Road Trippin' PA: Staple Bend Tunnel
CAMBRIA CO, Pa (WJAC) — One of the most significant parts of North America lies just miles from Johnstown in Mineral Point and its completion helped pave the way for the nation’s industrial revolution.
The Staple Bend Tunnel is part of the national historical site known as the Allegheny Portage Railroad.
In this week’s Road Trippin’ segment, we learn, firsthand, of how a unique system beat the challenges presented by the Cresson Summit.
“The Staple Bend Tunnel was the first railroad tunnel in in the United States, and actually even in North America, or you could say the western hemisphere, and it was a part of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, which was part of the Pennsylvania-Mainline Canal System, between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, that opened in 1834, which opened up the western part of the state, and the country, to development.”
“This tunnel was built to save the railroad from building an extra, roughly, two miles of track, because nearby here there was a large loop in the little Conemaugh River.”
“It’s not very long, only nine-hundred and one foot long, but it was mostly built by hand. So, it took a bit of time to dig through that mountainside. They started at each end of the tunnel in late 1831. They had a crew at each end, and they started drilling holes by hand. They would have a hand drill bit that they would hit with a sledgehammer, and then turn it, and hit it again, and turn it until they had a hole about three feet long. When they had that hole drilled, they would drill another hole, and another hole, and they would put a charge in each of those holes with fuses. They would light those fuses, and that blast would take place, and then the charge would blast out about eighteen inches of rock. That process was most of a day’s work to drill a set of holes, blast it and clean it up to get ready for the next charge, and it took almost two years to meet in the middle.”
“The engineering, the craftsmanship, the artistry that went into designing, and engineering and building the Allegheny Portage Railroad, sometimes today, after working here for many years, it’s almost baffling the work the work that they were able to do, and the pride that they put into that work. They wanted people to be impressed as they approached the tunnel, on their train, from either end. I’m sure people were impressed. We’re still impressed today. It’s not being used by the railroad anymore, and hasn’t been for over 150 years, but it’s still being used today by people using the trails recreating in the area.”
“It basically put Johnstown on the map, because Johnstown was going to be an interchange point between canal and railroad. Johnstown became a very busy place, being that very important location. It was an inland port on this important canal system between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.”
The Staple Bend Tunnel and its former rail bed are currently part of the path of the flood trail, which commemorates the 1889 Johnstown flood.
It will also be part of the national 9/11 Memorial Trail.
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