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HE summit of Mt. Tom was not easily accessible until the construction of the Mt. Tom Railroad in the year 1897. Now, the street cars of Holyoke (which connect with the Springfield, Northampton, Westfield and Amherst systems of street cars, and with the Boston & Maine and N.Y., N. H. & Hartford railroads) run to the lower station of the Mt. Tom Railroad, and in less than ten minutes afterwards the mountain cars deliver their passengers on the summit. The Mt. Tom Railroad is a cable-trolley-electric, modern mountain railway. The cars are models of taste and finish, excelling in size, proportions and beauty all mountain cars in this country. The electric power is furnished from a power house five miles away. Each car is equipped with electric brakes, also with a powerful automatic grip - brake (which is governed by a regulator) which causes heavy, strong jaws to grip a safety third-rail of the track whenever the wheels exceed a certain speed.
The strong, steel cable, made of 120 wires, tested to many times the required strength, passes over large sheaves at the summit.
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