Video: 19th century roller coaster: the most extreme railroad the tram traveled on
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
At the end of the 19th century, technological progress began to gain momentum. Scientists have been patenting their inventions without stopping, trying to create hybrids of something practical with the fantastic. The railway can be called such a project. Mount lowe, which has become one of the most picturesque and, at the same time, the most dangerous routes.
American scientist, Professor Tadeusz Lowe (Thaddeus S. C. Lowe), patented over 200 inventions in his lifetime. While in California in 1880, he decided to make his dream come true: to create a railway in a picturesque area that would be accessible to ordinary citizens. After careful planning, extensive exploration, and Lowe's personal funding for the project, a small 12 km railroad network was discovered in the mountains in 1893. Mount lowe and Echo Mountain.
This place quickly became a tourist attraction. Four hotels with restaurants, an extravagant zoo, the world's largest searchlight and an astronomical observatory were built along the railway. Tadeusz Lowe's initial expectations regarding the accessibility of the road to everyone, only wealthy people could afford such a trip. As they said at the time, "Mount Lowe is the place where champagne and caviar are served along with panoramic views of southern California."
A real entertainment for the social elite was a trip on a mountain tram (MT. Lowe trolley). The tram moved on rails built on a wooden overpass. On some sections of the path, on both sides of the passengers, real chasms arose. In general, there was plenty of thrill for the sophisticated audience.
Unfortunately, the operation of this railway did not last long. It lasted only 45 years. There were many good reasons for its closure. Mount Lowe was difficult to reach, it was too far from settlements, there was no regular transport from the valley. Seven years after the opening of the railway, Tadeusz Low, who spent all his savings on its creation and maintenance, was declared bankrupt. Mount Lowe Railway had to be auctioned.
Over the next few years, fires broke out in hotels. In 1909, a flash flood washed away the pavilion near the funicular, killing a child in the process. In 1928, strong winds literally swept the observatory downhill. And in 1936 the last hotel burned down from a short circuit. After that, for a couple of years the rangers monitored the state of the railway, but in 1938 it ceased to exist. But while technological progress was raging in one part of the United States, in another place the indigenous population of America, the Indians, continued their traditional life. Rare photographs of Native Americans taken in the late 19th century, will allow you to plunge into a world that has not changed for centuries.
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