On top and under Lookout Mountain

We decided to take in 2 unusual tourist attractions at Lookout Mountain. A number of people told us we should ride the Incline Railway and also see Ruby Falls while in Chattanooga so--we did.

The mile long Incline Railway has been running up the side of Lookout Mountain since 1895. It is designated as a National Historic Site as well as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. At the top of the incline, the grade is 72.6% which gives it the distinction of being the steepest passenger railway in the world!
The railway's unique cars have ceilings and are built on an angle. At the top of the ride you actually look through the ceiling to the valley below! At the beginning of the ride we were informed that the cars are securely attached to the rail by 2 very strong cables. 2 cars make the run and pass in the middle of the mile on a short section of double track. The 2 cars act as counter-weights to each other. At the top of the ride, an very uneasy feeling of pitching forward and down the hill comes over the passengers. The safety information is gratefully recalled!
The gray roofs at the center of the photo are across the street from the bottom station of the railway. On the horizon are The Great Smoky Mountains--over 100 miles away. It was a really fun way to go up (and back down the mountain) the mountain.

Next it was on to Ruby Falls. Lookout Mountain has long been known to have natural caves. Some of these caves were used by Native Americans long ago and others were supposedly used by Civil war soldiers. Some 70 yrs ago, the railroad started to build a tunnel through Lookout Mountain. It was going to seal the natural entrance to the cave so local businessmen excavated a 420 ft elevator shaft to the caves. At the 260 ft level, a small opening was found and explored. After many hours of crawling through the small space a large cavern with a waterfall was discovered.
To make a long story short, Ruby (named after the explorer's wife) Falls became a popular tourist attraction. The narrow small space was enlarged to a easy navigable path. Since we have visited a number of caves (Carlsbad, Mammoth,etc) we were not surprised the to see the beautiful natural formations along the tour but we have never seen a waterfall like this. It is 145 ft high and flows at a fairly high rate constantly. The source of the falls is unknown. They have made an effort to find it but have been unable.
It was fun underground tour. So now we climbed over the top (Rock City), rode up the side (Incline Railway) and explored underneath (Ruby Falls) Lookout Mountain.