The 1937 aerial of the Rockville Bridge. I took this in my plane and I actually did the whole state. NOT!!! But enjoy it anyway.
Tracking the William Henry Vanderbilt South Pennsylvania Railroad right of way along the Historic Pennsylvania Turnpike.
The connection with the actual South Penn Railroad at Burnt Cabins. Remember this survey was made but was not chosen but it would be an interesting route. Some great valleys to travel through.
I do a lot of panoramic shots such as this one of the actual South Penn route leaving Harrisburg. Here I am standing on the South Penn alignment looking east over the South Pennsylvania Railroad remaining piers.
http://southpennrailroad.com/images/Allegheny%20Tunnel%20B.jpg
This great shot was taken in the railroad period just outside the east portal of the South Pennsylvania Railroad/Allegheny Mountain railroad tunnel.
This tunnel is open but please don't go into it as a bat study is taking place and they are on the endanger species list.
I also do a lot of then & Now shots such as this one
Then... http://southpennrailroad.com/images/BTCABINS.jpg
Now... http://southpennrailroad.com/images/btcabinsa.jpg
Above: A then shot of the curve just on the east side of the Allegheny Mountain. The photographer was sent out by the then highway department of pennsylvaania to photograph the railroad right of way.
Above: I didn't have the above photo when I took this shot but I am standing on the curve as the photographer did in the shot above and in the back ground is the same hills as well as the curve in the stream below. This means where I am at is the railroad grade as it sat for over 120 years. The Pennsylvania Turnpike is to my immediate right behind the guard rail.
This panoramic photo I took is a whole of the next three below. I am slightly not in the same spot but close. In the center photo you can see where the railroad had worked and later the Pennsylvania Turnpike came through and used it and today it still is turnpike as a shelf along the hillside.
There is not enough of each old picture to stitch them together but put them close enough and you can see I came close.
Above: Then
Now: Believe me I know where I am standing that just behind me the South Penn would have crossed the Pennsylvania Turnpike off to y right as it is about to enter Fulton County just east of Burnt Cabins.
Just slightly to the east of the step down power station (quarry) is some stones, cut waiting to be put in the tunnel to shore up the walls for the railroad. Not to be! Oh the tunnel on the left was the railroad tunnel as identified as the west bound turnpike tunnel/SPRR tunnel.
This is Gunter valley or better known as the valley between the double tunnels.
Just east of the Laurel Hill Mountain off to the shoulder of the Pennsylvania Turnpike can be seen the silhouette of the South Pennsylvania Railroad along the top of the hill through the trees.
Russ........Believe I can pin point the location of your photo of "just east of Laurel Hill Mtn."
And my mother told me so many years ago, she rode thru Quemahoning Tunnel {of course, when it was used by the PW&S}.
And...I have a post card of that view of the Turnpike, the big curve with the Pyramid Point in the background.
Quentin
I am grateful to you all for appreciating this work. I love sharing it as I know a lot of people wanted to see the sites I have seen, walked what was done over a hundred years ago. When I revisit these sites I want the day to go on. I can almost feel like one of the characters who worked or surveyed or guided the workers on. What I don't want is the experience as they felt when the railroad workers felt when they were stopped in building this route. From some of the writings I sense the ambition and the will to continue after they got word to cease. I suppose that will be the same feeling I will have when I am no longer to be here learning what they experienced.
I will have one regret and one fear that when I leave that no one will pick up where I have walked and learned and that once again the South Penn will lay quiet once again.
I
Russ.........In reading you posts, I happened to remember a location we {several of us young fellows}, back....maybe 55 years or so ago. I'm not able to pin point just where it was....In general, we were probably on a very back dirt road down in the New Baltimore area where the route {SPRR} effort would have attacked the rise over the Allegheny mtn.
I'm remembering a surprisingly very high fill and cut {in a wooded area}, there somewhere {on the east side of the grade up that range. I might suggest it could have been generally in the area on the east side of the tunnel. Perhaps not too far from the tunnel east entrance....But just can't be sure....
Does that description ring any bells for you to maybe describe it's location a bit better...?
Yep walked the whole grade up that side of the mountain. Because I am short on MB on my card I would send the picture to you as I have it ALL photographed and documented. Was it a road crossing (I suspect ?)
