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Published: August 22nd 2018
The drive from Mylan Park in Morgantown WV to Fox Den Acres Campground in New Stanton PA, a short distance southeast of Pittsburgh PA, on Monday, June 11, 2018, was short and uneventful. Fox Den Acres is a first-rate operation with spacious sites, but I never learned to negotiate my return to the RV park without the assistance of the GPS. Natural barriers such as hills and rivers cause the roads to be curvy and to have numerous T-intersections. Besides, my week-long stay didn’t justify spending a lot of cerebral energy on map memorization.
In addition to the two national memorials alluded to in the blog title, this area is replete with remnants of the construction of transportation mechanisms created by very innovative problem-solvers to get goods and people over the Appalachian Mountains. One of those creative solutions was the Allegheny Portage Railroad so, on Tuesday, June 12, 2018, I made my way to the
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site in Cresson PA. The Allegheny Portage Railroad was the first railroad constructed through the Allegheny Mountains in central Pennsylvania and operated from 1834 to 1854. Authorized as part of the Main Line of Public Works legislation in 1824, it was a series of ten
inclines over a distance of about 36 miles, it connected a branch of the Pennsylvania Canal at either end and it included the first railroad tunnel in the United States, the 900-foot long Staple Bend Tunnel. There were five inclines on either side of the drainage divide. The Portage Railroad utilized cleverly designed wheeled barges to ride a narrow-gauge rail track with steam-powered stationary engines lifting the vehicles via hoisting ropes. Except for peak moments of severe storms, it was an all-weather, all-seasons operation and cut transport time from Philadelphia to the Ohio River from weeks to just 3–5 days.
The railroad utilized eleven grade lines and ten cable inclined planes, five on either side of the summit of Allegheny Ridge, to carry loaded canal boats on flatbed railroad cars. Trains of 2-3 cars were pulled on grade by mules; but, on incline planes, stationary steam engines pulled up and lowered down the cars by hemp ropes that were switched to wire ropes (cables) in 1842. The vertical ascent on the east side of the Allegheny Ridge was 1,399 feet but was only 1,172 feet on the west side. The entire Main Line system connecting Philadelphia and Pittsburgh was
400 miles, and a typical ride took 4 days instead of the former 23-day horse and wagon journey. The Main Line system was comprised of the Philadelphia-Columbia railroad, the Columbia-Hollidaysburg canal, the Portage railroad (linking Hollidaysburg to Johnstown) and a canal from Johnstown to Pittsburgh. Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site is a one-of-a-kind site with a tremendous amount of enlightenment about an important segment of American history.
My next stop was
Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark near Altoona PA. Allegheny Portage Railroad was a major step forward in the transportation of cargo, both human and freight, across the Appalachian Mountains, but completion of engineering feats, such as the Horseshoe Curve, propelled that transit forward, not by a major step, but rather by leaps and bounds. Newer, more powerful railroad engines, which could negotiate steeper grades, made the construction of expensive projects like Horseshoe Curve feasible. In summary, wagon transportation from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh took about 23 days. In 1834, the same trip via train, canal and the Allegheny Portage Railroad (when the canals weren’t frozen) took about 4 days. By 1852, trains crossed the state (thus eliminating the canal portion of the trip) but were still dependent on the Allegheny Portage Railroad
(which didn’t operate at night) to traverse the Appalachian Mountains. With the addition of the Horseshoe Curve in 1854, passengers could travel the entire route by rail 24/7/365, and the time was reduced to an average of 15 hours. Construction of Horseshoe Curve was done by about 450 workers, the work was done entirely by hand and the workers were paid 25 cents per hour for a twelve-hour day. Interestingly, Horseshoe Curve was on a list of twelve key industrial sites targeted by Nazi saboteurs who were captured at two sites on the U.S. coast in June 1942. Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark is just plain cool and, indeed, different. If you decide to visit, make sure to ride the “Funicular,” an incline plane designed to take you from the visitors center up to the train tracks of Horseshoe Curve (you can get your exercise walking back down). Also, I hope you have the opportunity (as did I) to wave at the engineer and to have him/her sound the train whistle as it passes.
