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The Red Mountain Lookout was originally used in 1879. The stone structure was built in 1909, and used until 1934. From this vantage point, it was possible to see nearly 30 miles of track, nearly all of which was covered by wooden snowsheds. The exhibit replicates the viewing window of the lookout.

Red Mountain Lookout

In 1876, the Central Pacific Railroad built a fire lookout atop the 7,841-foot Signal Peak, north of Cisco Grove. From this spot, it was possible to see over twenty miles of the railroad, more than from any other single point. The lookout’s job was to look for fires in the snowsheds that covered most of the rail line between Emigrant Gap and Donner Pass. Steam engines and wooden snowsheds were a bad combination, and shed fires started by sparks from engine exhaust were common.

After a series of shed fires in 1869 and 1870, a railroad fire service was organized. Along with the lookout, special fire trains were established, with dedicated rolling stock and specially trained crews. Four trains were kept on sidings at Truckee, Summit (later Norden), Blue Canyon, and Cisco. These trains and crews were kept ready at a moment’s notice. Each fire train had a special whistle with a siren-like wail, to alert work crews that it was coming, and to clear the track.

Fire trains were decommissioned in the mid-1950s, but water cars with pumps were kept available in Truckee as late as the 1960s.

The first fire lookout on Signal Peak. The people in the photograph are unknown, but it is believed that the woman may be the wife of the lookout, and had come up for a visit. Visitors were extremely rare. Access was via a three mile mule trail from Cisco, and very strenuous. The flat object on the right side of the photo appears to be a plane table, and was probably used to determine locations along the railroad in case of fire or accident. (Photographer unknown. Courtesy Dave Henry Photography Archives).

The lookout, believed to be the first structure ever built for fire detection, was an isolated and lonely place. Always windy and frequently cold, the structure housed a man 24 hours per day, spring through fall. When the lookout sighted smoke in the wrong place, he telephoned down to the dispatcher at Cisco, who telegraphed the information to the appropriate station.

Fire Train 2181 posing for the camera in 1925. Note the executive wearing the fedora, and the fireman on top of the engine. (Southern Pacific photograph. Courtesy Dave Henry Photography Archives).

The Central Pacific was an early telephone user, installing a line between Red Mountain and Cisco line in 1877, only a year after the telephone was invented. This was one of the first practical uses of the telephone in the world.

The telephone used in the exhibit is not from the lookout, but is consistent with the type of equipment used in the early 20th century. As funding becomes available, a voice chip will be installed that will allow visitors to pick up the ear piece and listen to communication between the lookout and dispatcher at Cisco, as well as a letter written by a railroad official to the Bell Telephone Company, praising the telephone. This letter reads:

San Francisco, tenth September 1878.

Mister Samuel Hubbard, Agent. Bell Telephone Company.

Dear Sir— Following is a verbatim copy of the statement attached to voucher for the rental of Telephones approved and allowed August twenty-first, 1878-

            “Agent Bell Telephone Company called last fall and after a conversation with him it was decided to give him permission to introduce the Telephone into the snowsheds as an experiment, to determine its value as an auxiliary to the system of Watchman’s signals in use there.

            “They have proved to be indispensably valuable as was instanced at the time of the late derailment of passenger train at Cascade, where there was no telegraph operation, and a history of the affair was Telephoned to Blue Canon office, and thence to Sacramento by wire, thus saving the time necessary for Watchman to reach the nearest telegraph station. The Trackmen & Wrecking Car were also sent, without loss of time, by the aid of Watchman’s signal, and the Telephone.”

In 1909, the railroad built a stone structure to replace the drafty and cold wooden structure from the 1870s.

Lookout duty was tough! All supplies—food, water, and wood, had to be carried up from Cisco, and the mule trail went essentially straight up the mountain. Evidence found on-site indicates that evaporated milk and canned meat were major parts of the lookout’s diet.

In addition to isolation and boredom, lookouts faced many physical hazards. The wind blows constantly on top of Signal Peak. Spring and fall nights can be brutally cold, and there is no shade on hot summer days. Lightning storms are not uncommon. In fact, the last man to staff the lookout was killed by a bolt of lightning in 1934 while talking on the telephone.

Red Mountain lookout has long been abandoned, but people continue to visit the site to marvel at the spectacular view. The railroad, of course, remains visible, and on a clear day you can see from the crest of the Sierra Nevada to the west and southwest into the Sacramento Valley and Coast Range, including Mt. Diablo. The lookout is accessible via a strenuous hike or by 4-wheel drive vehicle during summer months. Check with the front desk for directions.