Sharrod Wrote:
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> When I was there in the 1990s, way down behind the
> shop buildings was the old steam water pump
> machinery (out of service), which I guess was to
> pump water up the hill to the water tanks. Is that
> machinery still there?

Yes, there absolutely was a system in place to pump water up the hill to tanks that were placed on or near the summit. At one time, water tanks existed up on the Homestretch Flats (known as "Gulf Tank") and up at the summit. In fact, the remains of the Gulf Tank can be seen in the first photo in my album, from mid-2008. All of that has since been removed. Some of the piping still exists on the mountain. I am not certain if the pump is still there. It is difficult to enter that area right now, due to the construction that is going on. As noted in one or more photo captions, the railroad is currently building a new, 35,000 sq.ft. maintenance shop, which will be able to house all 10 locomotives and coaches and perform all maintenance. Also, there are some places along the line where sections of pipe can still be found as remnants of that system.

>
> There was also a time when the only electric power
> at the location was DC from a water turbine. When
> I visited in the 1990s, one of the mechanics
> pointed to it in the floor of the workshop, but by
> that time commercial power was available.

Yes, for most of its existence, there was no AC "street" power at the base station. That is a relatively recent development that occurred with the present ownership, which began in the early 1980s. In fact most of the innovations on this line have been under the present ownership. When they took over, not much of the technology had changed in over a century. The line has changed hands about 10 total times during its existence.

/Kevin Madore