I made my way to Altoona for a good, blue-collar (but unspectacular) lunch at Tom & Joe’s Diner and then headed to the
Railroaders Memorial Museum, also
Panel #1 of “How a Steam Engine Works”
Railroaders Memorial Museum - Altoona PAin Altoona. From Wikipedia, “The museum is dedicated to revealing, interpreting, commemorating and celebrating the significant contributions of railroaders and their families to American life and industry.” I might have passed on the attraction but had bought a combo ticket when I visited Horseshoe Curve National Historic Site (the museum operates the visitor center there). Altoona's location at the foot of the Allegheny front and its proximity to the Horseshoe Curve route over the mountains made the city one of the most important rail facilities in the United States. The city was home to Altoona Works – the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) repair and maintenance shops, a locomotive construction facility and a testing department. PRR's contribution to the nation’s transportation infrastructure and to railroad standardization made it one of the most important contributors to the American industrial revolution. By the 1920s, the Altoona railroad works employed 15,000 workers and, by 1945, the PRR facilities at Altoona had become the largest rail shop complex in the world. The Railroaders Memorial Museum is, indeed, a railroading museum; but it really is an Altoona museum, for as the railroads went, so went Altoona. This museum is very well done and should be of interest
to most history buffs and of significant interest to railroading buffs. For my final stop, I visited the
Gallitzin Tunnels Park & Museum in Gallitzin PA. The docent on duty could not get the DVR to operate and knew of no easy way to get to the tunnel for a looky-see. Quite a bust.
On Friday, June 15, 2018, I made stops at two covered bridges, the 1850 Bell's Mill 107' Covered Bridge near West Newton PA and the Ebenezer Church Covered Bridge near Kammerer PA, before reaching the
Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington PA. When I arrived, a trolley ride was five minutes hence so I wasted little time getting to the passenger loading area. Trolley Ride #1 took us to one end of the trolley line, back through the “trolley central” area and on to the other end of the trolley line. The ride was not narrated and was not particularly memorable, but I found it quite enjoyable. Upon our return to “trolley central,” the operator advised the passengers that Ride #2 would be departing in a handful of minutes. The historic trolleys are kept in a trolley barn removed from “trolley central” and are accessible only via Trolley Ride #2.
We
had passed the trolley barn on Ride #1 so the return trip was repetitive; however, we took a siding which led to the trolley barn. The barn is full of vintage trolleys in varying stages of restoration. While the operator doubles as a tour guide and provides a narrative about many specimens, most specimens (including those at the core of the narrative) have a nearby placard that provides the history of that particular specimen. I have seen a few trolley museums in my travels. They never seem to get old to me and would probably be interesting to most trolley “newbies” but for those who might have already seen a similar museum, maybe not so much. My biggest criticism is that there was little time to “free-lance” in the trolley barn, i.e. photograph, read placards, etc. I wrapped up the day by wandering through the Pennsylvania countryside to visit five covered bridges – the Brownlee-Scott Covered Bridge near Claysville PA, the 1915 Sawhill 57' Covered Bridge near Taylorstown PA, the 1870 Pine Bank-Meadowcroft Village Covered Bridge near Avella PA, the 1880 Devil's Den-McClurg Covered Bridge near Florence PA and the Jackson's Mill 46' Covered Bridge near Paris PA.
There
were two major historic disasters which caused me to keep a stop in the Pittsburgh area on the middle burner for several years – the crash of Flight 93 on 9/11 and the Johnstown Flood of May 31, 1889 which cost over 2200 lives. I had visited all the related sites on Thursday, June 14, 2018 as well as a couple of covered bridges; however, in the process of transferring the photographs from the (camera) phone to the computer, some kind of glitch occurred which resulted in all of the photos being solid black. Sooo, on Saturday, June 16, 2018 I planned a return trip to take some more photographs. Had that glitch occurred with many other attractions, it would have resulted in an “oh well” reaction, but these were the major attractions I wanted to document for my “rocking chair days.”
