help. Thanks Triple A Internet Masters! I am considering doing a site for Mt. Lowe myself as soon as I have a full grasp of the concept and what it entails.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Sadly I did not find anything else on Mt. Lowe (yet). I did however find various tidbits on Thaddeus himself, who as many of you know he had quite a previous history in <a href="http://www.thehistorynet.com/CivilWarTimes/articles/1096_text.htm" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.thehistorynet.com/CivilWarTimes/articles/1096_text.htm")">ballooning</a> and the <a href="http://web4.si.edu/hologlobe/lae/intro/war.htm" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://web4.si.edu/hologlobe/lae/intro/war.htm")">Civil War</a>. He was also a great inventor.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">One of the pages I found offered a first day cover for the Thaddeus Lowe <a href="http://www.realtime.net/~efdietz/stamps/lowe.htm" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.realtime.net/~efdietz/stamps/lowe.htm")">1915</a> being printed by the U.S. Postal Service. Unfortunately it was for Sept. 23, 1995. I thought well.... maybe the post office still had some of the areogrammes. They did! I managed to get some and you probably can to. Just go in and ask at the post office. It is full color and depicts three Civil War scenes. They cost 50 cents.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">I found one site in an aviation area that discussed someone's experience meeting the daughter of Prof. Lowe, a Florence ("Pancho") Lowe Barnes. They describe her casual dress, salty conversation, and predilection for foul smelling <a href="http://www.cyberstogies.com/brands2.html" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.cyberstogies.com/brands2.html")">cigars</a>, which she light by striking matches on the seat of her pants. She definitely did not project the image of her wealthy birthright. What a hoot!</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Following highway US-2 just west of Jefferson there is a roadside marker that commemorates the birth of Thaddeus Lowe. This note was posted by the Lancaster Historical Society.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Looking around in the observatory category I found a snippet about the Ricard Memorial Observatory on Santa Clara University. This is the final resting place of Lewis Swift's telescope that he manned for so many years on Echo Mountain. The University bought the telescope in 1941 for $2000.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Listen to this. <a href="http://www.whitemtn.org/heritage.html" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://www.whitemtn.org/heritage.html")">Heritage</a>, New Hampshire says you can have your picture taken in a lighter than air reconnaissance balloon designed by New Hampshire's own Thaddeus Lowe. Love to get a snap of that.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">And then there was NASA. In their <a href="http://observe.ivv.nasa.gov/nasa/education/exhibits/history/history_0.html" target="UrlWindow" onclick="UrlWindowOpener("http://observe.ivv.nasa.gov/nasa/education/exhibits/history/history_0.html")">Observatorium/font></a> Page they show the history of the remote sensing industry and guess who was right near the top of their list? Right! Thaddeus Lowe.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">There is much more I haven't spoke of and I'm sure much more I have yet to find. Why not give it a while yourself? Let's hear what you find. Send E-Mail to <a href="mailto:jakelsdg@earthlink.net">jakelsdg@earthlink.net</a> </font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#008000" size="5"><strong>News to and from our readers</strong></font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Thanks to Frank Tsai for the kind words about the newsletter and the great video he sent along.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Robert Wilde was lucky enough to pick up a 5th edition Scenic Mt. Lowe booklet chock full of pictures at the last postcard show.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">LSDG was able to steer Paul Rippens to a great book on the LA Aqueduct and Mullholland. Its a subject he collects.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Thanks to Carl Wendt for the support in word and purchases of the Metz picture.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Thanks Tom McKnight for the purchase of a couple books and kind words.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Thanks to Paul Ayers and Robert Wilde for sharing copies of their material.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">LSDG mailed some copies of the Echoes to the Scripps Home for the folks to enjoy, which they did and sent a nice letter back.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Special thanks to Roger and Nick at R & N Postcards for letting LSDG display some newsletters and a mailing list.12 new interested people were added.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Jake Brouwer found a 2nd edition Scenic Mt. Lowe book for $25.00 after a modest discount. Copyright was 1896. See it on display at Inspiration Point along with some other finds.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Feel free to contact us about your finds of Mt. Lowe collectables. Its nice to know what youre finding. It helps also to establish values on misc. items.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Thanks, Jake</font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#008000" size="5"><strong>A note from the editor</strong></font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Sometimes things just have to come to an end and so this will be the last issue of 1996. I hope you have enjoyed the material that was presented during the year in our first four issues.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">It has been great fun for me doing research, layouts, and just putting the whole thing together.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">As this last issue comes together I am also getting ready for the rededication at Inspiration Point. This will be a fun event that I hope you all can attend</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">The holiday season is almost upon us and I expect to be kept quite busy with family and business affairs for the next two months. During that time I will be looking into various ways to keep the newsletter coming to you in 1997. I would appreciate any and all comments on the paper, or suggestions to keep it afloat.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Just send them to me at the LSDG address posted to the right of this column.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Your letters of support may be shown to local business people interested in purchasing inexpensive advertising space.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">With the support of local business people, we hope the newsletter will flourish and grow into a larger publication that may incorporate other areas of interest along the San Gabriel Mountains.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">With that Ill sign off for now and I hope to hear from you all soon. Have a wonderful holiday season and take care of yourselves and our mountains.</font></p> <h2 align="center"><font size="4">Land-Sea Discovery Group Contact Information</font></h2> <blockquote> <blockquote> <p align="left"><strong>Postal address:<br> </strong>Land~Sea Discovery Group<br> PO Box 401904<br> Hesperia, Ca. 92340</p> <p align="left"><strong>Electronic Mail:</strong><br> Sales: <a href="mailto:jakelsdg@earthlink.net">jakelsdg@earthlink.net</a><br> General Information: <a href="mailto:jakelsdg@earthlink.net">jakelsdg@earthlink.net</a><br> Webmaster: <a href="mailto:Echowebmaster@aaaim.com">Echowebmaster@aaaim.com</a><br> </p> </blockquote> </blockquote> <p><font size="3"><br> </font></p> <hr width="85%"> <p><font size="3"><br> </font></p> <p align="center">[ <a href="http://aaaim.com/echo/_private/issues.htm" target="index">Issues</a> | <a href="../../search.htm" target="index">Search</a> | <a href="http://aaaim.com/echo/websites.htm" target="index">Help</a> | <a href="http://aaaim.com/echo/_private/subscribe.htm" taget="index">Subscribe</a> | <a href="http://aaaim.com/echo/_private/comment.htm" target="index">Comment</a> | <a href="../websites.htm" target="index">Websites</a> ]</p> <p align="center"><font size="1">Send email to <a href="mailto:Echowebmaster@aaaim.com">Echowebmaster@aaaim.com</a> to report any problems.<br> Last modified: July 10, 1997 </font></p> <p align="center"><font size="2">No part of this paper may be reproduced in any form without written permission from:<strong> Jake Brouwer<br> </strong>All articles and photos were provided by:<br> <strong>Land-Sea Discovery Group<br> </strong>Copyright © 1997</font><font size="1"> </font></p> </body>