This is one of those non-SketchUp instances where I just wanted to share something interesting and relevant in a different sense.
In the comments section below the photo (at the photo blog) you will see a Google Maps view of the same location-- unfortunately the railroad is gone, replaced in part by a large highway interchange.
Often in the Shorpy blog users will post either a Google Maps view or, more often, a Google Street View image, adding layers of information to the historic photo. You can see what was there vs. what's there now-- sometimes the old places still exist, buried amongst new glass skyscrapers. Other times they are left largely intact. And sometimes they have vanished altogether.
For added interest, another user posted this link of a physical, scale model of the inclined railroad. I would think most SketchUp modelers will be interested to see this. According to Pete Blackshaw, owner of the model, it is the work of nationally-recognized modeler Leo Knoll and his son Mark.
