Cliff House Steam Railroad: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:08, 28 August 2014

Unfinished History

Adolph Sutro's Cliff House Train at Land's End

Photo: Private Collection, San Francisco, CA

Cliff House Train, May 16, 1905.

Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library

Video: Sutro's railroad trundling along Land's End, c. 1905

(Golden Gate without bridge in background)

El Camino del Mar at far left, looking west towards Land's End. Sutro railroad tracks abandoned after February 7, 1925 landslide.

Photo: SFDPW, courtesy Charles Ruiz collection

Land's End is one of the weirdest and most beautiful sections of San Francisco. On the hill above and east of Land's End is the Palace of the Legion of Honor, itself built upon an old potter's field (a cemetery for unnamed and unmarked bodies). The land here is notoriously shifty and unstable; landslides have been known to appear out of nowhere and bury unwary victims; rescue parties have noted that the "molten" land continues to quiver and vibrate while they search for the bodies.

Adolph Sutro built his famous Sutro Baths between Land's End and the Cliff House, and to bring patrons to it he also had a railroad built. It ran from 33rd and Clement the coast and past Land's End to the Baths.

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-'''<font face = Papyrus> <font color = maroon> <font size = 4>Historical Essay</font></font> </font>'''
+'''<font face = arial light> <font color = maroon> <font size = 3>Unfinished History</font></font> </font>'''
-''by Dr. Weirde''
 [[Image:richmond$cliff-train.jpg]]
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 ''Photo: Private Collection, San Francisco, CA''
+[[Image:Cliff House Train May 16 1905 AAC-8235.jpg]]
+'''Cliff House Train, May 16, 1905.'''
+''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library''
 <iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/ssftrainquk" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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 (Golden Gate without bridge in background)
-Land's End is one of the weirdest and most beautiful sections of San Francisco. The land here is notoriously shifty and unstable; it has the disconcerting habit of swallowing people alive. Landslides have been known to appear out of nowhere and bury unwary victims; rescue parties have noted that the "molten" land continues to quiver and vibrate while they search for the bodies.
+[[Image:El-Camino-del-Mark-at-far-left-west-towards-Lands-End--tracks-abandoned-after-Feb-7-1925-landslide-SFDPW-June-15-1923.jpg|720px]]
+'''El Camino del Mar at far left, looking west towards Land's End. Sutro railroad tracks abandoned after February 7, 1925 landslide.'''
+''Photo: SFDPW, courtesy Charles Ruiz collection''
+Land's End is one of the weirdest and most beautiful sections of San Francisco. On the hill above and east of Land's End is the [[The Palace of the Legion of Honor|Palace of the Legion of Honor]], itself built upon an old potter's field (a [[Old Cemeteries in the City|cemetery]] for unnamed and unmarked bodies). The land here is notoriously shifty and unstable; landslides have been known to appear out of nowhere and bury unwary victims; rescue parties have noted that the "molten" land continues to quiver and vibrate while they search for the bodies.
-The land of Land's End, which now only occasionally swallows living people, used to have an insatiable appetite for dead ones. Much of the area was once a [[Old Cemeteries in the City|cemetery]]; deep beneath the living earth lie the remains of people buried here during the 19th century.
+[[Mayor Adolph Sutro|Adolph Sutro]] built his famous [[The Sutro Baths (ruins)|Sutro Baths]] between Land's End and the [[C L I F F H O U S E|Cliff House]], and to bring patrons to it he also had a [[Public Transportation for Everyone|railroad]] built. It ran from 33rd and Clement the coast and past Land's End to the Baths.
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