Chattanooga & Lookout Mountain Railway The 10-mile passenger line from Chattanooga to the top of Lookout Mountain was chartered in February of 1887 and completed in January of 1889. Steam-powered trains departed from downtown Chattanooga and traveled to the St. Elmo, a suburb at the foot of the mountain's east side. There a "climbing locomotive" was hooked to the passenger cars for the ascent. The locomotive pulled the cars around the mountain's north end up to a switchback where it was transferred to the opposite end of the train. From here it continued to the mountaintop Lookout Inn hotel. Although the line enjoyed brief periods of heavy ridership, it was not financially successful and was abandoned in 1899. Between 1913 and 1920 much of the right-of-way was used for a streetcar line up the mountain. A cut-off was built to bypass the old switchback, which was not needed by the self-propelled streetcars. Today part of the old rail bed forms the Guild and Hardy hiking trails in Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. The C&LM was not the only rail line on the northern end of Lookout Mountain. Beginning in the late 1880s, a narrow-gauge steam-powered passenger train ran at the foot of the western cliffs from the Point Hotel to a passage through the cliffs near Sunset Rock where it climbed to the mountain top. The line was soon extended from Sunset Rock to Natural Bridge, an early attraction near the mountain's eastern edge. Less conventional rail passage was furnished by two inclined railways (also known as funiculars). The first, built in 1885-86, ascended the mountain via a 4,360-ft line that terminated at the Point Hotel. Known as Incline No. 1, it was abandoned on July 3, 1899. The second, a project of the Lookout Incline and Lula Lake Railway Company, was completed in 1895. Unlike Incline No. 1, it climbed directly to the top of the mountain. Also unlike its predecessor, it has survived to this day and remains a popular tourist attraction. Note: Although the C&LM and the other rail lines on the north end of Lookout Mountain are (or were, as the case may be) within Tennessee, they are included here because of their close proximity to Georgia (two to three miles north of the state line).   Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage. Copyright, Steve Storey. Railroad History | The Depot List | Locomotives On Display | Odds & Ends | Sources & References | Home