The San Francisco call., 1895-10-12
LIKE Pixies PEAK ROAD,
The TamaIpais Rack Railway
Will Be Built After That
Model.
What the President OF the North
Pacific Coast Line Saw in the
East.

James B. Stetson, president of the North
Pacific Coast Railroad, returned Wednes
day from the East, and had many inter
esting things to tell about the proposed
railway up Mount Tamalpais, and a pro-
iect to transform the narrow-gauge rail
way from Sausalito through the Sonoma
redwoods into an electric line.
Mr.. Stetson was at his desk yesterday in
the railway offices at Sansome and Market
streets, engrossed in affairs of importance
to the road. He had collected photo
graphs, drawings and descriptive matter
of mountain rack railroads in Europe and
America, and they were all at hand to
show people interested in the Tamalpais
road enterprise.
''Here is something on the subject" he
said, displaying bulky bundle of photo
graphs and data on the Pixies Peak cele-
brated railway. 81 visited Pixies Peak for
the express purpose of inspecting the rack
road up to the summit, so that l could de-
scribe it to the gentlemen interested in the
Tamalpais road, and also see for myself
how it was constructed and how it
worked.
1.-The day was there snow was falling
heavily upon the mountain, and advices
from the summit by telephone were that q
storm was raging up there. For that rea.
son the managers would not run the train
out, and / had to content myself with ex-
amining the lower grades. [ was well sat
isfied with what l saw, however.
At also inspected the White Mountain
road in New England. 1t is built on the
rack principle and has worked with COM
pIete satisfaction.
s'Our plan must be after these railways.
Take the Pixies Peak one, for instance, as
a model for the Tamalpais road. 1t is nine
miles long, and the engine and car make
the trip about as fast as cable cars move
along the streets in San Francisco-that is,
YOU can get to the summit in something
like an hour or an hour and half. Mid
way between the rails is a double row of
steel cogs bolted down firmly to the ties,
which in turn are anchored to rocks or to
massive tim hers embedded in the ground.
By this means the track cannot be torn
away by the weight of the train. Under
the engine are two ponderous cogwheels,
so that there are practically two safe
guards. The locomotive is set at an angle
| to the horizontal. 1t pushes the car up
and comes down with the car pressing be-
| hind, and in that way lnteryenes between
the car and danger.
''Our proposed road up Tamalpais from
! Mill Valley will be about three miles long,
and 1 shall advise that it be built like the
| Pixies Peak road, which cost 500, 900 mile,
including equipment. At that rate the
Tamalpais road would cost about $150,O0C
for everything.
"Men who are well qualified to make the
estimate-railway and hotel men-say that
&c, 600 to $4,000 tourists and travellers pass
through San Francisco every year. Be
sides, there is an immense population
around the bay of San Francisco, and now
reaching an approximate estimate of the
number of people who would patronize the
Tamalpais railway we feel convinced thai
the enterprise will pay well. San Fran
cisco lacks in attractions when compared
with other cities of its size in the United
States. Its people ought to have more
attractions of this kind. In addition tC
the railway there will be a nice, clean
comfortable hotel on the summit, nearly
5000 feet above the sea, where a cheap mea
can be had by visitors.
81 made inquiries regarding electricity
looking toward its application as a powe
IN place OF steam on our railway, but