by Doug loves funiculars, so of course we had to ride the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Marketed as “America’s Most Amazing Mile”, it mostly involved waiting in a long line at the bottom, a 10-minute or so ride to the top, a lookout platform, then a very long wait for the 10 minute ride back to the bottom.
I don’t really get the appeal, to be honest. And I think that this somehow increases Doug’s interest in the experience.
Nonetheless, you can do some hiking at the top of the railway, including paying visits to Point Park and Battles For Chattanooga Museum, both of which charge fees. We elected to visit Point Park, which was included with our National Parks Pass and thus required no further cash outlays.
Point Park was the site of the Civil War “Battle Above the Clouds” (the Battle of Lookout Mountain) in November 1863.
Today there are observation points there as well as the New York Peace Memorial.
Funiculars are used to transport people up (and down) extremely steep slopes. In this case, the railway transports people to the top of Lookout Mountain.
Cables are used to pull the car up the track, but also a second counterbalancing train on the same track also assists, with the weight of the descending car helping to pull the ascending car up the mountain.
With the exception of a short stretch where the two cars pass each other, there is just a single mile-long track.
It is one of the world’s steepest passenger railways, and we could definitely feel it. At one point it felt like we could slide right out of our seats!
The Lookout Mountain railway opened in 1895 – that’s more than 125 years in operation!
