{"id":32,"date":"2016-04-20T00:02:44","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T04:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/usparks\/?p=32"},"modified":"2016-06-22T11:12:53","modified_gmt":"2016-06-22T15:12:53","slug":"allegheny-portage-railroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/usparks\/allegheny-portage-railroad\/","title":{"rendered":"Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site: An engineering marvel"},"content":{"rendered":"

GALLITZIN, Cambria County<\/span><\/p>\n

I<\/span>f there are national parks for nerds, the Allegheny Portage Railroad historic site is one of them.<\/p>\n

The story of the railroad itself is about creative engineers and hard-working laborers, with the financial backing of the state government, jury-rigging a way to get railcars up and over the formidable Allegheny Mountains \u2014 testing new materials and new technology along the way.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s kind of nerdy stuff.<\/p>\n

But before everyone else zips on by along Route 22, it\u2019s worth mentioning the bacon.<\/p>\n

\u201cBacon was special,\u201d said Megan O\u2019Malley, chief of interpretation, as she showed off a barrel of fake bacon installed last fall in the park\u2019s visitor center. The staff figured what better way to make the story of a transportation system more compelling than to explain what was in it for regular folks.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/a>
A model of the \u201cLou Ann\u201d sits on the rail cars in a display case at the Portage Museum. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A model of one of the canal boats ,in a display case at the Portage Museum. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Ranger <\/a>
Ranger Doug Bosley uses a display while talking about the elevation and how 10 engine houses were used to get cargo over the Allegheny Mountains, in the Portage Museum. In the forground are some of barrels that would have been used to ship. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Doug <\/a>
Doug Bosley stands near a model of a \u201cSafety Car\u201d, that was used to \u201cbrake\u201d when ropes would break at the Allegheny Portage Railroad. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A casting of \u201cbacon\u201d on display in a shipping barrel at the Portage Museum. Bacon was a very popular item to be shipped over the Allegheny Mountains to Pittsburgh. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

More than 23 million pounds of bacon was shipped on the Allegheny Portage Railroad east from Pittsburgh in 1843 alone.<\/p>\n

Back then, bacon came in barrels. The railroad also carried cheese, whiskey, nails, tobacco, yarn, lead, even fancy goblets that likely would have been broken if they\u2019d been packed into a wagon pulled by horses. Passengers rode the railroad, too.<\/p>\n

The goods were in demand but the profit margin wasn\u2019t high. It was a similar challenge to the ones that Amazon, Uber, Postmates, Macy\u2019s and FedEx deal with as they try to satisfy consumers\u2019 interest in getting things delivered quickly \u2014 and still make a profit on the exchange.<\/p>\n

An engineer working on the portage railroad construction in the early 1830s predicted that, when it was complete, transporting goods by canal and railroad from Hollidaysburg in Blair County to Blairsville in Indiana County would drop shipping costs from $12 to $16 per ton to $4 per ton, according to \u201cOver the Alleghenies,\u201d a 2013 book on Pennsylvania\u2019s early canals and railroads by Robert Kapsch, published by West Virginia University Press.<\/p>\n

Another game changer: rather than a 23-day wagon trip from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh in good weather, according to park literature, the new system could do it in four days.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/a>
The west end of the Nation\u2019s First Railroad Tunnel of the Allegheny Portage Railroad. It was four miles from Johnstown where they would transfer to the canals on the way to Pittsburgh. The Allegheny Portage Railroad was the first railroad to cross the Allegheny Mountains. The Portage Railroad was 36 miles long. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Two <\/a>
Two sets of tracks were alined on the stones of the 120 ft. wide trail of the Allegheny Portage Railroad. They led west to the Nations\u2019 First Railroad Tunnel, and last Engine House , then four miles to Johnstown where they would tranfer to the canals on the way to Pittsburgh. The Allegheny Portage Railroad was the first railroad to cross the Allegheny Mountains. The Portage Railroad was 36 miles long. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Ranger <\/a>
Ranger Doug Bosley stands near a restored colvert along part of the 120 ft. wide trail that had two sets of tracks for the Allegheny Portage Railroad. It led to the Nations\u2019 First Railroad Tunnel, four miles from Johnstown. The Allegheny Portage Railroad was the first railroad to cross the Allegheny Mountains. The Portage Railroad was 36 miles long. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Chasing the Erie Canal<\/p>\n

In the early 1800s, New York had shocked the markets with its Erie Canal, a more than 360-mile-long system of manmade waterways that could get people and goods from Albany to Buffalo in five days, by some estimates.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania\u2019s response was a complicated transportation system that was part canal, part traditional railroad and \u2014 because those mountains had to be crossed somehow \u2014 part portage railroad.<\/p>\n

The 36.69-mile-long Allegheny Portage Railroad was only a link in the project that stretched across hundreds of miles of Pennsylvania, but it was arguably the most creative piece.<\/p>\n

The engineers decided they could get loads up and over the mountains by constructing a series of tilted stretches of rail \u2014 like the inclines that still take commuters and tourists up Mount Washington in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

Ten inclines were built, with flat stretches in between, to serve as a link between canals in Hollidaysburg and Johnstown.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\u0097Hemp <\/a>
\u0097Hemp Rope and \u0093Wire Rope\u0094, both were used at the Allegheny Portage Railroad. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The Gears in the replica of \u0093Engine House #6\u0094 , which was the high point of the Allegheny Portage Railroad. Two steam engines were used in each of the Engine Houses. The hemp ropes were replaced later with \u0093wire ropes\u0094 , created by John Roebling. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

John Roebling\u2019s wire rope<\/p>\n

The first year, horses pulled the loaded cars along the Allegheny Portage Railroad because the state couldn\u2019t afford locomotives. The animals were leased from nearby farmers, and it\u2019s fair to say they weren\u2019t real happy when locomotives were eventually acquired, Mr. Bosley said.<\/p>\n

Technology that both kills and creates jobs didn\u2019t start with the Internet. In some ways, the portage railroad served as sort of a high-tech accelerator for the 1830s and 1840s.<\/p>\n

At the top of each inclined stretch of rail, coal-powered stationary steam engines did the hard lifting and lowering work. Sometimes those got overheated and blew up.<\/p>\n

\n

Allegheny Portage Railroad<\/h2>\n

110 Federal Park Road, Gallitzin, PA 16641<\/p>\n

1-814-886-6150<\/p>\n

Official Website<\/a><\/p>\n