The Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS runs from the western edge of Hollidaysburg, PA, to Summit, and contains the remains of the five eastern inclines (or “planes”) of the first railroad to be built across the Allegheny Mountains. During construction in 1832 and 1833, this ranked as one of the largest public projects of its time and was considered an engineering marvel of the day. Climbing the face of the Allegheny Escarpment to the Allegheny Plateau, which extends west to Pittsburgh, it was part of a much larger system, the Pennsylvania Main Line of Public Works, built by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to compete with the Erie Canal in New York.
Thirty-
I spent a day hiking the eastern trace and another day driving/hiking the western route in June 2009, so the sequence here is plane 10 to plane 1 (i.e. east to west). There are also some photographs from a visit I made in October 2007.
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The eastern terminus of the railroad was at Hollidaysburg in Blair County, where it met the Juniata Division of the Pennsylvania Canal. There is a historic marker here at the corner of North Juniata and Broad St (Highway 22) commemorating the railroad.
It had originally been planned to tunnel through the Alleghenies, but the impracticality of constructing a 4.5 mile canal tunnel at that time was soon realised and attention turned to a railroad or combined railroad and turnpike. Surveys began in 1828.
Related links:
www.funimag.com/funimag28/Allegheny01.htm
Report a broken link or suggest a new one.
The three main publications on the railroad are Sylvester Welch’s 1833 Report on
the Allegheny Portage Railroad, reprinted by Thomas Publications of Gettysburg, PA,
in 1975; Mahlon J. Baumgardner and Floyd G. Hoenstine’s The Allegheny Old Portage
Railroad 1834-
At the foot of plane 10 is culvert 1733, one of the first culverts built along the railroad. The foot of plane 10 is 3.7 miles from Hollidaysburg.
This is a view of the restored terminus building and the remains of Guard Lock #38 at Hollidaysburg Canal Basin looking west. Behind me there is only grassed turf, but there was once a set of wharves, warehouses and an interchange for passengers from the canal to the railroad. Although the railroad ceased operation in 1854, the canal continued in use until 1872.
The railroad opened on 18th March 1834. and, by close of 1835, all work was complete except for the depots and machine shops at Hollidaysburg and Johnstown
These original wheels and rails were preserved by the Pennsylvania Railroad at the suggestion of J. King McLanahan Snr., and given to the Blair County Historical Society.
A few miles west is Foot of Ten Road, a present reminder of the railroad’s original place in this landscape. Plane 10 was the first incline travelling west
The eastern end of the road is only a few hundred yards from the remains of the plane, but you have to go a mile or so down Mill Road to Dry Run Road to access a hiking route to it.
Plane 10 is at the foot of the Allegheny Portage National Historic Site, which extends roughly 6.5 miles north west to Summit, averaging about a mile wide. In 1987, the American Society of Civil Engineers made this a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
Just above culvert 1733 plane 10 has already begun its ascent.
Halfway up plane 10. The ruts are evidence of a recent visit by NPS staff.
Near the head of plane 10. The open area at the top was where the engine house stood.
Site of Engine House 10. Plane 10 is on the left, and the level running to plane 9 is on the right.
Plane 10 itself is 2,295’ long and rises 180.5’ on a 7.9% grade.
Stationary steam engines towed railroad cars and small boats on flatbed cars up the five eastern planes and then lowered them down another five west of Summit. Between the planes, cars were hauled on 11 less steep areas called "levels", initially by teams of horses but, after 1835, by steam locomotives.
The railroad operated until 1854, when it was rendered obsolete by the Pennsylvania
Railroad’s new east-
The level heads west just beyond the area once occupied by Engine House 10.
The old trace winds through the trees following the original line of the Old Portage.
After a quarter mile, the level approaches the trace of the New Portage Railroad.
The level joins the New Portage trace.
Efforts to find an alternative to the complicated planes and levels of the Old Portage began within two years of its completion. In 1836, the first survey was carried out to locate a continuous rail route, but it was not until 1851 that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania began work on what would become the New Portage Railroad.
A view looking west along the New Portage trace just after the Old Portage has joined it.
The New Portage trace is graveled and well maintained. It is suitable for cycling as well as hiking.
Looking east, the level splits from the New Portage just beyond this tangle of trees.
Here (looking west) the trace crosses over culvert 1656. The top of the stone work of the north face is just visible at the edge of the trace.