The turnpike is 70 years old as of last year so I suspect you were not on the pike but either Commissary Road, Tunnel Road or Wambaugh Road. Those are the only roads that cross the grade.
Here is a section along that east side of the Allegheny Mountain on private property as seen on Tunnel Road.
Here is another just along the Turnpike just outside the east portals of the Allegheny Tunnels. I am directly on the railroad grade in this view. The tunnels can be seen at the 3:00 position.
A section on the west side of the Laurel Hill slope just less then 1/2 mile outside the tunnel. Again I stand directly on the railroad grade as the turnpike is to my left.
The same spot but traveling east to the Laurel Hill Tunnel / bypass. Focus point, the shelf above the appraoching blue/white truck that is on the west bound lanes.
The South Penn had plans for a horse shoe curve on the base of the Laurel Hill Mountain west slope. Here is the map.
Just outside the east portal of the Tuscarora Mountain Tunnel is the site where the South Penn had plans after the main line was to be built to reach a Wye to make a connection to reach Hagerstown, Md. This alignment was called The Harrisburg & South Western Branch. It was to connect with the Western Maryland Railroad which at that time in history was only completed to that point.
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southpennrailroad The turnpike is 70 years old as of last year so I suspect you were not on the pike but either Commissary Road, Tunnel Road or Wambaugh Road. Those are the only roads that cross the grade. Here is a section along that east side of the Allegheny Mountain on private property as seen on Tunnel Road.
Russ......I'm drawing on memory of over 50 years ago, and details are a bit light....Don't think it was in sight of the Allegheny Tunnel {east portal}. But I realize it couldn't have been too far east of there. Seems as we approached on a very rural dirt road we crossed over it perpendicularly in direction and off to our left was this rather high fill bridging the smallish, but deep valley with a small stream thru the bottom of the fill, I assume thru a culvert type opening thru the fill.
I do not know if that road had a name, but If so, I don't know it. Wish I could catch a view of that location again....I suppose a person could take a good look {in Wintertime} via satellite, and possibly find it, but we're 50 plus years beyond even that time slot, and it might be so overgrown now as not even visible in that manner either. I remember it was a surprising sight as we came upon it. Problem is, I simply can't locate it {now}, any better.
But all these types of locations of visible construction from the SPRR have {thru the years}, been interesting to me.
I know the area but between fifty years ago and now the Pennsylvania Turnpike has made that fill into a flat field leading up to a very deep cut where the road you speak of crosses the railroad grade at the top of the mountain. That cut is still there.Think of a dam as being the fill and the water behind it was filled in as dirt so what you actually have is a flat open field behind the fill. But if your correct in that a culvert existed then I need to return to see if it still is there allowing water to peculate under the fill that the turnpike dumped when expanding the turnpike in the 1980's
The name of that road is called Wambaugh Hollow Road. and it is today paved and does go down hill to New Baltimore.
The edge of the filed in area to the right was the edge of the fills right edge. Yes it was a fill as I did see it on the aerials before the turnpike dumped more turnpike dirt in this field to the left of the fill.
....The more I see images of detailed areas and counting where I've seen the route over many years, I'm finding it pretty easy to believe one of the construction engineers comments: Paraphrasing....The route that was layed out, would have been an awesome {good}, route across the mountains....Perhaps better than any that were finished.
William Shunk Chief Engineer of the South Pennsylvania Railroad. 1883.
I have never been to the overlook, but if you follow route 15 north towards Marysville, just before the bridge there is a pull off. You can get some great pictures of the entire bridge at about a 45 degree angle. I live only about 45 minutes south of Enola and will try to get there again this spring and shoot some pictures with my digital camera and post them..
Here is a almost hidden one off Brotherton Road taken from the Turnpike in Somerset County.
Ok Russ........I've looked at it on here....Just couldn't do it from the email. I've probably been close to that in the past...Quite a panoramic view. Must check my map to pin point. Think I know the spot, but time can play tricks on one's mind.
We know that Wheeling was the original end of the South Penn and in this next documents prove this.
Here is a topographic map of the same area as the next map below it.
Above, The letter that goes along with the map.
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