There isn’t a San Francisco tour worth its price that would dare conclude without at least a drive-by and mention of one of San Francisco’s most magnetic sightseeing attractions, the Russian Hill section of Lombard Street – better known as “the world’s most crooked street.” But long before cars ruled the streets of San Francisco there was a passenger vehicle wending its way up and down an area hill far more dramatic than that of Russian Hill, earning it the moniker “the most crooked” back in the late nineteenth century.
Just over the Golden Gate Bridge and through the Muir Woods there used to be an opened air passenger tram from the base of Mill Valley to the peak of Mt. Tamalpais known as “The Gravity Car.” The train used small steam engines to push it up the mountain about 2,500 feet, and gravity to run back down – hence the name. The train served no other purpose than to offer tourists the pleasure of amazing vistas of the city of San Francisco, the San Francisco Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, the Pacific Ocean and the rugged coastline and the mountains to the west – evidence that San Francisco tourism has been a business for more than 125 years.
Now “The Gravity Car” heritage can be more fully appreciated with a new exhibit to be opened in May in the same spot at the top of Mt. Tamalpais that used to house the terminating train station and tavern. Once promoted as the “greatest sightseeing ride in the world”, the train in its former glory made more than 280 turns as it climbed up the mountain, therefore laying claim to the title, “the most crooked railroad in the world.” In its day it was quite well known and anyone coming to the area for San Francisco tours or Muir Woods Tours before they were designated as Muir Woods, would put “the Gravity Car” on their San Francisco tours to-do list. Even the renowned conservationist, John Muir, rode the Gravity Car to enjoy the amazing vistas of the San Francisco Bay Area.
