Once we moved in we started to explore our house and grounds and to our surprise we turned to find a Railroad track in our yard. We moved in over the Christmas break, so with moving, and Christmas activities we have been a little too busy to explore. Then, add in it has rained 90% of the time. So not too much exploring has taken place.

Finally, the clouds broke, and we had a couple of warm days. We made it outside to take a look around. Even though we visited this house multiple times prior to purchasing, we really did not get a chance to explore the grounds.

As we are walking around, I stumbled upon what looks like a railroad track. My mind immediately started thinking, what could this have been used for? Perhaps an old logging system to harvest the trees? What in the world do we have here?

Looking up the hill, you can see at the very top, what appears to be a bench. I then looked over to my left and saw lying on the ground this control panel.

I walked all the way to the top of the hill following the rails. There were a couple of areas the tracks were loose from their bindings but for the most part all intact. Were my eyes lying to me? Could this be what I think it is?

As I went up the hill and got closer to the cart, it became clearer what this was used for. It was a Hillside Trolley car for going up and down the hill vs. using the steps. Who could argue with that? I enjoy a good workout any day, but why not!?

I can’t tell you how cool it is almost every day to find nooks and crannies in or around this house. It has so much character and a unique history.

From what I understand, this was put in years ago to help with a grandmother who was not physically able to go down the stairs. This gave her a way to enjoy the lake with the rest of the family. I admire the effort it must have taken years ago to put this in place for their family. My plan at some point is to see how much effort it would be to replace components and get this thing working again.

I tried to find a lift on Amazon… geeeze and this was one of the funnier results.

Hillside Trolleys are also know as: funicular, hill lift, hill tram, hillside elevators, hillside car, hillside elevator, hillside lift, hillside tram, incline car, incline elevator, incline lift, lake lift, lake tram, lakeside lift, lakeside tram, lake shore lift, lake shore tram, outdoor lift, outdoor tram, platform lift, platform tram, residential lift, residential tram, waterfront lift, waterfront tram, cable car, chair lift

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