West Penn today

[Fred W. Schneider III]

You're a bear for punishment, aren't you Ed.  Should I also offer to show
railfans the 200 odd miles of route in Lancaster County too?

"Edward H. Lybarger" wrote:

> 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