take a picture, before it's gone

[Derrick J Brashear]

today i had to take my wife to see her doctor (minor thing, but she wasn't
feeling good and wanted something prescribed for it); The office is on
Clay Pike, between Irwin and Herminie, along the former IHT line
connecting those towns. Anyhow, to get there from Trafford basically you
head out to Larimer, then overland to Clay Pike; It's not very far.

Anyhow, when Ed, Fred, Fred and I did the West Penn tour in November
(geez, was it that long ago already?) Ed had a picture in Larimer which
showed the track on the south side of the street in front of a multistory
brick building, probably a general store. The track came (from Trafford)
off the viaduct over the Pennsylvania Railroad, crossed the road, ran in
front of this building, crossed the road again, ran in front of what's now
the fire department, then crossed a third time and ran up what's now an
alley to its hillside right of way on the way to Irwin.

The brick building was standing in November but as I recall you could see
in one of the windows, and the roof was gone.

Today, when I got to that intersection, something was wrong. The building
was gone, and the foundation had been filled with earth and grass planted
(and straw thrown over it)

I said it before; I'll say it again. Take a picture, before it's gone. I
don't think I ever got a picture of this, which is a shame because while
it wasn't beautiful, it was an interesting building, and almost certainly
part of the complete picture for that line.

-D