2 Comments on “Inside the Powerhouse”

  1. I remember the ruins of the cable house well from years of hiking and exploring Echo Mountain from the ’50s on till the forest service blew up the building. The bull wheel was still in place with two of the giant pulleys, one on either side. There was still a remnant of cable in that space where the bull wheel and pulleys were located. All of that machinery was located to the west of the original site. Something that has always bothered me since the explosions by the forest service is that the service never cleared up the detritus left from the destruction of the shell of the cable house! They left a mess at Alpine Tavern as well! I was really angry when they destroyed the S-shaped trestle in front of the Tavern! It was in perfectly fine shape save for the wooden walkway on the outside of the bridge proper!
    It is appalling how destructive the forest service was in their effort to remove historic structures from the Mt. Lowe area! Included in my resentment is the willful destruction of Granite Gate! Blowing off the top of a feature the Mt. Lowe construction crew worked eight months to fashion was unconscionable. Ironically, if all the damage of Mt. Lowe was averted for a few years, the ruins would have been preserved as a National Historic Site!

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