Since 2008, CSR Engineering has been providing engineering services for the historic Incline Railway also known as “America’s Most Amazing Mile.” Designated as both a National Historic Site and a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, the Incline Railway has been one of Chattanooga’s main tourist attractions since 1895. In trolley-style rail cars, the Incline Railway takes passengers up and down the side of Lookout Mountain at grades over 72.7% making it the steepest passenger railway in North America. At the upper station, millions have enjoyed the view of the Smokey Mountains over 100 miles away, from the highest point on Lookout Mountain.

CSR Engineering’s scope of the work for Chattanooga Area Regional Transit Authority who manages the incline has included:

• Detailed annual inspection and report summarizing the condition of the 1-mile of track, 6 bridges, two stations and both vehicles
• Annually draft or update a five-year maintenance and capital expenditure plan
• Design all necessary repair and rehabilitation projects
• Monitor the construction of all such projects

Throughout the years CSR Engineering has been providing engineering services for the Incline Railway several components of the railway have been rehabilitated including:

• Timber ties, structural timber, steel bearing plates, and guard timber on the buried trestle at the top of the line
• Timber ties and corbels on Trestle No. 1
• Timber ties and guard timber at the switch track where the rail cars pass each other
• Complete rebuild of the switch track
• Profile correction on Trestle No. 3
• Upper station rehabilitation