West Penn today

[Edward H. Lybarger]

It is easy to miss the point where the Brownsville line crossed PA 166, but
if you drive slowly and look to the left it is unmistakable.  This was
Thornton's stop.

Last year I printed "builder's photos" of the two concrete viaducts on
either side of the Allisons.  The Monongahela Railway thought the technology
might have application to their own property so the company photographer was
dispatched to the scenes (on more than one occasion, I might add).  On my
last visit to the Frick Archives I met the gentleman who actually owns both
bridges today (he's not the man who lives in the house and who gave Fred
permission to visit).  He most definitely considers them to be a liability.
They are narrow, but how wide did the have to be for a single track?  There
are a lot of MRy photos around Allison, including the installation of the
crossing into the coke works in 1910 (West Penn was there first).

Someone is excavating big time where the line left the road near the high
school to go over the hill so it could avoid the streets of Republic
(remember, they built this line after they had learned the lesson about the
cost of track in streets).  The right-of-way there wasn't very visible in
the first place; now it's gone.  Charlie Dengler photographed the siding at
the top of the hill (actually, he photographed sidings and trestles on the
whole line) late in the '40s, so at least we know what it looked like.

You can easily get to the north abutment of High Bridge, but I'm not aware
of anyone who has hiked into the other end.  It goes through a lot of school
or hospital land.  We do have a company track map for this line, so we know
where it was.

The Flatiron Building, two buildings to the left of the original Quarzo's
barber shop, has been beautifully restored and houses the Brownsville
Historical Society.  Track to the freight house, toward the river from the
main track, apparently is still in place, if the readings of a metal
detector approximately 62.5 inches apart are being correctly interpreted.

I will be happy to lead a field trip on West Penn, since I know more about
it than the average bear.  It will take a minimum of two days for the Coke
Region alone (three would be preferable) and another for the Allegheny
Valley and Armstrong County lines.  One needs to include Fairchance &
Smithfield, Irwin-Herminie, Westmoreland County Railway, TB&B.

Ed
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
[mailto:owner-pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org]On Behalf Of
Fredbruhn at aol.com
Sent: Monday, July 03, 2000 10:12 AM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: West Penn today


As I offered and Jim Holland encouraged, I'll from time to time give you
some
of my notes from my West Penn search this past year.

Both concrete bridges are standing on the Brownsville line.  Leaving
Brownsville on Rt. 40 heading towards Uniontown, take 166 just outside
Brownsville.  Just after
leaving Rt. 40 the WP crossed 166 near a doctors office (I was told) but
didn't see it.
Watch on your left for a road turning off marked "Davidson Siding Road"
Take
that road and almost immediately there is a house on your right (green I
think).  Stop there, as the bridge is just behind the house.  I asked for
permission to see the bridge and it was no problem.

Going back to 166, continue towards Merrittstown and take the road to the
left (again) near Allison Heights that goes to Allison.  Route 166 and
Allison Heights are one on side of a hill, and Allison is across the valley
on top of another hill.
You will drop down a winding  road on the way to Allison and see to your
right a large steel building well beyond the road.  This is a coal equipment
repair company or something like that.  At their drive entrance (which is a
long dirt road) you are on the
West Penn right of way.  Look back to your left and you can see the cut in
the hill
and by walking a short distance you are back to the concrete bridge at the
Davidson stop.  The Allison company store is a private business today and is
ahead of you.
It was a decent walk from Allison down to the car stop.  More so from the
Heights.

Back track to Rt. 166 and head to Merrittstown.  County Road 4020 crosses
St.
Rt. 166 here.  You will see an access road that is parallel to St. Rt. 166
that comes in
at this junction.  Do a 180 and take this narrow road that goes down grade
quickly and has a couple of houses on it.  If you look closely to your left
beside this road there is a cut.  This is the right of way.  At the bottom
of
this hill the road ends.  Park your car and walk less than 100 yards and
there in front of you is the Glencoe
concrete bridge.  It isn't in the best of shape.  As you look north across
this bridge
in the distance you can see the top of the steel building mentioned above at
Allison.

I was told that after crossing the Glencoe bridge heading towards Uniontown,
the line climbed the hill along this narrow road and at the top of the hill
in the cut you can still see turned and ran along Rt. 166 for a short
distance and then away from the road
near the present high school (which I couldn't verify) and around the town
of
Republic
and through Cardale.

There is a excellent photo of the Glencoe bridge from the PRMA museum
collection
that was in one of the calendars.  It was taken in 1908 as the line was
being
built.
The bridges are very substantial but as I walked across them I was surprised
at how
narrow they seemed.

In Brownsville, Leo Quarzo's barber shop at the end of the line is still
there.  The shop has moved and another business is in the building, but
other
than some cosmetic changes it is the same.  I remember in about 1962 driving
through Brownsville  you could follow the line up from the shop, but the new
Rt. 40 has taken all of that out today.  It will take a better expert than I
am to track the line from the end across the high bridge and out to Rt. 166.

Next time I'll talk a bit about the line through Orient and down to
Brownsville Jct.

Fred