The distinguishing feature of the road below the summit of Echo Mountain is the Great Cable Incline, run by a novel application of electric and water power.

This marvelous piece of railroad engineering has called forth the unstinted praise of many eminent engineers. The scientific press has been unanimous in expatiating upon its unique features and designates it "the greatest mountain railway enterprise in existence," and says "the engineering problems have been solved in a manner to challenge admiration."

This Incline extends from Rubio Pavilion 2,200 feet above the sea, to the summit of Echo Mountain, 3,500 feet in altitude. It is upward of 3,000 feet in length, and makes a direct ascent of about 1,400 feet. The grade begins at 60 per cent., after passing the turnout it is 62 per cent for quite a distance, then it makes two "buckles," one to 58 per cent., and on nearing the summit to 48 per cent. Sixty-two per cent. means a rise of 62 feet in going forward 100 feet, which gives an idea of its great steepness.

The cars are permanently attached to an endless cable, and are so balanced that in ascending and descending they pass each other at an automatic turnout, exactly midway on the Incline, and are so arranged as to keep passengers always on the level, regardless of the steep grades of the Incline.

The cable is of the finest steel and was thoroughly tested to a strain of ONE HUNDRED TONS, and, as under any circumstances the loaded cars will never exceed FIVE TONS, its absolute safety is at once apparent.

The view, in ascending, is indescribably grand. The motion is smooth and easy as if soaring to the clouds on wings.

At first, the mountains composing the Rubio Amphitheater appear to rise with the car, and yet the view enlarges every moment. Passing through Granite Gorge,—an immense cut in the mountain slope, where all the workmen who could possibly be crowded upon the mass were engaged for eight long months before a single tie could be laid—over the Macpherson Trestle—an immense bridge, 200 feet long and 100 feet higher at one end than the other—the San Gabriel Valley unfolds its incomparable charms, and, as the elevation increases, the view expands until, on reaching the verandas of Echo Mountain ChalÉt, the whole scene is presented in its full glory.

The grade of this Incline was such that burros had to carry cement and water for building the walls and buttresses, before the track could be laid, and, as there were many points where not even burros could climb in safety, men carried the required materials on their shoulders.