One Hundred Seven Years Ago

For this post we are staying in California. Instead of the orange groves of the south, we are up north near San Francisco.

This is a scene from the Mt. Tamalpais Railway. To get to ride to the top of Mount Tam in 1911 you would take a ferry to Sausalito and then take a local to the town of Mill Valley. You would change trains in Mill Valley and board the one of the cars of the Mount Tam railway that were pushed up the top of the 2,600 foot hill by a steam engine. The railroad climbed from the town centre of Mill Valley up Mt. Tamalpais from 1896 to 1929. The line was dubbed ‘The Crookedest Railroad in the World’ for the 281 curves that were needed to climb the top of 2,600-foot peak. Official service on the railroad began on August 23, 1896. At that time the round-trip fare from Mill Valley was $1, and from San Francisco, $1.40, including the Sausalito ferry and train connections. There were two steam engines, the original 20-ton Shay (#498) and a 30-ton Heisler. (#2) I cannot see the engine well enough on this post card to know which it is. There were also six open, canopy-top observation cars, one half-enclosed former San Francisco cable car, and two flat-cars. The above information was taken from: www.mendorailhistory.org/1_railroads/nwp/mount-tam.html

This post card was written on Thursday, February 9th and mailed the same day (107 years ago today). It contains a message to Mrs. Mann of Everett, Washington telling her that, while they are on their way to Los Angeles, they have arrived in San Francisco and the trip so far has been pleasant. Here is the post card's back: