West Penn Today - We move on!

[Fred W. Schneider III]

By the time you and the other Fred get done with this, you will have the
manuscript written for that book you wanted to do 15 years ago!  Better yet, you
won't have the problem of making money and declaring the income because it will
all be free to us demented minds....

"Edward H. Lybarger" wrote:

> If the truth be known, I'm enjoying this as much as Fred is.  I'm always
> willing to take time on this subject, especially when others are genuinely
> interested.
>
> The old wooden bridge that Fred mentions a half mile or so north of
> Vanderbilt Jct. has been gone for a long time.  I stood on it in the '70s,
> but now have to look twice to be sure I'm in the same spot.  Nature reclaims
> her own pretty rapidly.  This R/W crosses the road four times enroute (not
> counting at the junction), but is most visible off to the west for about a
> mile right after the former bridge site (and after it has crossed the road
> two of those times!).  The third crossing is at Italy stop at Duck Pond
> Road, and the fourth is in Liberty.  R/W is visible on the east after Italy,
> through Nellie and Paul (both former mines) and into Vanderbilt.  Then it
> takes a back street and rides up on a fill before coming out next to the
> main road again.  Following the final crossing, it plunges down into the
> abyss behind Liberty and the end of the line can only be imagined today,
> under all the vegetation.  The bridge into Dawson has been replaced, and the
> large building to the east in Wismer's photos has been demolished.
>
> Back to Leisenring 1...the patch housing is still extant, though all in
> private hands since U S Steel sold their company towns to Galbreath Realty
> in the early '50s.  Galbreath then sold the houses to the residents (and
> used the profits to buy the Pirates?  [That's a joke.]).  The line crossed
> to the east side of the highway at about the first intersection north of
> Leisenring 1, and after about another half mile entered Gallagher Siding.
> Trotter Siding was another half-mile away (essentially at the convenience
> store), and Banning Siding was about the same distance on, along Wood
> Street.  This is where all the company publicity photos were taken.  West
> Penn was on R/W immediately after Banning Siding, returning to the street on
> Leisenring Street for three blocks to 8th.
>
> I didn't need a VIP pass to get in the shops that day -- it was an employee
> open house to which we were invited to display artifacts and sell books!
> And I think you can still get in if you a) have purpose or b) know someone
> or, best yet, c) both of the above!
>
> 8th Street is one way north.  A southbound excursion uses 9th Street to the
> BP station at the top of the hill.  Morrell Avenue had a siding (Greenwood)
> in the block between King and Duke Streets; this was removed in favor of a
> new passing track at Wheeler (the entrance to the power plant) in 1947 on
> account of traffic congestion.  There had been a siding at Wheeler on an
> older alignment until the mid '20s, when the highway and the railway were
> both moved.  Prior to the construction of the Western Maryland Railway, the
> entrance to the shops/barn was from the south, a straight shot off Morrell
> Avenue.  In 1911 that all changed, and the railroad paid to reverse West
> Penn's yard ladder and create a new entry.
>
> As I mentioned, one can walk from Dunbar up to suburban Morrell.  Be certain
> to leave your car outside the yellow gate at the entrance to Bowest Yard,
> lest it be locked in when the shift goes home.  The line stayed on the east
> side of the street all the way through Dunbar.  From Dunbar south, West Penn
> did not cross and railroad until it got to downtown Uniontown.  You will see
> evidence of it at the Pechin road crossing:  there are bridge piers north.
> The bridge into Pechin's parking lot was the railways' alignment but I am
> not sure if the little bridge there was theirs.  The strip map shows two
> stream crossings there (the second was tiny) but it looks to be 50 feet or
> so beyond today's bridge.  And the abandonment application spoke only of a
> 33-foot span that the Department of Forests and Waters required to be
> removed, which matches the visible piers to the north.
>
> The quote from the Mt. Braddock caption is still as valid as when I wrote
> it!  The narrow gauge crossing is hard to imagine, too, but it can be done.
> The brick works used that to bring clay down from the mountain, and I just
> found the news article about a 1936 collision at the crossing (I was sure at
> least one such occurrence had to have happened through the years and was
> happy to receive confirmation!).
>
> Near the (former) bridge Fred speaks of finding near Lemont Furnace lay West
> Penn's most expensive bit of right of way.  At a time when everyone else was
> granting it to the trolley company for 50 cents to a couple dollars per
> foot, the local Catholic church (through its Pittsburgh headquarters)
> charged PM&C $12.74 per lineal foot.
>
> After Lemont Furnace the line hugs the highway to Coolspring Siding, then
> goes slightly off to follow the best grades.  No highways are built on the
> R/W.  It crosses Coolspring Street Extension at Sullivan Siding (which lies
> just to the south, but north of the former Beeson Siding, where the freight
> trains used to lay up out of the way) and then comes back into Coolspring
> Street at Cemetery Siding.  Line stayed on the north, turned off to go past
> the barn, then came into the center of Connellsville Street near O'Neal
> (Gordon?) Street.  Following a runaway car (603) that just left the barn on
> its own in the middle of the night in 1917, a derail was added at Mifflin
> Avenue, a block up from Main Street.  The company was, I'm sure, tired of
> rebuilding houses at the intersection of Main and Connellsville.  It had
> happened before, in 1903, when a open car ran away there.  We have photos of
> both accidents and newspaper clippings with the gory details.
>
> -----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 10, 2000 5:18 PM
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Subject: West Penn Today - We move on!
>
> When I first began sharing my notes I had two objectives, one fairly direct
> and the other sort of a hidden agenda.  I have hoped that some of this group
> with my enthusiasm for the West Penn but limited knowledge (like me) or the
> incentive
> to tackle chasing the line can use these ramblings to schedule some time in
> Fayette and Westmoreland counties.  Fifty years hasn't changed the area that
> much and you can come away with a great feeling of how and where the lines
> ran.
>
> My hidden agenda was a hope that I could get some feedback from the true
> historians such as Ed Lybarger to correct my errors and/or expand on my
> notes.
> I have been rewarded well beyond my expectations with the time and notes
> that
> Ed
> has given us all from his knowledge on the routes we have covered so far.  A
> note of thanks too for Fred Schneider's and Ed's listing of the destination
> sign colors, and of course to Derrick for the web site and Ed's kindness in
> sharing the rare photos of the Brownsville line.  I trust we have all had
> enough education on the use of privately owned photographs and not violate
> Ed's kindness with any use of these shots beyond our own private viewing on
> this site.
>
> 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.
>
> The line from Connellsville was on the North side of the highway at this
> junction, with
> the highway bending left as you would be driving west on the back line.  The
> Dawson branch continues straight as the back line routing takes a left hand
> turnout to follow along side the highway.  (This from a Gwinn photo.)  The
> Dawson line
> then turns sharply to come along side the highway to Dickerson Run, Dawson,
> and Vanderbilt.  This is 1039 or Vanderbilt Road.  In 1961 I had driven this
> line and believe I was able to see a good bit of the right of way, including
> a fairly substantial cut.  In 2000 I was very surprised to see a drive
> through hilly and rugged country and a complete blank.  The road is narrow
> and you can't gawk a lot or you will end up in trouble.  There was one place
> I feel certain I saw the right of way in an open field to my left.
>
> I know in 1961 I could find the bridge, the end of the route that is well
> pictured in most of the publications, and general routing through Vanderbilt
> and Dickerson Run.
> The spoil sports have taken down the bridge and replaced it, and I could not
> find any trace of the line in the short time I spent there, but the drive
> out
> is worth it to get the flavor of the line.  Driving through Vanderbilt and
> Dickerson Run left me with an impression of what an alpine village in
> poverty
> would look like.  Its tough to get through town on those roads.
>
> I had hoped to see more, but you have two choices from here.  You can take
> route 201 and shoot into Connellsville, or retrace your route and see if
> your
> luck improves.
> I took the latter choice because I wanted to drive into Connellsville via.
> Trotter Pike. (Crawford Avenue.)
>
> A note about my notes.  I don't have any written notes, mine are current day
> photographs and I'm creating this from those shots.....  I need to go back
> and label
> each shot as I know my memory isn't as good as it should be, and things do
> wear out as you get older.  This exercise is getting me started in that
> direction.  One note on Vanderbilt Jct.  Where you turn from 1051 (Trotter
> Pike/Crawford Ave. from Connellsville) onto Vanderbilt Road at the Jct. my
> one photo from Gwinn shows several typical coal company homes that may still
> be there in different colors.  I don't remember as I was looking for the
> right of way.  They would be on the Northwest corner somewhat up and away
> from 1051.
>
> I had mentioned that my photos show the car line on the North side of 1051
> at
> the junction.  Somewhere between here and Connellsville as we begin to drive
> inbound
> to Connellsville the line crossed from the North side of 1051 to the South
> side.
> It would now be on your right as you head inbound.  It ran beside the
> highway
> to
> Connellsville as far as I can tell.  I know there was one siding, Trotter
> siding, and my guess is there were at least two between Connellsville and
> Vanderbilt Jct.  Watch the pole line on your right and as I remember you can
> see where it bows out which would indicate clearance for a siding.  Banning
> siding is shown on the orange cover publication on Woods Ave. just before
> turning onto W. Crawford Ave.
>
> You will come into Connellsville, and today looking at the map I see Woods
> Av.  I can't say I remember it from when I was there, but I did go up and
> down Leisenring Street and Graham Avenue thinking I could see the crossover
> between those two streets as clearly as I can one in Bellaire, Ohio where
> the
> line came up from private right of way between two houses to enter the
> street.  It is crystal clear today and it was gone by 1946.  But, I did not
> find the West Penn on those streets.
>
> The Connellsville layout is pretty well known to most but changes have been
> made.
> The bridge over the B&O and river is new and there are some one way streets
> to irritate you.  If you go down to the intersection of Eighth St. and
> Leisenring St. where the back line/Dawson line turned off and the line to
> the
> shops turned onto Leisenring the other direction, you can stand on the
> Northeast corner and look
> across to the home on the corner with the tower or bay window extension.