Culvert 1656’s south facing stone work is quite unprepossessing.
Looking west from just west of culvert 1656.
The north facing stone work reveals culvert 1656 as one of several neatly dressed culverts surviving along the trace.
The face of this culvert may well have been restored from a previously dilapidated condition.
A few hundred yards further, the trace crosses Valley Forge Road.
A little further, the trace approaches and cuts across the lower end of an open field. This would be a nice place to picnic.
Amongst the trees at the far end of the lower photograph is culvert 1635.
Culvert 1635 is quite low and shallow. Its south face is somewhat unprepossessing.
The north face is a study in green.
The foot of plane 9 looking west.
Half way up plane 9.
Near its head, plane 9 approaches the New Portage trace.
Plane 9 joins the New Portage trace.
The foot of Plane 9 is 1.7 miles from the head of plane 10. Plane 9 is 2,720’ long and rises 189.5’ on a 7% grade.
About a mile from the head of plane 9, the trace splits from the New Portage Railroad. This view is looking east.
Looking west from this point, the level dips down into the trees. This part of the trace is accessed from a spur off the New Portage.
The level runs down from the New Portage trace, the embankment of which is on the left of this photograph.
A few hundred yards on, is culvert 1532 (just coming into view in this photograph).
The north face of culvert 1532.
The south face of culvert 1532.
The foot of plane 8 lies off the hiking trail to the east of an embankment that supported the New Portage Railroad. This view is looking east from the embankment to the foot of the plane.
This view is looking west from the embankment.
Muleshoe Bridge on the New Portage is to the right of this view. The bridge crosses old Highway 22.
Plane 8 climbs away from the embankment.
Part way up the plane.
Culvert 1503 and its retaining wall are about half way up the plane. The retaining wall was built to prevent subsidence of the line here, which occurred largely during winter.
The railroad was closed for months during winter and, when the frost had cleared, a considerable amount of work was required to adjust and repair track thrown out of true, as well as to repair sections of the track where the rail bed had risen and settled.
Near the head of plane 8 approaching the site of Engine House 8.
The foot of plane 8 is 1.2 miles from the head of plane 9. At 3,117’, plane 8 is the longest, has the steepest grade at 9.9% and rises the highest elevation at 308’.
Cars were originally hoisted up each plane by continuous hemp ropes pulled by stationary steam engines in engine houses. The hemp ropes cost $3,000 each and had an average life of 16 months. Plane 8 had the longest and heaviest rope (13,221 lbs / 6,632’).
The last work on the New Portage was to complete this embankment, which couldn’t be done while the Old Portage was in use. In total, the New Portage costs $1,143,335.49. It commenced operations on 1st July 1855, although still incomplete, and the Old Portage ceased operation.
As a result of demands to reduce the Commonwealth’s debt, both the Old and New Portages had been put up for sale in May 1855, but there were no bidders. Two years later, the New Portage was put up for auction on 25th June. The Pennsylvania Railroad was the only bidder and took possession on 1st August 1857. However, the line was only operated for 3 months under the new owners, who found it was more expensive to operate and less convenient than the line they had constructed through Gallitzin. The New Portage was closed on 1st November 1857.
The site of Engine House 8 looking east.
The site of Engine House 8 looking west.
The level as it heads west from the site of Engine House 8.
Further along the level.
About a quarter mile from the head of plane 8, the trail becomes progressively more difficult and clogged with forest debris.
Although it is only about a mile as the crow flies to the foot of what used to be plane 7, it is a two mile hike with some steep slopes along the way.
Plane 7 ran down what is now the east bound lane of old Highway 22.
This view is, as far as I can ascertain, from what would have been the head of plane 7. The photograph was taken not far from Skew Arch Bridge.
The foot of Plane 7 was 0.6 miles from the head of plane 8. Plane 7 was 2,665’ long and rose 260.5’ on a 9.8% grade.
It is difficult to make out the short level section of trace of the few hundred between planes 7 and 6.
Skew Arch Bridge carried the Indiana, Huntingdon & Cambria Turnpike across the railroad at the lower end of plane 6. It started out perpendicular to the railroad but was “skewed” during construction to facilitate the flow of traffic on the steep grade of the turnpike.
The bridge was built from local sandstone quarries without using mortar by Fenlon, Darling and Company.
The bridge remained in use until 1922. Old Highway 22 runs either side of the bridge, west bound traffic to the north, east bound to the south.
