Los Angeles used to be covered in train tracks. Their phantom switches, markers, rails, and ties tell stories of travel and transport, history and happenings, and the growth of Southern California, outwards and upwards. But in this age of adaptive reuse, we’re increasingly converting land once dedicated to industrial purposes into parks, bike paths, and hiking trails.
Balloonist Thaddeus Lowe was quite a character, and made Mount Lowe quite the destination during the “golden age of hiking.” But if you had money, instead of walking, you could buy a ticket for the incline railway that would take you from Rubio Canyon to Echo Mountain.
Back then, you could stay at a tiny mountain resort town called “White City,” or you could transfer to a trolley that would wind its way up the mountain to the old Alpine Tavern.
Most everything up there has burned down, but there are plenty of building foundations to explore, as well as some old tracks and railroad ties. You can explore the old incline railway grounds by hiking through the Cobb Estate along the Sam Merrill Trail from Altadena to the apex of Echo Mountain, where the former railway originally reached its peak.
If you want to keep going, you can follow the Alpine Division trolley’s old right-of-way up the mountain on foot, where you’ll pass the Cape of Good Hope, the old site of the Circular Bridge, Dawn Station, and Sentinel Rock, which is still in tact. Thanks to the Scenic Mount Lowe Railway Historical Committee, each point of interest along the railroad bed is marked with interpretive signage and historical photos, so you can really imagine the harrowing ride that it must’ve been, zig-zagging up that mountain.
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. I live in Western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my door, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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