Pennsylvania Railroad:
A Selected Annotated Bibliography

CNH Bibliographies 3

Item Description

Return to the PRR Miscellaneous Pubs. Bibliography

 

Long, Fred E. (1966). Conquering the Alleghenies: the Kittanning Trail, the Allegheny Portage Railroad, the Horseshoe Curve. Altoona, PA: Author.

      Long’s three chapters each address efforts to surmount and conquer the Allegheny Mountains to the west of the Altoona-Hollidaysburg area.  The Trail to Yesteryear presents a brief history of the Kittanning Trail, which ran from the Frankstown area west to the Hollidaysburg, then northwest past the south side of Altoona, into the mountains near the Horseshoe Curve area, and then over the Allegheny summit to the west.  The trail was created by Native Americans and used during war raids by both Native Americans and early settlers.  Long refers to a few specific battles that took place in the 1840s and 1850s.   The next chapter, Canal Boats On The Alleghenies, presents a very brief history of the Public Works canal system that was constructed from Middletown along the Susquehanna and Juniata Rivers to Hollidaysburg and along the Conemaugh and Allegheny Rivers to Pittsburgh.  The original plan recommended a four-mile tunnel under the Allegheny summit, but the technology and expertise for such a tunnel was not available.  Instead a system of levels and inclines was constructed to surmount the summit.  The majority of this chapter discusses the Portage Railroad, which cost $1.6 million to construct and began operation in 1834.  The railroad extended west for 37 miles from Hollidaysburg to Johnstown.  Double tracked incline planes and levels accomplished a 1,400-foot ascent from the Juniata River in the east and a 1,175-foot ascent from the Little Conemaugh River in the west.  Five inclined planes were used on each side of the summit with slightly graded levels between them where horses or steam engines provided the power.  Stationary engines were located at the top of each plane, which powered an eight-inch endless hemp rope, which was fastened to the cars.  An ascending car on one track was used to balance the weight of a descending car on the other track.  Long also describes a trip from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh using the canals and the Portage Railroad.  In 1855 the New Portage Railroad was completed at a cost of $2.5 million,  The New Portage eliminated the inclines enabling a steam engine to use a 2,000-foot tunnel to pass under the Allegheny summit.  In August of 1855 the entire Main Line of Public Works was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad, which closed the Portage Railroad in November 1857.  Later, the Pennsylvania began using much of the original New Portage roadbed for a time.  The last chapter, Steam Conquers a Mountain, briefly covers the Pennsylvania’s construction of the 3,600-foot summit tunnel and the Horseshoe Curve.  The importance of Altoona as an locomotive repair and building site, the importance of K-4s locomotives, and a train wreck on February 18, 1947 are briefly mentioned.  Included are a few photographs and a map showing the location of the Kittanning Trail, the Allegheny Portage Railroad and principle highways in the Altoona-Hollidaysburg-Cresson area.  (22 pages, pamphlet, obtained from the National Park Service Library)

 

This bibliography was created and is maintained by:

Clark N. Hallman
CNH Bibliographies
cnh@prrbibliography.info

This page was created 24 June 2005 and was last updated 7 November 2005.