USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 32
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The lifting power of each plane was as follows: No. 1, 149.5 feet; No. 2, 133 feet; No. 3, 133 feet; No. 4, 188 feet; No. 5, 195 feet; No. 6, 267 feet; No. 7, 259.5 feet; No. 8, 306 feet; No. 9, 190 feet, and No. 10, 178 feet.
The grades on each level were thus: From Johnstown to the foot of No. 1, it was an average of 29.55 feet per mile; From No. 1 to No. 2, the longest level, it was an average of 13.80 feet per mile; to No. 3, 6.78 feet; to No. 4, 8.93 feet; to No. 5, 12.42 feet ; to No. 6, 12.42 feet; to No. 7, on a dead level; to No. 8, 11.1 feet: to No. 9, 8.93 feet; to No. 10, 16.67 feet, and to Hollidaysburg, an average of 44.51 feet per mile.
The elevations above the sea level at Sandy Hook were: At Johnstown, 1,183 feet; foot of Plane No. 1, 1,273.5; at the
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head 1.423; at the Viaduct, 1,459; at South Fork, 1,481; at Summerhill (Half-way House). 1,536; at Wilmore, 1,573; foot of No. 2. 1,613; at its head. 1,746: at foot of No. 3. 1,756; at its head. 1,889; at the foot of No. 4, 1.906; at its head, 2,094; at the foot of No. 5. 2.126; at its head. 2,321; on the top, at the head of No. 6, 2,341; at its foot. 2,074; at the head of No. 7, 2.074; at its foot, 1.814.5: at the head of No. 8, 1,807; at its foot, 1,501; at the head of No. 9, 1,490; at its foot, 1,300; at the head of No. 10, 1,270; at its foot, 1,092; at Duncansville Station. 1,028, and at Hollidaysburg, 953 feet.
When the road was opened for business, in 1834, it was but a single-track railroad. and during that year and part of 1835 all the cars-passenger and freight-were hauled on the levels by horse power. there being four horses to a freight train of five or six short cars. each of which was about eight feet long. These cars were taken up and let down the planes by stationary engines. The driver, starting with a train at Johnstown, would take it through to Hollidaysburg. Some of the section-boat drivers put their mules in the front section and had them hauled over the mountains. while others took them over the Frankstown road to meet the boats at Hollidays- burg. On May 24. 1834. the contracts for the second track were made at Hollidaysburg and the work completed the fol- lowing year.
The rails were something like the T rails of today in- verted, but were much lighter in weight. These and the chairs were brought from England. The flat side of the rail being uppermost, the neck was set and wedged in a cast iron chair which rested on a stone block, or tie. Each of these blocks supported one rail, and was about eighteen inches deep with a face two feet square. Probably every six feet there was placed a stone binder, seven feet in length and eighteen inches in width and depth, which supported both rails. Holes drilled in the blocks and binders on each side of the rail were filled with locust pins. to which the cast iron chairs were fastened by means of spikes. The rails did not have fish plate joints, but were joined in the chair, where they were fastened by wedges or keys which had to be tightened every day. The "keydriver" had a daily trip of six to eight miles to drive them to their places. The guage of the tracks was four feet eight and one-half inches, the same as now on all standard roads.
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
The iron rails and chairs and stone ties were used only on the levels, but on the planes a primitive track was built of long wooden stringers, about five by eight inches in width and depth, with strap iron spiked on the top. These stringers rested on wooden ties and were in use until the New Portage Road was constructed, when the old style of rails, chairs, and stone blocks was abandoned, and modern rails and ties were used.
When the road was contemplated, the great obstacle to
Head of Plane No. 6. Old Portage Railroad. Geo. W. Storm, Artist.
the civil engineers was to get a track around the many sharp curves which would necessarily be required in passing over the mountains. They did not believe a long rail could be used, and actually purchased rails four feet in length for this pur- pose. but they were never used for making curves (though they were put in service to a limited extent on a straight line), as it was discovered a long rail could be laid around a enrve of a practical radius. If this had been known at the time the roadbed was made it is probable there would not have been any planes. but a road of gradual ascent. such as was finally adopted, twelve years afterward.
