The track is heavily ballasted with stone, and laid with the best 60-pound steel rails. The engines are equipped with Westinghouse and Eames automatic brakes. At the end of the road and on the top of the mountain is the Lookout Inn, one of the best hotels in the South, and in fact one of the finest resorts in America. The building is five stories high, and including its two extensive wings, it is 365 feet in length. In the centre is a lofty tower, at the top of which rises an observatory, whence may be had the finest view from the mountain.
Verandas extend entirely around the building.
The hotel has 600 rooms, and with the annexed cottages can accommodate 1,000 guests. An orchestra and band are present all the season, and scarcely an evening passes without a hop or a german. Some of the choicest parts of Lookout Mountain have been laid out for residences, and the Lookout-Mountain Company has brought about a considerable settlement in this locality, so famous for its history and so charming for its picturesqueness. This company owns 20,000 acres of land, one third of which is nearer the city than any other unoccupied territory. The property of the company is bordered by eleven miles of deep-water river front.