Allegheny Portage Railroad and Flight 93

Happy Sunday to you all.  As promised, here is the next installment of my attempt to see all the National Parks.  As I have mentioned, I usually travel with my Mom and Lori P.  Well this is a trip Lori P and I took just for fun.  No Masonic affiliated activity this weekend, and Mom stayed home.  In the summer of 2012, on our way home from Syracuse (when we visited Ft. Stanwicx and the Women's Rights Park), Lori and I started talking about our next adventure.  We were supposed to go on a bus trip to DC, but that got cancelled.  So we decided to take the money we were returned and plan a trip to Johnstown, PA (I will cover the Flood and the National Park for the flood in a separate blog entry). 

We planned a three day weekend.  We were going to spend one day on the road, stopping in a couple places and seeing the Allegheny Portage Rail, along with Horseshoe curve.  We would spend the entire day Saturday in Johnstown dealing with the flood, and on our way home Sunday stop in Somerset, PA.  So we were off, in Lori P's brand new car, through Cook's Forest in PA, we headed to the Altoona area. 

We stopped in Punxsutawney, PA for breakfast and to see where a certain groundhog named Phil lived.  Punxsy is a cute little town.  It is not really that big, but for one day in February it could really be considered one of the largest cities in PA.  We found Gobbler's Knob and spent a little time there before heading out to the Railroad.  Gobbler's Knob is off the beaten path, up on a hill outside of town.  Don't let the movie Groundhog's Day fool you, you can not walk to Gobbler's Knob from town.

Punxsy Phil statues are all over Punxsutawney

Gobbler's Knob (the famous stump)

Handicapped viewing stands

Punxsy Phil Artwork

Punxsy Phil Artwork

After we were done at Punxsy, we headed to the Portage Railroad.  Back in the early 1800s, there was a drive to open up transportation highways from the coast to the interior of the nation.  Believe it or not, but Pittsburgh, PA was at one time on the edge of the Western Wilderness.  The Erie Canal started a canal building craze, that Pennsylvania eventually got in on.  The State funded and built a canal from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh (where three very important waterways met).  Pennsylvania, though, had an issue that New York did not have to deal with, the Allegheny Mountains.  They could not dig a canal over the mountains, so they created what is now a Portage Railroad.  When finished, the Canal workers were able to lift a canal boat out of the water, place it on a flatbed rail car, and pull it over the mountain, to the other end of the canal on the other side of the Mountain. 

The Track Over the Mountains

A Canal Boat

One of the engines

Portage Railroad Tracks

A Skew Arch Bridge

At the top of the Mountain, where the boats were switched to the downside turn, was the Lemon house, a tavern and inn that supplied food, drink and lodging to those traveling the canal route.  The Portage Railroad was only in use for a short time in history, but that time was enough to make it an important part of our history.  Not only was it the first and most successful test for John Roebling's steel rope cables (the things that are holding the Brooklyn Bridge up to this day), but it was also the route that Charles Dicken's took on his tour of the United States. 

The Lemon House with Tracks infront

The Engine House 6 (highest on the railroad)

The Boiler Room

Glass example of Roebling's cable.

But most importantly, the Portage Railroad and the Main Line Canal through this part of history helped add to one of the most devastating natural disasters this nation has ever suffered.  But I promise that story for another time. 

After the Portage Railroad, we headed up toward Altoona to visit the other really famous Railroad area in this part of the state, the infamous Horseshoe Curve. We were lucky, actually everyone is lucky at the Curve.  The line that runs around the Curve is still an important part of the Rail System in the United States.  There is a train about once an hours that rides the curve.

Built by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it was the answer to the mountains.  An engineering feat, the curve made passage through the Allegheny Mountains easier for the engines, because instead of them having to climb over the highest peaks, they could round the deep reservoir and save time and energy.

Entrance to the visitor center

The incline that takes you to the top

The reservoir from the bottom

Railmaster's house & mail drop station

The map of the curve

A train on the tracks

Still moving train

There are places to sit and watch

The museum entrance

Some very important information

A cut of the line

The Curve (Aerial view)

All three places are excellent to visit.  If you don't like crowds, stay away from Punxsy Phil's hometown on February 2nd every year.  For more information on any of these place please visit the following: 
http://www.punxsutawney.com/
http://www.nps.gov/alpo/index.htm
http://www.railroadcity.com/

After our day in Johnstown, we headed back to Erie via Somerset, PA.  OK you all know the story behind this place.  September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the United States.  Four planes taken.  Two flown into the World Trade Center in New York City, one crashing into the Marine side of the Pentagon, and one, one fateful plane did not make its target.  Whether the true target was the White House or Capital Hill, this plane, Flight 93, was taken back by the courageous passengers, who gave their lives to save the lives of many more.  Flight 93 crashed into some open fields in Southwestern PA, forever changing the landscape and America.

Entrance to the Park

The drive in and future of the park

Seedlings that will create a forest for the park

Only 18 minutes flying time to the Capital, these passengers showed immense bravery, and it is all fitting that these fields now serve as their memorial.  Still in it infancy, we walked the black granite wall out to the White stone memorial wall is awe and solemn silence.  This place brings forth the feelings and emotions only such reverent places like Arlington National Cemetery, the Arizona Memorial or Normandy can evoke in anyone. 

No explanation needed

The flight path

The heroes

The outside Chapel

Along the walk in the black granite wall are little shelving places to place memorials to those that perished.  At the end of the week these memorials are removed, and placed on a boulder in the field that represents the last resting place of the cockpit of the plane.  It is opened once a year, on the anniversary of the event, for the families to visit.  The National Park is still growing with the building of a chapel, a fully tree lined walkway and further exhibits of the 9/11 attack to come.  Remember that if you are planning to visit, this park is one of peace and serenity.  It will make you cry, I promise.  It is beautiful to visit, and very, very emotional.

Memorial shelves

Memorial shelves

The White Wall

Gift from a family member

The resting place of the Cockpit

The Black wall

Yes they are

The small chapel

http://www.nps.gov/flni/index.htm

Next time I write, it will be of happier and warmer times and places.  Death Valley National Park, ok, I know I said happier.  It is most definitely warmer.  Until then, please remember those that gave the ultimate sacrifice and don't forget to have safe travels, enjoy life and get you bucket list checked off.