There is another exception to this rule. On the opposite side of the Little Conemaugh River, further up the hillside above the old Pennsylvania Railroad (now Norfolk & Southern) main line, you have the remains of the Southern Cambria Railroad, the "Dread of the timid traveler". The Southern Cambria was a single track electric interurban Streetcar line. The part of its old Right of Way that is part of the rail to trail today is bad enough (South fork to Mineral Point) but it was worse between Mineral point and Johnstown. No one has tried to build on the old Right of way from Mineral Point to Echo, but at Echo you an still see the old trolley barn and a paved road with homes on it that was the old right of way. Once passed Echo, the old Right Of Way still exists and is only about six feet wide with a steep hillside on one side and a Cliffside on the other. Think about going through that section at 55 mph in a wooden Streetcar of the 1912 Era. Once past that section, you go through a cut and the Right Of Way goes around what is today a huge horseshoe curve gravel pit. In 1912 it did the same for that was the old path of the Little Conemaugh River. Once passed that pit the Right of way takes another hard right and heads to Conemaugh Borough. Just outside the Borough the Right of way is gone, covered up as part of building present day PA 271 in the 1930s (In the 1930s it was US 219). The Southern Cambria went through Conemaugh Borough subject to the only traffic light in that Borough (and I suspect installed for the Streetcar in the 1920s, but never removed). The Southern Cambrian then return to its own Right of Way to Woodvale (this is a short bike trail today, but it stops short of Woodvale). From Woodvale a Bridge was built over not only the Little Conemaugh River and Pennsylvania main line but over present day PA 271. This way it's system did not mix or intersected the Streetcar system of Johnstown that then ran on that highway. It was a high bridge. Anyway once off the Bridge, the Streetcar would go downhill into downtown Johnstown and then to its stop along Johnstown's Central Park. Please note the Southern Cambria is known for having the most people killed in any Trolly/Streetcar system in the US. That was on its route to Ebensburg when a Streetcar lost its breaks and ran into another Streetcar following it. That was in 1918. The Southern Cambrian then issued bonds to pay off the victims and their families. In 1927 when those bonds became due, the Southern Cambria locked the doors to their car house and walked away, they had no money to pay the bonds or keep on operating, they just shut down. That did not end all news on the Southern Cambrian. After the closing of the Southern Cambria, parts of the Right of Way was paved by the local townships. You can still see the remains of some Asphalt on the right of way to the Gravel Pit from Echo (and part of the Right of way is a paved road today). Often this paving was done poorly so people were injured and the local Government sued as late as the 1960s. Please note, using the remains of the Southern Cambria you could connect the Path of the Flood with the Ghost Town Trail. The remains of the Southern Cambria to Nanty Glo and the Ghost Town Trail mostly exists. On an interim basis you could just bull doze a path under the power lines that crosses both paths as the Power lines heads to Nanty Glo. The other end would be harder, you have to either build a bridge or a tunnel under US 22, for when present day US 22 was built they just build right over that abandoned right of way. Where US 22 paved over the right of way was just after where the routes to Ebensburg and Nanty Glo split. Again most of the Right Of Way still exists but some small bridges would have to be built and the Johnstown Water Authority would have to give up its desire to keep that path to its exclusive use. Once that is done you are in Echo. This would be the most expensive part of the switch a Bicyle and Pedestrian only Bridge across the Old Pennsylvania main line and the Little Conemaugh River to the present day path. An alternative would be to reopen the old Southern Cambria Right of way to Conemaugh Borough. Most of that Right was way is intact, but crosses several roads and you will need to rebuild that part of the right of way covered up when PA 271 was built, but given we are NOT talking about anything heavier then a couple of hundred pounds using it, no where near the construction cost of a highway. Once done, access to the Path of the Flood could be obtain via the existing bridge from Conemaugh Borough to Franklin Borough.a
I wish I could, I lived in Johnstown as that path was being built. The National Park Service did the part from Minerial point to the Staple Bend Tunnel first. The main work was removing the Knotweed that covered the trail. The next part was Incline Number 1, that terminated at the bottom of that Incline. Please note after Hurricane Ivan hit, Incline Number one was washed out.. The National Park Service decided to rebuilt it with concrete retaining barriers right across the path to prevent further wash outs. These Barriers stick out of the ground about an inch can can be rough when you ride down the Incljne on your bicycle. On the downhill side of Staple Bend Tunnel is a path bypassing the tunnel. It appears to have been built in the 1830s as part of the Construction of the tunnel. It is passable but overgrown and no maintenance I suspect no maintenance since the 1830s. If you ever go to the Staple Bend Tunnel when temperatures have been around or below freezing, a huge sheet of Ice forms at the entrance of tunnel next to Incline Number one. It is slick and Dangerous and I advise staying away from the Tunnel when the temperature is around or below freezing. The second part was also easy, from the Franklin PA Ball field along the water pipeline to where the pipeline does down hill but the path goes more or less straight. The difficult part was between those two ends. Even today, you can follow the waterline to the road that Parallels the railroad tracks to Incline Number 1, but it is gated off for it is used by heavy equipment during the week as mining for gravel is done in the old curve of the Little Conemaugh River. Sidenote, till the Pennsylvania railroad was built in 1852, the Little Conemaugh dud a huge swing around what is now the Staple Bend Tunnel Hillside. In 1852 the Pennsylvania Railroad straightened out the river to its present course so to run the railroad along the new course of the Little Conemaugh River. In the resulting empty curve was and is a huge amount of gravel that is presently being mined and thus the gates to prevent people from reaching that dirt road (The tracks are no longer active along that dirt road, they were last used about 2010 to store unused train cars, the old