PROFESSOR THADDEUS LOWE
MOUNT LOWE RAILWAY
Granite Gate
Soon the railway came to Granite Gate, an almost insurmountable vein of granite. It took a team of highly skilled men eight months to blast their way through the granite making a cut wide just wide enough for the passenger cars. Today, Granite Gate is much the same as it was then. The old trolley wire guide still sticks out of the mountain and the gate is still the best place on the trip for pictures. Historic Mount Lowe, page 66.
Granite Gate in the 1890s (Courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library)
Granite Gate in the 1900s (Courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library)
Conductor's speil: We are now coming to Granite Gate. You will observe that the roadbed has been blasted through solid granite. As we pass through the gate, a broad canyon below us comes into view. Mount Lowe, The Railway in the Clouds, page 170.
Car #32 with era beauties posing for the camera (Courtesy of the Los Angeles County Library)
Granite Gate railbed (Courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library)
Car #32 at the Granite Gate sign looking north (Courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library)