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
A stationary engine was built at the head of each plane to draw up the cars and let them down. The method of doing this was by an endless rope, turning around a shive at the head and the foot of the plane, and it was preferred to have a car go down when it was necessary to take another up, that they might balance each other. The "hitcher," at the foot, wrapped the "stop" chain around the hook on the end of the truck, then tied it to the rope, and away the car started. When it reached the top of the plane, another "hitcher" loosed it. Sometimes the rope broke, the cars would come down as fast as gravity permitted, and in the collision which followed everything within reach was destroyed. When the rope broke, "riggers" were called out to make the splices. Hemp ropes were used until 1843, when one of the first wire ropes made by the inventor-Roebling-was put in use on Plane No. 1.
To prevent these accidents, John Tittle, of Johnstown, in- vented a safety car, which was adopted by the state. It was a two-wheeled car, with a concave top, and a strip of notched iron on the bottom, which slid along on top of the rail. The safety car was attached to the rear of an ascending truck and in front of a descending one, and, if the rope broke, the truck ran into the concave surface, and thus its own weight, press- ing the notched iron on the rail, was sufficient to hold it. The safety car was a success.
When the road was opened it was intended to draw the cars on the levels by horses, and this power was used until June, 1835, when the first locomotive was put in service. It was brought from Pittsburg to Johnstown on a flat boat. And what a time there was in this town on that occasion! It was only equaled when the first boat "grounded" for the lack of water in the aqueduct and was pulled through by the enthusiastic citi- zens. When the flat containing the locomotive was launched at the warehouse, a great crowd of people were there to see it, and the managers had great difficulty in unloading a cargo so great in bulk and weight. The man in charge announced to the as- sembly of people that whoever would give the best service in getting the engine from the boat to the track should be the fire- man of that particular engine, which was the "Boston." Very many assisted and finally the "Boston" was anchored on the track.
It is claimed by some that the fortunate man was Joseph Parks, the father of Joseph Parks, of Tyrone, while many say
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
the first fireman on the "Boston" was Barney Collier. But it is generally admitted that Charles Whiting was the first engi- neer.
The "Boston" was built in the city of that name and taken to Pittsburg, where two more engines-the "Allegheny". and the "Delaware"-were built over her pattern, and these three locomotives were put in service the same year-1835.
The "Boston" a leviathan in those days, would not now be considered even a dinkey. It had one pair of driving wheels of forty-eight inches diameter, with wooden felloes and spokes and an iron tire, without a flange. These rested be- hind the boiler, which was supported in front by a four-wheeled truck. The cylinders were eight inches in diameter, with a six- teen-inch stroke. The steam pressure was 125 pounds to the square inch, but as there were no steam gauges, excepting a spring scale something like the old time "balances," it was only a matter of possibilities, especially when the engineer want- ed a good supply of steam, and would tie the "stilliards," ap- parently so that it couldn't go too high.
The average speed in the early days was fifteen miles per hour, and in one instance the "Berks" ran from the head of No. 1 to the foot of No. 2-the fourteen-mile level-in forty-five min- utes. This was wonderfully fast traveling.
In those days an engine like the "Boston" could haul ten short cars, but the larger engines, such as the "Cherokee" or the "Niagara," could haul thirty or forty. The four sections of a boat were considered equal to ten cars, and two boats were a good load for the big engines.
The freight cars first introduced were eight feet in length and width, and seven feet in height, and had one truck; but in 1851 larger cars were brought into use, which had two trucks and were from sixteen to twenty feet long.
The Taff & O'Connor barge cars were about eight feet square, and two rows, five in length, were a boat load. They were transferred by the crane. These cars had no springs, and were coupled together with a chain six feet long, thrown over a hook on either end of the truck.
The passenger cars were about the size and had the gener- al appearance of our street cars, except that the platform and canopy were not so large, and the wheels were larger, probably twenty-eight inches in diameter.
In the very early days of the Old Portage there were no bag- Vol. I-23
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gage cars, and baggage was carried on the tops of passenger cars as in the old coaching days, but later they were introduced. Nor were there any brakeman on the passenger trains. These were only stopped by the engine, unless the captain had time to drop the loose brake such as is now used on wagons, and then sit down on it.