Looking up plane 6 across the highway from Skew Arch Bridge. A few stone sleepers remain.
This photograph was taken in October 2007.
Three views taken progressively higher up the plane. This is the only plane that has been restored to roughly how it would have looked during the railroad’s operation.
A right of way of 120’ was decided on to allow for safe tree felling in the thick forest that covered the area, as well as to secure sufficient land for the envisaged growth of trackage as business improved.
At the top of plane 6 there is a section of reconstructed railroad track. The track was formed of wood rails 6” wide and 8” high (called “stringers”) covered with a flat iron strip 2⅟₄” wide and ⅝” thick (called “straps”). The rails were 4’ 9” in gauge. On planes, the wooden rails were notched into wooden cross ties of the same size laid laterally at intervals of 4’. These were laid in a bed of broken stone ballast. These photographs were taken in 2007. When I visited in 2009, the tracks were being replaced.
The white building is a replica engine house built by the National Parks Service.
Two views looking east from the head of plane 6. The lower view from 2007 shows the evident deterioration of the reconstructed track.
The foot of Plane 6 is 0.15 miles from the head of plane 7. Plane 6 itself is 2,713’ long and rises 266.5’ on a 9.7% grade.
When the railroad opened, 25 cars were on the line ready for use. Within a month, there were 80. They were hired out to transport companies and hauled by privately owned horses. Problems soon arose over this system, as maintaining uniform speed over the line was impossible while progress was controlled by private operators. This led to the decision to use steam locomotives like the Lafayette, which were owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Philadelphia. Companies retained the right to attach wagons but the scheduling, speed and operation were managed by the Commonwealth.
By 1837, 12 locomotives were operating on the railroad. Two years later, there were 17 and, by 1850, the last of the horses were phased out on planes 8 and 9. The locomotives worked predominantly on the longer level sections. When hauling mail or passenger trains, they were permitted to travel at 15 mph. Freight trains were limited to 10 mph.
The Lafayette on display at the Visitor Centre is a replica of an original built by William Norris, whose 9 locomotives on the railroad were considered to be the most reliable. The original Lafayette worked out of Hollidaysburg.
When the Old Portage ceased operations, the remaining locomotives were dispersed throughout the PRR system. Over time, they were considered obsolete and were scrapped. No surviving locomotives from the Old Portage have been identified.
Engine House 6 is part of the NPS site. It is a reconstruction of the original building and internal machinery. The original building was demolished c.1900, although some of its stone foundations survive.
The top view is the east end of the building. The newly laid wooden stringers are
evident, but the straps have yet to be fixed. The bottom view is the west end, which
shows the T-
Two views of the east facing door. Just outside, “hitchers” would connect and disconnect cars.
Hemp ropes have been installed in the replica engine house. However, in 1843, Engineer John A. Roebling suggested replacing the dangerous and unreliable hemp with safer wire rope.
These were first tested on plane 3 in 1843, then on plane 10 the following year. Proving successful, they progressively replaced hemp ropes until all ropes were wire by 1850. The wire ropes also allowed introduction of a counter balance system where tying ascending cargo to descending provided a safer and more economical system.
Because of the danger of slipping, safety cars (known as “bucks”) were attached at
the lower end of each train. If a rope broke, a runaway train would ride onto these
and the buck’s sled-
Above is the 9.5’ diameter horizontal wheel that crossed the main tow rope from one track to the other. A hanging weight let into a shaft applied pressure to the wheel to take up slack in the rope.
A hydraulic water brake was fixed to the wheel that helped control the descent of trains when there was no ascending train to counterbalance it.The maximum weight per car was 7,000 lbs, although this was seldom reached except by loads of coal or iron.
Trucks for section boats were introduced in 1843. They were intended to stimulate small traders, but only made up a small proportion of the traffic.
A view at the west door of the engine house. The far wheel in this view is the crank, which is connected to the second cylinder of the two cylinder steam engine (the connecting rod is just visible between the second and third set of stringers). The cogged wheels in the middle regulated the motion of the ropes.
When a descending train was heavier than the one ascending, the engine would be disengaged.The weight of the train would then be taken up and its progress regulated by the water brake.
