Granite Gate from the Other Side

This view of the Granite Gate is from the other side with the trolley car going back to Echo Mountain from the Alpine Tavern. It contains a very clear view of what a trolley on the line looked like. This is car number 57 of the Pacific Electric Railway which was begun in 1901 by the real estate tycoon Henry Huntington; his is related to the Huntington of Southern Pacific fame (a nephew, I believe). He bought up several smaller lines and renamed them. A bit of trivia for you: the Pacific Electric Railway invented the grade crossing safety warning device: the “wig-wag”. It is the automatic grade crossing signal that wags back and forth with a flashing light in the middle at a grade crossing when a train is both approaching and crossing. I haven’t seen one of these for years!! After some financial difficulties, the Mt. Lowe Railway became part of Henry Huntington’s web of railways in 1902. Back to the trolley car: there is a lovely red and white cloth fringe around the wooden roof. One can see the bell on the top, middle, front of the roof, too. The red ink on the top, left of the post card tells is that this is the “Granite Gate. Mt. Lowe Division, Pacific Electric Railway, Los Angeles, Cal.”. The photograph is so clear that one could swear that the male passenger has a moustache.

This card is from the “divided back” era. It is pre-World War I. The post card was printed in Germany and published by the Newman Post Card Company (NPC) of Los Angeles. It is card “No. C. 16”. This is one of the earlier printings published by the NPC. Later, they will develop a logo in a circle and place it in the upper, left of their post cards. See the blog post of December 10th for more details about this.