Among the very first persons employed as firemen was William Cover, late of this city. The wages paid firemen ran the same as those of other train hands. As the others did not have to polish up the machines after sunset, nor get out of bed before sunrise to get up steam ready to start at the usual time, Mr. Cover resigned his position after a trial of three weeks.
The daily wages for employees at the planes, in June, 1840, were :
Engineer $1.75
Assistant engineer 1.25
Fireman 1.1215
Hitcher 1.00
The single pair of driving wheels on locomotives used up to 1851, when the "Juniata" was brought here. She had two pairs of drivers, and was followed by the "Cherokee" and the "Niagara."
Every day there was one regular passenger train each way. It was a daylight railroad, never running any kind of trains at night. When sunset appeared the freight trains stopped at the first place until the sun rose again the next morning. The pas- senger train usually left Johnstown between 6 and 7 o'clock in the morning, on the arrival of the packet from the west, and ran to Plane No. 2, where the favorite hotels were, for break- fast, arriving at Hollidaysburg between 1 and 2 o'clock. The west-bound train left about the same hour and arrived at Johns- town before 2 o'clock.
A passenger train, in the latter days, consisted of a baggage car and two coaches, and hauled sixty people, a comfortable load for a packet. The fare between the above-mentioned points was $1.25.
During the forties and fifties the immigrant travel was heavy, but these people were hauled on trains specially run for that class of passengers. They usually carried their food in the cars, and frequently the train would stop along the road at a suitable location for them to cook and eat their meals. Some were carried in section boats, and other kinds of cars, where
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
they did their cooking and sleeping while the trains were run- ning. It is generally supposed that Woodruff was the inventor of the sleeping cars about 1860, and that Pullman brought out the dining cars as we know them in the modern system of rail- roading, but the original dining and sleeping cars were used on the Old Portage twenty years and more before. The section boats had but one compartment for cooking, eating, sleeping, and storing food, a little den about 8 by 12 feet.
The regular passenger trains stopped for meals at the two or three hotels at the foot of No. 2. which was a very important point for the management of the road. William Palmer, after- ward the proprietor of the Foster house, in this city, and Gideon Marlett and Richard Trotter kept the railroad hotels, which were good ones, too. It was a popular place for people to go for dinners and parties, and many a frolic took place at the foot of No. 2.
Before the double track was finished there were two "turn- outs" between Johnstown and Plane No. 1. The first was lo- cated near where Bridge street crosses the Old Portage, in Franklin, and the other at Corktown, near the. log house, subse- quently known as Rodgers', above the Williams' farm. The schedule was about the same as that of a single-line road now. If a train. hauled by four horses, made one of these "turn-outs" and another train approaching from the opposite direction was not in sight, it would proceed, and if the two should meet, the half-way post decided as to which train would have to go back. The first half-way post east of Johnstown was about where the log house at the old brick yard was situated and where Henry Layton, the father of Joseph Layton, lost his leg, in 1837, while he was a captain of a train.
The cars were run by gravity from Plane No. 1 to Johns- town. The stone blocks and iron rails were laid to a point below Hudson street. this city, adjoining the north side of Railroad street. and from there to Clinton, between Railroad street and the Basin, were four tracks for passengers and freight. These tracks consisted of 5 by S-inch oak stringers, with strap iron spiked thereto, all resting on wooden ties. All except a few of the transportation lines had two sidings to their docks, one on either side of the warehouse. Cars were taken from the main tracks by a turn table, and it was a neat job to turn a two- truck car on a one-truck table. The track on Portage street, somewhat similar, was owned by individuals. In the early days
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
cars were hauled from the warehouses and slips by horses, but later engines were used. The warehouse sidings extended to the end of the dock where the cars were shoved as fast as they were loaded until the work of lading was completed.
When President Taylor died in Washington on July 9, 1850, his body was brought over the mountains on the Portage Railroad, and taken from here on the Canal, "Old Whitey," the general's favorite saddle horse that had been with him in his campaign in Mexico, leading the cortege as it came down Railroad street.
Wood was the fuel for the locomotives, used until about the time of the abandonment of the Old Portage. The small locomotives could carry a quarter of a cord of wood, which was sufficient for a seven-mile run, but the larger engines after- wards used from five to seven cords of wood in a good day's work. Coal burners were used on the New Portage.