Engine houses were operated by crews of four or more: an engineer, who maintained the engine and oversaw general operations, an assistant engineer, a fireman and a hitcher. Later, a “train captain” was added to the crew to ride with the train, as well as a brakeman. A varying number of labourers were also employed for a range of duties such as tending horses, carrying coal and cleaning out the boilers.
At the heart of the engine house were eight boilers, four on each side. Originally only six had been built, but the heavy loads carried by the railroad necessitated the addition of a fourth boiler on each side. Only one set of boilers was connected at a time, the second being kept in reserve. This is the replica of the three original boilers on the southern side of engine house 6.
The boilers were not of the flued variety, but were little more than iron cylinders under which coal or wood were burned to build up steam. The engines were either 30 hp or 35 hp, and the size of the rope varied accordingly (6.25” for 30 hp engines, 7” for 35 hp). However, in 1836, all ropes were increased to 8” diameter, except for plane 9, which was only increased to 7.5”.
Firemen kept the boilers at c.70 psi, feeding the furnaces c.2.4 tons of coal in each 12 hour shift, for which they earned c.$10.50 per day. The season was roughly early March through 1st December, but would continue into December if the canals were not frozen. It operated 12 hrs per day, 7 days per week in season but some night operations were allowed if, for example, perishable goods were involved.
Samuel Lemon and his wife, Jean, had operated a tavern at the nearby turnpike since 1826. In preparation for the projected influx of travellers, in 1832, they built this impressive stone tavern, which became known as “The Lemon House”, just a few yards from Engine House 6.
Samuel Lemon also owned a quarry that was probably the source of the sleepers used by the railroad, and he supplied water to Engine House 6, provided horses for hauling cars and sold large quantities of coal to the railroad from a seam discovered on his property.
The area was designated a National Historic Site by Act of Congress in 1964. A Visitor Centre is a short distance from the head of plane 6 houses exhibits on the history of the railroad and demonstrating its operation.
Informative signs are located throughout the site, as well as at Engine House 6 and the Lemon House.
To the left is a view of the hall, just inside the front door.
The NPS has restored the interior of the house so that it resembles how it would probably have looked when used by travellers stopping roughly half way on their trip over the Alleghenies.
Two views inside the bar at the front left of the building. The tavern was on the ground floor. The Lemons lived upstairs, where there were also guest rooms. No record of the prices charged at the Lemon House has been found but, based on the nearby Summit Mansion Hotel’s prices it is likely that overnight accommodation cost a quarter, and the same price was charged to stable and feed a team of four horses.
In the bar, whiskey was likely to have cost 12⅟₂c a shot, a bottle 31⅟₄c per night, and playing cards 25c per deck.
Passenger trains departed from either end of the railroad at 6.00 or 7.00 in the morning and arrived at their respective destinations at 1.00 or 2.00 in the afternoon. Operators charged $1.25 each way over the railroad, and the fare between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA, was $6. In the first full year of operation, 25,000 passengers travelled across the railroad (15,437 west / 9,563 east).
Two views of the lounge at the rear left of the building.
Although thousands travelled this route, most immigrants went west on the Erie Canal
and hopes that the railroad would compete with the Erie therefore proved unfounded.
The inconvenience of trans-
Business declined through the 1840s, along with the condition of the railroad.
Two views of the dining area on the right side of the building. Meals were served here and probably cost a quarter each (breakfast, lunch or dinner).
In 1847, with declining business on the Old Portage route, the Lemons moved to Hollidaysburg. However, they continued to summer at the tavern, and the property remained in the family until 1907. It then went through a variety of owners and uses (hotel, farm house, rental property) until purchased by the NPS in 1966.
Looking east towards Engine House 6 and the Lemon House.
This is pretty much how it might have appeared to travellers arriving from the west in the heyday of the railroad’s operation
Looking west from the Lemon House.
The half mile trail from here to Portage Street is still part of the NHS. It is a relatively easy and pleasant walk.
Original stone sleepers along the trail. These were cut roughly 2’ x 1’ 9” square and 1’ deep, and set in a bed of ballast.
In certain locations, the sleepers appear to have been removed and set beside the trail.
Repairs to rails and road bed were constantly required. There were land slides, slope walls gave way, embankments settled and rotten wood had to be replaced in superstructures.
Halfway along the trail, the tranquility of a summer afternoon belies the difficulties faced by those who built the railroad.
