In the construction of the railroad Professor Lowe exhibited the same skill and energy that were so manifest in the lower portions of the route. The grade of the road has been made so low that one imagines he is riding on a level surface rather than climbing the steep and rugged sides of the Sierras. This grade enables the cars to be propelled with a great saving of power, and at whatever speed necessary to give passengers the finest views of the incomparable scenery which aligns the route. With that fine artistic taste which the originator of the enterprise has shown in every detail of the construction, he has built the track just where the best views of mountain, valley and sea are to be found, so that the road, instead of disfiguring the landscape, as do so many of the old-fashioned cog-wheel roads, adds to the beauty and charm of the scenery and gives to the particular section of the Sierra Madre where the "City on the Mountain" sits, an added charm.

The road climbs up the sides of the mountain in graceful curves, and as one is being carried along he often wonders where an opening to the apparently impassable walls of granite which hem in the way can be found. At one point of view, by looking up and down the steep sides of the mountain, nine different tracks can be seen rising one above the other. One of the unique features of construction is a bridge, which spans a canyon, and rounds a mountain peak, thus forming a complete circle. This division of the road is the only railroad in the world in which, throughout its entire length, the ties are laid upon a shelf of solid granite. And so carefully has the work of construction been done that since its completion no accident has occurred to any of the thousands of people who have ridden over it. Its solidity ensures safety and exempts it from the dangers which environ railroads in the valley.