The woodyard was on the north side of the road, opposite the old Catholic graveyard, and the foremanship of the wood- yard was a much sought position. The duty of the foreman was to have the cordwood, which was about four feet in length, sawed in halves, and ranked in quarter and half cords.
Some of the Old Portage workmen relate queer things that occurred about the ranking and sawing of wood, during the political days of that great highway. He was a clever man who could rank a quarter that would have as little wood in it as possible -- the larger the holes, the less the quantity of wood; and a piece that had a knot or a bump on it too large to go in the fire-bex was a prize for the sawyer. It always remained in the rank, because the fireman would not take it, but he paid for it every time; and sometimes each quarter, or half space, con- tained two or three or more knotty pieces, which never lost their virtue.
It is said that in the heyday of political manipulation the Inspector, whose duty it was to accept wood from certain par- ties, would start at Johnstown and inspect and take up-that is, accept-all the cordwood ranked on the right-hand side of the road up to the Summit; then the Inspector would return and inspect and accept all the wood ranked on the left-hand side of the road coming down, and make his report according- ly, he thus accepting and the state paying for the same wood twice. It was a case of "heads I win, tails you lose." Some- times, when a new Inspector would take up the wood on the
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
south side of the road and proceed eastward, the parties in interest would carry the wood to the north side of the road and re-rank it before his return, when it would again be ac- cepted. They would thus get a double price for the same fuel.
The weighscales where the weight of all freight passing over the road was ascertained were on the south side of the road, just below the graveyard. The cars from the warehousees and the section boats were taken out of the basin to the weigh- scales and then delivered on the main track, where they were hitched to the locomotives to be taken over the mountains.
The position of Weighmaster, paying $600 per annum, with house rent free, was looked upon as a choice one by the politicians.
The weighmasters at the upper end of the basin like those at the lower end-came from all parts of the state-and were: Samuel Kennedy, of Indiana, 1834-36; Jacob Dritt, of Johnstown, 1836-39; C. B. Cotter, of Clearfield, 1839-42; Thomas Ford, 1842-45; Robert Philson, of Somerset, 1845-48; James Shannon, of Johnstown. 1848-51.
Peter Levergood was one of the Canal Commissioners, by appointment of Governor Ritner, in 1836-38.
After the Old Portage had been in operation for twelve years, and the practicability of running a railroad over the mountains was admitted, the progress of the times required a more expeditious and economical highway for transportation. The system of canals, locks, and planes was out of date, and as the State could neither sell nor give its property away, the Pennsylvania Railroad was organized April 13, 1846, to supply the want. Its road was opened February 15, 1854, for through traffic.
As the Old Portage system was being operated at a daily loss, and the state authorities knew it would have to meet the opposition of the Pennsylvania on the new order of business, they determined to build another road between Johnstown and Hollidaysburg that would not have the objectionable planes. In 1852, while the Pennsylvania was building its road, the state commenced the New Portage, which was finished in the fall of 1855, and was only operated in 1856 and to August 1, 1857.
During the year 1856, and until it was abandoned, the Pennsylvania and the New Portage ran in competition, but by a traffic agreement, which was advantageous to both roads,
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
both used the same tracks a portion of the way, and at other points paralleled each other.
The state owned the Viaduct, while the Pennsylvania had the only practicable route to pass around Plane No. 1, but would have had difficulty in getting over the Little Conemaugh at the Viaduct. So they agreed to use the same track to South Fork bridge.
The route of the New Portage from Johnstown was on the roadbed of the Old Portage to Conemaugh, where it crossed the Little Conemaugh below the point where the overhead bridge between Conemaugh and Franklin is now located and used the Pennsylvania tracks up to the western end of the bridge west of South Fork. Here the roads diverged, the Pennsylvania crossing to the south side of the Little Conemaugh river, and the New Portage keeping on the north side, on the bed of the long level of the Old Portage. Beginning a serpentine course it crossed under the Pennsylvania Railroad west of Summer- hill, and back again at the long bridge at the little town, again crossing under it at the bridge west of the deep cut east of Summerhill, and recrossing at the other side of this cut, it passed on through Jefferson, now known as Wilmore. About two. miles east of Wilmore it left the Old Portage, turning to the south to pass around Plane No. 2, near Portage, and about a half mile west of Ben's Creek, it came back in the roadbed of the Old Portage and practically paralleled the Pennsylvania road to Cassandra, where the New Portage passed around Plane No. 3. at Ben's Creek. At Cassandra, it passed under the Pennsyl- vania, and from that point, passing through Lilly and Cresson it practically paralleled and was near the grade of the Pennsyl- vania road, up to and above the high bridge west of Gallitzin.