Conditions were tough clearing the 120’ swathe through virgin forest. Solomon Roberts, who supervised work on the western slope, reported that summer gnats were so troublesome his men worked in the smoke of burning leaves and greased their faces. In winter, as his party were finding a line over the summit, the wind blew so ferociously it tore bark from dead trees.
The trail approaches the dual over bridges carrying US 22 and then passes under. It runs for a few hundred yards more to end at a wooden gate at the boundary of the NHS.
Just past the gate, the old railroad route becomes Portage Street.
A few yards further, it crosses Admiral Peary Highway and becomes Level Road.
The old Summit Mansion Hotel stood just to the left at the intersection. The hotel survived until 1950, when it was destroyed by fire.
This was the original location of Summit, the highest point on the railroad, 1,338’ above Hollidaysburg, which was reached in 10 miles. From Summit to the railroad’s western terminus in Johnstown, a distance of 26 miles, the railroad dropped 1,158’.
From here, the remains of the railroad route can be followed on and off by car and hiking trail about as far as the foot of plane 1, roughly 4 miles from Johnstown.
Level Road takes a sudden dive a few hundred yards from Admiral Peary Highway at the head of what was once plane 5. This view is looking west.
The head of plane 6 to the head of plane 5 was 1.6 miles. Plane 5 was 2,628’ long and fell 202’ at a 7.7% grade.
Looking west from the foot of what used to be plane 5 along Level Road.
Much of the old railroad route from here to Portage is built up, with houses and small businesses along the road side.
This view is typical .
Another sudden dip in Level Road approaching the township of Lilly signals the head of what was once plane 4.
It was 2.56 miles from the foot of plane 5 to the head of plane 4. Plane 4 was 2,195’ long and fell 188’ at an 8.5% grade.
About two-
These two views are looking east from the old foot of the plane just off Jones Street.
Looking west from the old foot of plane 4, Jones Street intersects Cleveland Street (to the right at the stop sign).
The road straight ahead is a continuation of the Old Portage route along what is appropriately named Portage Street, which meanders about 10 miles from here to Summerhill. Portage Street forms part of Highway 53.
The three telegraph poles in the upper middle of this view are just in front of the bridge across Burgoon Run.
There is no sign of the old bridge across Burgoon Run from Portage Street.
On the north side (upper view), it is evident that the concrete base of the highway has been laid directly on top of the old bridge. A modern retaining wall has been constructed on the west bank.
On the south side (lower view), except for the rather ugly concrete barrier and some minor reinforcement, the original bridge is perfectly intact.
Just east of Cassandra, another dip in Portage Street is evidence of what was once plane 3.
This view is looking west from about half way up the old plane.
Looking east from the foot of plane 3.
At 1,480’, plane 3 was the shortest. It fell 130.5’ at an 8.8% grade. It was 1 mile from the foot of plane 4 to the head of plane 3.
The Old Portage route diverges from Portage Street onto Plane Road near Jamestown. About half a mile further, approaching the township of Portage, Plane Road dips into what was once plane 2.
This view is looking west from the head of the plane.
It was 1.4 miles from the foot of plane 3 to the head of plane 2. Plane 2 was 1,769’ long and fell 132’ at a 7.5% grade.
Plane Road rejoins Portage Street at the foot of old plane 2.
The intersection can just be made out in the upper left of this photograph
Looking east from the foot of old plane 2 on Portage Street.
The intersection with Plane Road is in the upper right of this view.
Close to the foot of old plane 2 at the intersection of Portage Street and Munster Road there is an historic marker commemorating the railroad and recording that nearby Portage was its headquarters.
Portage was established in the 1830s specifically to service the railroad. After a period of relative decline following closure of the Old Portage, the township found new life in the 1870s as a centre of coal mining operations.
Looking west along Portage Street from the nearby intersection with Main Street.
From here to Mineral Point, the Old Portage route is less accessible as parts of it were taken over by the New Portage in the 1850s and the PRR subsequently incorporated these into its system. In fact, some of the current Norfolk Southern trackage, originally surveyed by the Pennsy, runs over what was once the Old Portage.
At 13 miles, the level between planes 2 and 1 was known as the “Long Level” by railroad employees.
Mineral Point is 10.5 miles from Portage by car. From Mineral Point Road, it is a short drive down Beech Hill Road to the head of the trail to Staple Bend Tunnel and plane 1.
The view above is looking west towards Beech Hill Road from the trail head.
Looking west from the trail head. The trail is graveled the whole way.
