1955 Lookout Mountain Incline Cable Car, Tennessee

Experience one of America’s most dramatic rail attractions with this vintage postcard featuring the yellow and black incline cable car climbing Lookout Mountain Incline Railway in Chattanooga. This vertical image captures the car at the lower section of the track, with the rails stretching steeply upward along the mountainside. It shows a striking perspective that highlights the railway’s remarkable grade.

Photographed in natural color by Walter Cline and published by the W. M. Cline Company in 1955, this Color-King Natural Color Card showcases the famous incline at its steepest point, where the grade reaches an extraordinary 72.7 percent. Opened in 1895, the railway operates using a classic cable-powered counterbalance system, with two cars connected by cable so that one ascends as the other descends.

Collectors are especially drawn to this postcard for the vintage incline railcar itself. The distinctive yellow and black car, specially constructed with tiered seating to accommodate the steep slope, has carried visitors up Lookout Mountain for generations and remains one of Chattanooga’s most recognizable historic attractions.

This vintage chrome postcard beautifully preserves a mid-century view of a celebrated American cable railway and would make an excellent addition to any cable car, funicular, railroad, or Tennessee tourism collection.

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