When I arrived at the
Flight 93 National Memorial in Stoystown PA, I learned that Lorne Lyles, widower of CeeCee Ross Lyles, a flight attendant on United Airlines Flight 93, would be a guest speaker that afternoon. I hurried through the memorial re-taking the photographs that had gone to “The Cloud” somewhere and returned to the auditorium where Mr. Lyles
was to speak. She was a very pretty senior when he was a freshman – she didn’t remember him, but he definitely remembered her when they reconnected many years and each a marriage later. She was a police officer while he was a corrections officer at the county jail. By the time of 9/11, she had retired from the police department and had pursued her childhood dream of becoming a flight attendant while he had moved from corrections to policing on the same department from which she had retired. He had worked the night shift and had come home and gone to bed on the morning of 9/11. He was awakened by his superiors and was totally confused by their concern as he had no knowledge of the events of the day. He went on to outline how the tragedy had affected the children (his, hers and ours) and of how he had wanted to commemorate her memory. Today, he has retired from the police department and, to commemorate her memory, is now a flight attendant for United Airlines. In the end, the camera glitch had a silver lining.
I returned to Johnstown and the
Johnstown Flood Museum. On my first
visit (with only a few other visitors), a docent was on hand to provide a narration for the dynamic display depicting the progression of the flood waters from the compromised dam toward Johnstown; however, on a Saturday with many visitors, no docent was present. That really didn’t detract from my photographic session but did surprise me somewhat. First, some history. High above Johnstown; and as part of a cross-state canal system, the Main Line of Public Works (yes, the same Main Line referenced earlier); the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania built the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River, 14 upstream from Johnstown, between 1838 and 1853. Johnstown was the eastern terminus of the Western Division Canal and was supplied with water by Lake Conemaugh, the reservoir behind the dam. As railroads superseded canal barge transport, the Commonwealth abandoned the canal and sold it to the Pennsylvania Railroad. The dam and lake were part of the purchase, and the railroad subsequently sold them to private interests.
Henry Clay Frick, a leader in a group of speculators, came to purchase the abandoned reservoir, modify it, and convert it into a private resort lake for himself and his wealthy associates. Many were connected through
business and social links to Carnegie Steel. Development included lowering the top of the dam to make it wide enough to host a road, and putting a fish screen in the spillway (the screen also trapped debris). These alterations are thought to have increased the vulnerability of the dam. Moreover, a system of relief pipes and valves, a feature of the original dam, had been previously sold off for scrap and not replaced, so the club had no way of lowering the water level in the lake in case of an emergency. The members constructed cottages and a clubhouse to create the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, an exclusive and private mountain retreat. Membership grew to include more than 50 wealthy Pittsburgh steel, coal, and railroad industrialists.
Lake Conemaugh, at the club's site, was 450 feet above Johnstown. The lake was about 2 miles long, about 1 mile wide and 60 feet deep near the dam. The dam was 72 feet high and 931 feet long. After 1881, when the club opened, the dam frequently sprang leaks. It was patched, mostly with mud and straw. There had been some speculation as to the dam's integrity, and concerns had
been raised by the head of the Cambria Iron Works, downstream in Johnstown. In the “Events of the flood” section of the
Johnstown Flood in Wikipedia, the timeline of events is outlined. After the disaster, Clara Barton and 50 volunteers from the American Red Cross undertook a major disaster relief effort. Support for victims came from all over the United States and 18 foreign countries. Barton did not leave for more than five months. In the end, 1600 homes were destroyed, $17 million in property damage was incurred (approx. $497 million in 2016 dollars) and 4 square miles of downtown Johnstown were completely destroyed. The official death toll was 2,208 – 99 entire families died in the flood, including 396 children. New widows numbered 124, 198 men were widowed, and 98 children were orphaned. One third of the dead, 777 people, were never identified, and their remains were buried in the "Plot of the Unknown" in Grandview Cemetery in Westmont PA. It was the worst flood to hit the U.S. in the 19
th century. The museum is an awesome attraction and should merit a visit by all who pass through the area.
My next stop was the
Heritage Discovery Center in Johnstown
where the focus is not on what happened, but rather to whom it happened – or put another way, upon whose backs it happened. IT being the growth of Johnstown’s industrial engine. Upon entry, the visitor is asked to select one or two cards from several options. These cards are inserted into slots at various interactive stations along the journey through the museum. Card insertion initiates an audio/video presentation by the character on the card. Some of the card options include a young woman to be married to an American man via an arranged marriage, a man who decides to come to America because of his immigrant uncle’s success here, a 12-year old orphan coming to live with his aunt and uncle and an immigrant whose plan is to return to Europe after making a fortune in America. At the interactive stations, the visitor gets to see America through the eyes of the immigrant or the American who must deal with the surge of new arrivals. I found the exercise quite interesting and enlightening particularly in light of the current political upheaval over immigration.
