The South Pennsylvania Railroad



Above: From atop Timmons Mountain looking north across Amberson Valley to Knob Mountain and
Path Valley and then the Tuscarora Mountain. The South Penn would have been built along this side of the
 Pennsylvania Turnpike

The Phenomenal Railroad
by Russell Love

Store

Home
 Research
 Photos
 Store
 Contact





South Pennsylvania Railroad DVD's


South Pennsylvania Railroad Books

Here you can purchase books and DVD's for your enjoyment on the history of the abandoned railroad along the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Note: The DVD's are not movie formatted but html formatted. It is read as a web page.

The books are sized to about 100-120 pages per book.

DVD's  This is the best deal. Everything I have ever acquired about this route from Harrisburg to Wheeling, Pittsburgh, Latrobe, Connellsville and all other surveyed routes are documented in html format on these two DVD's.
 $55.00
 S&H
Inc.
Cumberland County/Perry County Books: The beginning of the surveys first through Cumberland to the Franklin County Line. Then the survey through the Liberty Valley line north of the famous Rockville Bridge through Shermon Valley to reach Burnt Cabins.
(status Incomplete)
 $25.00 S&H
Inc.
Franklin/Huntingdon County Books: The line is picked up taking you through the double tunnels of the Blue & Kittatinny Mountains into Amberson Valley to Path Valley through the Tuscarora Mountain to the east end at Burnt Cabins.
(status Complete)
 $25.00 S&H
Inc.
Fulton County Book: The exploration of the works of the railroad as it was under construction through Burnt Cabins, Fort Littleton and Hustontown through the Sideling Hill Mountain to the ridge of the Rays Hill Mountain.  Also reveals where the small hamlet of West Dublin is still found today.
(status Complete)		 $25.00 S&H
Inc.
Bedford County Book: The line follows from the Rays Hill Mountain through Rays Hill Post Office the forerunner of the town of Breezewood. Through the slopes south along the Juniata River to the base of Clear Ridge at Everett through the town of Bedford to the flats south along the Pennsylvania Turnpike to reach the South Penn Central yards just east of the Somerset County Line east of New Baltimore.
(status Complete)		 $25.00 S&H
Inc.
Somerset County Book I: This book begins at the Bedford County Line and travels west through New Baltimore exploring the St. Johns Church and continues up the east slope of the Allegheny Mountain exploring a great amount of railroad work still in the woods along Three Lick Run to reach the South Pennsylvania Railroads Allegheny Mountain Tunnels east portal. Then diverts south through Deeters gap to reach Connellsville after passing through the Pinkerton Bend Tunnel (Western Maryland), Confluence and Falls City/Ohio Pyle. 
(status Complete)		 $25.00 S&H
Inc.
Somerset County Book II: The continuation of the line as it leaves the west portal of the Allegheny Mountain to enter the Somerset plateau north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike where much of the grade still exists. It then passes through the Negro Mountain Ridge to a point where it bypasses the county seat northward to Husband north west of Somerset. 
(status Complete)		 $25.00 S&H
Inc.
Somerset County Book III: The route is picked up at Husband and explores the grades remaining and used in some parts by the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the split just passing west of the Quemahoning ridge at the 106.4 mile post. Here the split sends the railroad grade up along the hills north of the 105.0 mile post where the turnpike takes a deep dip alignment. The railroad utilizes natures hills to gain elevation to reach the Laurel Hill Mountain Ridge/Tunnel.
(status Complete)		 $25.00 S&H
Inc.
Westmoreland County Book: The grade is researched as it begins its descent to eventually reach Pittsburgh but first passing north of the turnpike to Donegal to its final mountain descent to and through the Chestnut Ridge. This fascinating grade takes you through three great loops. One at Kregar (east) and a double loop along the Chestnut Ridge. Then passing through the creek valleys to reach Paintersville which is today known as New Stanton to Irwin (Hauhntown) to Long Run Valley to the Allegheny County Line. 
(status Incomplete)		 $25.00 S&H
Inc.
Allegheny County Book: This alignment may be able to be combined with the Westmoreland County Book or at least Westmoreland County may be made into two books with the combining of Allegheny County. 
(status Incomplete)		 $25.00 S&H
Inc.

an e-mail by Frank Mellott about the new South Pennsylvania Railroad book

The Railroad That Never Was



by Herb Harwood

Good morning,
 
 
Here is a mini review of Herb Harwood's The Railroad That Never Was Vanderbilt, Morgan and the South Pennsylvania Railroad, Indiana University Press 2010.
 
The Railroad That Never Was arrived yesterday.    I wasn't expecting much, and wasn't disappointed.   It's tough to write a marketable book about a railroad that basically never existed.    What was I expecting?   A Russ Love like detailed tour of the railroad, lots of excerpts from the Barnes report and a Charles Roberts like analysis of whether it was feasible or not.
 
A good bonus would have been finding someone's diary of the Andrew Carnegie visit to Rays Hill describing the arrangements of getting his party there. 
 
Why did I order it?  It was a Herb Harwood book about the South Penn.
 
What arrived?  A Herb Harwood book printed in the US for a change from Indiana University Press.  165 pages, hardbound with dust jacket.   The first six chapters provide the background and organization of the syndicate.  Chapter 7 discusses the plan and chapter 8 the construction.  Chapter 9 brings in the Beech Creek and chapters 10 and 11 the Morgan negotiations to stop the war.  The remainder of the book concerns the B&O efforts in the early 1900's to finish it and
the origins of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
 
Chapter 7 includes a brief discussion of motive power (The South Penn never ordered locomotives) and on page 62 has a nice grade profile of the SPR vs PRR.  It would be nice if the B&O, Erie, NYC and WM profiles could have been included for comparison as well.   
 
 
It's possible this material doesn't exist, but I thought the Barnes report included planned station sites and possibly coal and water stops.  A list of both would have been nice.  I doubt if anyone got around to drawing plans for facilities, but if they did, it would have been nice if a few samples could have been included.  
 
 
As far as feasibility goes, chapter 7 says it all without meaning too.  It went from now where to no where with nothing in between.   With all the branches going up hill to the main.  I'd like to think as steam engines got bigger the situation would have improved, but trains would have gotten bigger as well.   I'd like to think if it could have survived until the diesel appeared it would have been a great land bridge route and (double stacks coast to coast on SP/SPR in 1979/80?)
but I am not sure, even taking in to account that if the South Penn was built the WM have never built from Cumberland to Pittsburgh and the W&LE wouldn't have been built east of Pittsburgh if at all, that it could have survived past World War 1. 
 
All in all, if you want a good single volume history of the South Penn, this is the best there is.   If you really want to track down the remnants, visit Russ Love's website and acquire his book and CD's.

Frank Mellott




Tours can be done by contacting me at 412-607-9972

Get more in by having a tour guide. Then later you can do it yourself.

Payment can be made to:

Russell Love
PO. Box 212
Verona, Pa. 15147

Choose to purchase the three Somerset County Books and get a discount of $15.00.

Shipped  @ $60.00

Likewise choose any three books any combination and get the same $15.00 off

Shipped @ 60.00



GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD AERIAL



Above: I am interested in Gettysburg and have put together this three part aerial of the Gettysburg battlefield. It can only be purchased here as I made it and it shows the sites where both the north and south came togethr on July 1,2,3,1863

copyright 2011.

Sold as 11x17 laminated and shipped for &12.00