It is at least as much a Pittsburgh icon as the fountain at the Point. As a public attraction, it's been there four times as long. That's why any innovation to help people better appreciate the 127-year-old Duquesne Incline (and its neighbor, the Monongahela Incline) is a lesson in the value of Pittsburgh itself.

Now passengers on the funicular, whether commuters heading to work or visitors seeking a ride on the "cable car," have an interior platform from which to observe the mechanical workings of a true transportation relic. Last week, David and Ruth Miller, the eighty-somethings who for half their lives have been the guardian angels of the Duquesne Incline, cut the ribbon on the deck where the public can get a look at the big wheels and steel cables that move the cars up and down Mount Washington.

Some riders, no doubt, would rather not know what 19th-century contraption is responsible for their smooth-as-silk glide along the face of the mountain. Others, however, feel more assured by being able to observe the muscular machinery.

For 50 cents, they now have the chance, which is the price of admission to the Duquesne Incline's new equipment-viewing platform. This bird's-nest view was made possible by $600,000 in state and federal grants (which was also used to relocate the incline office), but also the dogged efforts of the Millers. The couple led the formation of the Society for the Preservation of the Duquesne Heights Incline in 1964, and has been the historic attraction's staunchest advocates ever since.

In that way, they are the essence of Pittsburgh, working to preserve something old, hoping to share it with someone new and seeking no attention or reward for themselves. It's a day full of ups and downs for the couple who oversee the operation of the Duquesne Incline. Veteran and first-time riders alike wouldn't have it any other way.