West Penn Today - We move on!

[John Swindler]

Ed has touched upon something that has been most helpful when attempting to 
trace old car lines.  Streets get repaved, and farmer's fields get plowed, 
but there (normally) is not much of a market for used bridge piers, although 
some disappear when highways are either widened or the right of way becomes 
the new highway.

Looking to trace a right of way?  Check the 7 1/2 min topo maps for streams, 
and that's where to look.  It's been very helpful for Oley Valley, 
Adamstown, and Lebanon & Ephrata locally, and Fayette County has the right 
topography for similar remnants.   Same goes for Cambria County.

John Swindler


>From: "Edward H. Lybarger" <twg at pulsenet.com>
>Reply-To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
>Subject: RE: West Penn Today - We move on!
>Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 20:46:30 -0400
>
>The concrete abutments are still there, I imagine.  There's no market for
>used ones.  You can't get in from the top; it's guarded by a first-class 
>JYD
>(junk yard dog) and his owners weren't particularly friendly (one of the
>rare instances when a sheaf of photos didn't work).  You can get in from 
>the
>bottom if you're willing to ford the creek.  I've been back as far as the
>south (east) abutment for the bridge over the PRR but not up the hill.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>[mailto:owner-pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org]On Behalf Of Derrick J
>Brashear
>Sent: Monday, July 10, 2000 5:34 PM
>To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>Subject: Re: West Penn Today - We move on!
>
>
>On Mon, 10 Jul 2000 Fredbruhn at aol.com wrote:
>
> > After I had finished with my back line notes I realized I had made a
>mistake
> > on the identity of the establishment that now occupies the Frick 
>property
>at
> > Vanderbilt Jct.
> > I said it was a roller skating rink and later decided it was an ice
>skating
> > ring, and it appears to be both.  In any event you can't miss it.
>
>Well, part of it is "the Ice Mine at Divito Park".
>
> > Morrell Avenue.  There have been some shots in the movies (I mentioned
> > Rohrbecks and there was a movie in 8mm from Sunday River a few years 
>back)
>of
> > the line coming into Connellsville on Morrell Avenue.  If I had our 
>indian
> > guide with us I might have found the railroad underpass beyond Morrell
>siding
> > (if the railroad is still there) and hike down to the three railroad
>trestles
> > but I had been forewarned from the Sept. photo in this years calendar 
>that
>it
> > wasn't easy.  Maybe another time and with someone who knows their way
>around,
> > but you could get lost in there and not be found for weeks.
>
>I tried getting in from the Dunbar end (I'm sure it was a funny sight: one
>Sunday afternoon I went down, parked, and started walking. I was dressed
>in my usual of a dress shirt, slacks and sneakers as most people who have
>seen me can tell you) and after a while I gave up and went back since it
>looked like rain. It did rain after I got back to the car.
>
>I'd like to go do it again, but next time I expect I'll take some boots,
>just in case.
>
>-D
>
>
>

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