> This home and the one next to it have not changed since 1952.  They have
> added siding to both, replacing what looks like original clapboard.  You
> wonder how those 700s made the turn from Leisenring to Eighth but I have a
> shot showing it can be done.
>
> I made a passing comment about the Shops and that I saw at least one of the
> original buildings.  Ed corrected me stating that several of the original
> buildings are standing.  It still looks like Ft. Knox and if the utility
> companies over there have the same paranoia over liability as they do here
> then you won't get access to wonder around unless you get a VIP pass as Ed
> did.  You might try flashing a phony badge and tell them your from OSHA
> investigating a complaint.  Usually that scares management enough they will
> do anything.
>
> It was late in the afternoon and I started down the South Connellsville line
> which is street running according to the map and only went a few blocks to
> get a "flavor" of the line.
>
> The next morning I drove up to Connellsville to start on the main line
> heading south
> back to Uniontown.  I knew this would not be easy and somewhat inaccessible.
> Take a full canteen and a full tank of gas!.
>
> I can't remember if Eighth is one way north or south but you will get onto
> 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.
>
> Morrell Avenue is either 119 or turns into 119 and continue beyond the
> divided portion until to come to 1053.  I believe there is a traffic light
> there.  You turn left and
> start down the road to Dunbar, Pa.  Its not too far and you will cross the
> railroad to find the main street in town.   Turn left and you will climb the
> fairly steep grade with the twisting road that is well photographed with the
> WP running down the east side of the street along this descent.  It doesn't
> look much different today.  You continue on a city block or so on the flat
> and it appears the line moved to the west side of the road or the road may
> have been relocated.  Now, a pole line runs down between two
> streets that are side by side with the pole line dividing them.  My guess
> was
> that the line ran on the west side of the street until it began the descent
> and then went to the east side.  Anyway you continue driving and you will
> see
> the pole line and what appears to be a cut or grade that heads off into the
> woods just beyond a blue
> mobile home.  In one of the movies I see a car coming up a grade into Dunbar
> and it may be the same grade.  The movie sequence is just after the three
> bridges and
> Fayette siding so that is how I put that theory in place.
>
> You must turn around if your going the same way I am and retrace your route
> back into downtown Dunbar.
>
> You leave the commercial section and look for road 1055.  You bear left and
> then take a right.  There may be a sign that points to Mount Braddock.  You
> will be encouraged by the next few hundred yards as you see the WP grade on
> your right and then the railroad.  It will be short lived.  Just keep your
> eyes on the narrow road and climb the several miles to Mount Braddock.  I
> found nothing of the WP from this road and the one side road at Pechin I did
> not take, but should have as it shows crossing the railroad.  Did the WP
> stick next to the railroad to Mount Braddock?
> I don't know.
>
> Come into Mount Braddock and pull into the Post Office parking area and
> stop.
> If you have Wismer's photo from a previous year calendar take it out and
> compare.
> Let me quote from the caption;  "Today, a good imaginaation is necessary to
> recreate the scene, since the nearby buildings have been razed and the
> trolley right-of-way paved.  The present day post office sits to the right
> of
> the Ort's bread truck"
> There is another good calendar photo of 738 at the north end of Mount
> Braddock crossing a narrow gauge railroad.  I couldn't find this either.
>
> You won't believe the West Penn came through here either.  Continuing on
> southbound,  I stayed on 1055 to Lemont Furnace.  Leave the 1055 at that
> point and let your nose and the pole line, railroad be your guide through
> this area.  I was bound and determined to find the short trestle over the
> road next to the B&O that was pictured in yet another super calendar
> photograph, by Ed Miller.  We are helped by
> the B&O crossing this road on a concrete overpass that is an arch type.  The
> highway running through the arch overpass.  It wasn't hard to find, as the
> road you are on dead-ends into the cross road that goes under the B&O.  You
> can get a good idea of where the WP ran (north and south) along here and
> this
> trestle. The concrete piers are still there under the brush.
>
> An older calendar photo showed a car on a Uniontown-Hecla trip at the
> Coolspring
> Siding.  I also thought there was a park by that name near Uniontown and had
> seen that name as a street on a map.  So I figured if I just kept staying
> close to the railroad (which took a few back and forths across the railroad)
> I could get there from here.  I got the feeling that from Lemont Furnace to
> Uniontown the line sort of ran near the railroad from the pole line as it
> went.  It is possible that some of todays
> roads are on the old right of way.  Once you find Coolspring Road it looks
> like the
> WP was running beside it on the right as you are driving.  It is higher than
> the road running on private right of way.  Both you and the WP continue to
> climb as it gets more built up.  At the top of the hill there is a cemetary
> and my guess is that the line went from the right side across the road to
> the
> left and then off at an angle which took it over the hilltop to where the
> Uniontown barn was, and then down Connellsville St. and to the terminal as
> we
> have discussed.  I have a movie shot of a car cresting the hill by the barn
> (going north) and going out of sight which is sort of how I deducted the
> route.  I may be wrong.
>
> Portions of the main line from Connellsville to Greensburg are fun to see
> (and ride on today) and I'll cover those next time.
>
> Fred Bruhn