The Old Portage and the New Portage diverged at the foot of Plane No. 3, west of Ben's Creek, and did not touch again until they crossed at or near the foot of Plane No. S, on the eastern slope of the mountains.
East of the high bridge, a mile and a half west of Gallitzin, the New Portage took a southeasterly course and leaving the Pennsylvania, passed through the southerly part of Gallitzin and through the tunnel, which was made before the tunnel on the Pennsylvania road was finished, the two being within a few hun- dred vards of each other at the east end. After passing through the tunnel the New Portage road lay on the south side of the Allegrippus Gulch, and the Pennsylvania on the other.
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
The New Portage skirted the mountains and gulches until it reached Plane No. 8, on the Old Portage, where it crossed it, and again touching the Old Portage roadbed near Duncansville, used it to Hollidaysburg, where the merchandise and section boats were transferred to the Juniata, as during the days of the Old Portage.
The distance between Johnstown and Hollidaysburg on the New Portage was forty-one miles, or five miles farther than by the old, but a train could make the trip in four or five hours. It only hauled freight, however; the Pennsylvania then being in operation, passengers always traveled by that route.
It is claimed that there never was a passenger injured on the Old Portage-probably true because the trains did not go fast enough to cause an accident.
The New Portage was constructed to meet the competition of the Pennsylvania road, and was opened in October, 1855. In order to claim that it was ready for business that month the state authorities sent the locomotive "Pittsburg" from Johns- town to Hollidaysburg, but nothing more was done until the following spring.
Mr. Henry E. Hudson, who was probably the oldest prac- tical engineer in active service in this country, and resided at the corner of Railroad and Hudson streets, in this city, was the engineer on the "Pittsburg," and, of course, was the first en- gineer to use the New Portage road.
In 1847 he was employed as a fireman on the "United States," a locomotive whose engineer was John Campbell, also of this place, and four years later was promoted to the position of engineer of the "Berks." In 1858 Mr. Hudson was brought to the Pennsylvania by the late Thomas A. Scott, with whom he was in continual service until his death.
While the Old Portage was in operation ten to twelve hours was required to transport a freight train or a section hoat to Hollidaysburg, but the New Portage system only required four hours, and a day's work was to run there and return to Johns- town, the round trip being eighty-two miles. There were no regular brakemen and the stops were made by the engineer, with the reverse lever, and by the fireman twisting the tank brake. After dusk the officials were not partienlar what the employees did with the engine, and frequently they would raise steam and start off to attend a country frolic, and leave the locomotive stand on the main track, without guard or a light,
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HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
as no lamps or torches were provided for night work. On Sunday the engine would be taken out at the pleasure of the crew who would go where they desired. Even on week days, while hauling a train, the engine would stop anywhere to take up a weary traveler-man or woman, boy or girl, or a lot of either-and many a funeral cortege was put on the engine and tank and conveyed to its destination. No charge, and every one was made happy.
The importance of the several surveys made to cross the mountains is shown at a point above Ben's Creek, near the head of Plane No. 3, where the Old Portage, the New Portage, the Old Pennsylvania road, and the new route of the Pennsylvania road. are less than one hundred yards apart. The Old Portage is immediately above the Old Pennsylvania road, and the New Portage immediately below it, while the new route of the Penn- sylvania crosses all of them within the distance mentioned.
The grade of the New Portage on the eastern slope, was not as steep as it is on the Pennsylvania, the highest point be- ing 2,199 feet above the sea level, or 143 feet lower than on the Old Portage, and 1,016 feet above Johnstown. The maxi- mum grade from Gallitzin to Hollidaysburg on the New Portage was 84.58 feet. which on the Pennsylvania road to Altoona it is 100.32 feet
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