Two views of an unnamed culvert along the trail. Most of the culverts were built from local sandstone.
In total, 73 culverts and 85 drains were installed along the railroad. The great majority of these have disappeared since abandonment of the route, but those that survive are looked after by the National Parks Service.
The remains of another unnamed culvert. It was undergoing repairs when I walked the trail in June 2009.
The original sleepers survive in many places along the trail. In some, they are three rows wide.
Staple Bend Tunnel was built by J. and E. Appleton at a cost of $37,798.84¼. Construction was supervised by Solomon W. Roberts, who helped design and anchor the planes, managed rail importation of from England and, in 1835, was put in charge of operation of the entire portage.
The tunnel was fitted with dressed stone 150’ at each end where the rock was softer (the east portal is on the left, the west portal is on the right in these three views inside the tunnel).
Three man crews, mostly Irish and Welsh immigrants, worked long hours to build the tunnel, drilling 36” holes, each of which was blasted with black powder. Working from either end of the tunnel toward the centre, labourers could cut away only eighteen inches a day. For six long years, they chipped and blasted, finally breaking through on 20th December 1832, although six months of more hard work was required before the tunnel was completed.
About 2 miles from the trail head you reach the east portal of Staple Bend Tunnel, the first railroad tunnel built in the U.S. It is 20’ wide, 19’ high and 901’ long.
The east portal has been restored after some years of deterioration, but may originally have been finished like the west portal.
In 1994, the tunnel was declared a National Historic Landmark.
There are several signs along the trail. This one describes the general operation of the railroad.
One cent per mile was charged to operators for each freight car running empty. When loaded, an additional charge of twice the amount of the toll charged per mile on the canal was levied. In the first full year of operation, 52,719 tons of freight were conveyed across the railroad (29,740 tons west / 15,439 tons west / 7,540 locally).
There are parking spaces and toilet facilities at the trail head, but no potable water supply.
There are also a number of signs explaining the background to the railroad’s construction and providing information on Staple Bend Tunnel, which is about 2 miles distant at the other end of the trail.
Ex-
There are information signs at both ends of the tunnel. This one at the east portal describes activity in the area during the railroad’s years of operation.
This is one of the signs at the west portal. It describes the final leg of the journey west to Johnstown on the Old Portage, and gives historic information on Johnstown.
Despite the grandeur of its conception, the difficulty of its construction and high
hopes for its success, the railroad was not a great success financially: it made
a profit in only 8 of its 20 years of operation and, from 1834-
Two views of the west portal, which still has its original imposing Roman Revival façade. Engine House 1 would have stood at the spot from which I took the lower photograph.
The men who built Staple Bend Tunnel understood the magnitude of their achievement in constructing the first railroad tunnel in the U.S., but it did not remain unique for long. Within 6 months, the Wadesville Tunnel was completed by the Danville and Pottsville Railroad in Wadesville, PA. In the following years, construction of tunnels grew apace as the network of railroad systems spread across the nation.
Looking east to Staple Bend Tunnel from just below the head of plane 1.
About halfway down the plane looking east. The tunnel has almost disappeared from view.
A view west across what would have been the site of Engine House 1 to the head of plane 1. This was the first (or last, depending on their direction of travel) that travellers would encounter on their way over the Allegheny Portage Railroad.
It was 13 miles from the foot of plane 2 to the head of plane 1. The plane itself was the second shortest at 1,608’ long but, at a 9.3% grade, it was the steepest on the western flank. It fell 150’ from head to foot.
Looking west at the foot of the plane, 4.1 miles from the Old Portage terminus at Johnstown.
The trail currently ends at a small bridge near the foot of the plane, but this part of the old route is part of a larger system known as the “Path of the Flood Trail”, which follows the route of the 1889 Johnstown Flood from South Fork to Johnstown along the Little Conemaugh River. The “Path of the Flood Trail” is itself part of the Pittsburgh to Harrisburg Mainline Canal Greenway, a hiking trail that will one day connect the east and west sides of the Alleghenies.
Norfolk Southern tracks just clip the bottom of the trail. A freight car can be seen in this view.
Maps
The NPS has published a map of the National Historic Site with hiking trails:
There is also a very useful map of the entire Old Portage Railroad and newer lines constructed by the Pennsy from a 1948 PRR Board of Directors report published on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1948_All egheny_Portage_Railroad.jpg
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