PBA Galleries

Black and white panoramic photograph of the Muir Woods and Mt. Tamalpais passenger train with Mt. Tamalpais in the background. Image measures 18.5x75 cm. (7¼x29½") framed, with frame measures 23.5x80 cm. (9¼x31½"). 

The bottom left caption within the photograph reads, "Entering the double-bow knot, half way to the summit of Mt. Tamalpais, California above the Golden Gate on the 'Crookedest Railroad in the World'." Nice early view of the Mill Valley and Mt. Tamalpais Scenic Railway, also known as "The Crookedest Railroad in the World." Located in the beautiful Marin County of the San Francisco Bay Area, it traversed the famous “double bow-knot” allowing locals and tourists alike to experience jaw-dropping vistas as they reached the 2,571 foot summit. The trip would end with a daring climb aboard the Gravity Car where the "Gravity Man" would "turn on the gravity," and down they would coast over 8¼ miles, around 281 turns on the mountain's 7% grade to the Mill Valley depot in Muir Woods. This photograph shows three passenger cars loaded with many people in very fine attire of the day. A second three-car train on the hillside behind.