The discovery continues as the visitor learns where the immigrants lived in Johnstown; where they
shopped, played and worshipped; and where they worked. Next, the owners of the businesses are examined and the growth of those businesses is revealed. Last, the formation of cultural societies is examined where “the old country” was kept alive and the immigrants’ heritage was preserved. The Heritage Discovery Center is a phenomenal facility for those who wish to broaden their perspective about the human experience but for those with myopic vision, probably not so much.
I made my final stop of the day the
Johnstown Inclined Plane, in Johnstown, for a re-ride on the
funicular. I found out on my first ride that the funicular is capable of transporting a vehicle up and down the incline; however, my truck would have been very close to the weight limit – so close that I didn’t even attempt it on my second ride. That, however, would have been really cool, and I sorta envy those of you driving cars! Indeed, the Johnstown Inclined Plane is billed as the "world's steepest vehicular inclined plane," as it is capable of carrying automobiles up or down the 70.9 percent grade in 90 seconds. The incline and its two stations connect the city of Johnstown to the
borough of Westmont on Yoder Hill.
After the flood in 1889, the Johnstown Inclined Plane was completed in 1891 to serve as an escape route for future floods, as well as a convenient mode of transportation for the residents of the new communities situated above the flood-prone valley. It was operated by Cambria Iron Company and its successor Bethlehem Steel until 1935, when it was sold to the borough of Westmont. The incline was briefly shut down in 1962 when its supply of power from Bethlehem Steel was terminated. Twice in its history, the Johnstown Inclined Plane fulfilled its role as a means of evacuation from floods—once in 1936 and again in 1977. The incline was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and was designated an Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1994. It had major renovations in 1962 and again from 1983 to 1984. I opted to forego the
Johnstown Flood National Memorial on my second visit. The attraction has a couple of approaches to the site where the dam stood at the time of the disaster, but both have a lot of brush and trees that obstruct the views, making it hard to visualize exactly what was
present back in the day. Essentially, I guess the time I spent at Johnstown Flood National Memorial on my first visit was consumed by the presentation by Mr. Lyles on my second visit. That, my readers, was a damn good tradeoff!
Monday, June 18, 2018 was the Monday of Mondays for Uncle Larry. I had made an appointment to get the oil changed in the Ram. Upon arrival at the dealership, I was told they don’t work on diesel pickups at the dealership service department because they don’t have a lift capable of hoisting the truck and that I would have to go to the fleet service facility for the work. My next destination was
Rivers of Steel, a rare historic artifact from the steel-making era. I drove past the location identified by the GPS three or four times and found no signage (or parking area) or facility that even remotely looked like a former steel mill. My third stop was a downtown bank to get some cash where I, again, could find no place to park. My fourth stop was the
Senator John Heinz History Center, also downtown, where I, again, could find no place to park, even in an overflowing (illegally parked vehicles)
expensive surface lot. My fifth and sixth stops were the
Monongahela Incline and the
Duquesne Incline, where I, again, could find no place to park. I was confident that at my next stop, the
Big Mac Museum Restaurant, I would surely find customer parking. I did, and the attraction was a great, light-hearted way of remembering McDonalds back in the good old days – when the Golden Arches boasted, “Over 40,000 Sold.” Yes, boys and girls, the sign was changed each time a “10,000 sold milestone” was reached. My eighth, and final, stop of the day was an unplanned quick lube establishment to get the oil change the Ram desperately needed – well, okay, I was only 400 miles over but would be very, very overdue very, very soon.
Although extremely frustrating at times, I had a productive week in the Altoona/Pittsburgh area. An unexpected treat was the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site. Since I have learned not to expect anything from any given attraction to ward off disappointment, the Johnstown Flood National Memorial was everything I might have expected (had I entertained the notion), and the Flight 93 National Memorial exceeded my “expectationnless” expectations. I spent one frustrating day in Pittsburgh,
frustrating because of the absence of weekday parking near the attractions I had selected; however, I am not deterred and will try again on a weekend day if I make another stop in the area. All-in-all, the week was not stellar nor was it a bust – Altoona is a nice place to visit (and a great center of operations), the Johnstown Flood National Memorial is very good and the Flight 93 National Memorial is phenomenal – particular for those of us who lived through that tragic day.
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