Echo Mountain has restaurants, stores, dormitories for employees, and a power generating station to power Echo Mountain facilities. There was also a trolley repair building and pit, observation decks at various spots, trails that could be hiked up and down the mountain and into the Alpine regions, tennis courts, stables and a zoo. The entire assembly of buildings were painted white and because of the view from far below, became known as "The White City in the sky". The "opera box" great incline cars were also white and could be seen from afar ferrying up and down the hill. On a ridge behind the Echo Mountain ridge was an observatory building with a working telescope housed in a round domed building. The extant foundations and cement telescope stand remain. Lowe intended to build the rail system all the way to the top of Mount Wilson along with additional hotels and facilities on the top. Later, much of the path of the large 100-inch telescope and observatory built on Mount Wilson was used to transport the delicate mirror to the top of Mount Wilson. Alpine Division The third division, the Alpine Division, opened in 1896 and consisted of of narrow gauge track with 127 curves and 18 bridges and trestles. On this line there were three cars available for shuttling between Echo and the end-of-line, though only one car ever operated at a time due to electrical limitations, and there was no two-way traffic. The division spanned the broad face of Las Flores Canyon, rounded a promontory called the "Cape of Good Hope," traveled deep into Millard Canyon, reappeared at the front face of the mountain, and eventually disappeared into Grand Canyon where it terminated at the foot of Mount Lowe. This location was called Crystal Springs (elev. ) for a stream of water that poured from the hillside, and it was here that the last of the hotels, the 12-room Swiss-style chalet, "Ye Alpine Tavern," was built. History The Mount Lowe Railway was born from a desire of the Pasadena Pioneers to have a scenic mountain railroad to the crest of the San Gabriel Mountains. A trail had already been established to the peak of Mount Wilson, but that trip was arduous and often required more than a day to travel up and down. Several proposals were floated to establish some sort of mechanical transportation to the summits, but they