Allegheny Portage Railroad
From Freepedia
Image:Allegheny Portage Railroad.jpg
The Allegheny Portage Railroad was the first railroad constructed through the Allegheny Mountains in central Pennsylvania, USA. It was a combination of a towpath canal and an inclined plane railroad, approximately 50 miles (80 km) long, and operated from 1834 to 1854. It connected the two branches of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal from Johnstown on the west to Hollidaysburg on the east, thus allowing continuous barge traffic between the Ohio and the Susquehanna rivers. Considered a technological marvel in its day, it played a critical role in opening up the interior of the United States beyond the Appalachian Mountains to settlement and commerce, including the first railroad tunnel in the United States, the Staple Bend Tunnel. Its inauguration was marked with great fanfare.
Construction of the railroad began in 1831 and took three years to complete, financed by the State of Pennsylvania as a means to compete with the Erie Canal in New York and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Maryland. The work was done largely through private contractors. The railroad used ten inclined planes--five on either side of the summit of the Allegheny Ridge. The vertical ascent from Johnstown was 1,172 ft (355 m). The vertical ascent from Hollidaysburg was 1,399 ft (424 m). The barges were drawn by horses along level sections, which included a 900 ft (273 m) tunnel, as well as a viaduct over the Little Conemaugh River upstream from Johnstown. A typical voyage took between six and seven hours to complete. The entire Main Line system connecting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia was 400 miles (640 km) long.
Image:1948 Allegheny Portage Railroad.jpg In 1854 the portage railroad was rendered obsolete by the construction a locomotive railroad over the Alleghenies by the Pennsylvania Railroad, a private company. Despite this, construction on the New Portage Railroad, a $2.14 million realignment to bypass the inclines, continued, opening in 1856. On July 31, 1857, the Pennsylvania Railroad bought the portage railroad from the state, abandoning most and using the rest as local branches. In 1904 the part east of the Gallitzin Tunnels was reopened as a freight bypass line via the "Muleshoe Curve".
A small portion of the portage railroad is preserved at the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, established in 1964 and located approximately 12 miles (19 km) west of Altoona.
See also
External links
- National Park Service: Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site
- Allegheny Portage Railroad: Developing Transportation Technology
- Map of the Route
Categories: Pennsylvania Railroad lines in Pennsylvania | Historic civil engineering landmarks | U.S. National Historic Sites | Portages