Pennsylvania railroad track is still in use but is on the opposite side of the Little Conemaugh River). There is a plan to leave this area to the National Park System but not till the gravel is gone and that is not expected till after 2040. Back to the trail. After the two above section were done the middle part was "done". This was difficult for you could follow the water pipeline so far and then the old telephones lines so far but neither had been built to take any vehicles and last longer then needed to install the waterline and then the Telephone line (which may have started as a telegraph line). This was built and two bridges installed, one at the foot of Incline Number 1 to follow the water pipeline, the other where the path had to follow the Telephone phone line. This area was heavily infested with knowledge that covered the path, till an effort was made to kill off the knowledge and that was a five year project (you can only kill knowledge by killing its roots but Knotweed sends nothing to its roots till it flowers in mid July, thus you can only use roundup or other root killer from mid July to the end of September when the Knotweed shuts down completely for the winter). While the Knotweed was being addressed, further work on the trail commences. Penndot was replacing the Bridge from Franklin Borough to Conemaugh Borough at the same time period. Traffic on the old bridge was restricted by a red light run by the contractor. When the Red light went bad, the Contractor asked the Franklin Fire Department to fix it and told them how. It was an easy fix, but one that would have took hours for the Contractor to reach (it was on the weekend). In appreciation for that help the Contractor offered money but the Borough asked can they provide help on the trail? The Contractor agreed, and did more work then any payment would have covered, bulldozing the trail from the two unfinished ends. Since this was to be a bike trail, construction to automotive levels not needed, a good bulldozing was sufficient. Thus the trail was temporarily finished. A problem so arrosed. In the middle of the bull dozed trail was a small waterfall that covered an unstable part of the hillside. That unstable part then collapsed not only on the trail but took part of the trail with it. This took a couple of years to fix. What was needed was concrete blocks to stabilize the hillside. Once that was done the trail was open. Now, I have described what I call the "Lower trail" the trail shut off by gates to keep people off the dirt road being used by heavy trucks hauling gravel, but there is a third trail what I call the Upper Trail. The Upper Trail starts at the Franklin Borough parking lot for the main trail. Just before the start of the main trail. The Upper Trail (which appears to be an old logging road, thus its poor condition but at the same time about six to eight feet wide) is to your left and goes uphill. It use to be covered with knotweed but for its uphill portion most of its knotweed has been killed off. It is a slow long climb that Parallels the Main Trail. At that high point you have another trail to your right. I have never gone on it for on the maps it looks like it goes into an area of homes. There is a connecting trail to the main trail but it is very steep and overgrown. I have walked on it and I do NOT recommend it. The Upper Trail then goes downhill for a piece. where the Upper Trail starts to go up hill again, there is a trail to your left that takes you to the main trail. You again go uphill to another high spot where you have a trail to your left, going downhill to the Main Trail. The Upper trail goes on, but it is much more overgrown. You will reach an intersection with another trail. The trail to your right appears on maps to go to an area of homes, so I never traveled on it. To your left and downhill, the trail takes you to the main trail but again over very rough terrain. This trail ends on the main trail between the two bridges. I use to go on that trail about once a week when I lived in Johnstown, it was an interesting trip on all three trails and they interconnected trails. Please note except for the water pipeline and Telephones line, these are all old logging roads, long abandoned, properly last used for logging pre 1900.
That path connects three different but at times interconnected railroads. From South Fork for about 1/2 mile going up hill you follow a late 1800 gear railroad track. When the path turns to the left and downhill, to your right is the rest of the remains of that geared railroad track. Around 1912 a electric railway was built from South Fork to that old railroad track then up hill till the point I mentioned above. This was the Southern Cambria railroad till you get to Mineral Point. The Southern Cambria went straight, cross the road twice, then Connected with a branch that went to Ebensburg (Now gated off). The path goes downhill through Mineral Point, cross under the Railroad track and connects up with the remains of the Staple Bend tunnel path, the remains of the old Pennsylvania canal plain number 1. That plain technically started with the Staple Bend Tunnel. On the other end of the Staple Bend Tunnel is the remains on Incline #1. The incline pulled boats up the grade as part of a system of ten inclines to haul boats up and then down Allegheny Mountain. The Pennsylvania Canal was built to compete with the Erie Canal. To get the canal boats over Allegheny Mountain it was decided to haul the boats over Allegheny Mountain using steam powered stationary engines. This was built in the 1830s and Steam Engines were not yet powerful enough to haul themselves and cars over that mountain, so it was decided to use small stationary engines to haul the boats up in stages. That way the steam Engines did not have to haul themselves and the two cars of the incline balanced each other so the steam engines only had to pull up the incline the weight of any cargo (less any cargo going down in the car going down the Incline). The Inclines were abandoned in 1854 when steam locomotives were big enough to haul themselves and train over the mountain. That abandonment included the Staple Bend Tunnel. In the late 1800s a water pipeline was built from the dam at Mineral Point to Johnstown through the Staple Bend Tunnel and Incline #1. At the bottom of Incline #1, the path follows that water line, till the path starts to go up hill along a telephone line (Now underground, but remains of some telephone polls still line the path). This is the roughest part of the path and took the longest to build. When the paths straightens out again, you will see a gated off path coming from the railroad tracks, that is the water line and the path follow that water line to where the old Steel Mills in Franklin Borough had been located (and the end of the trail unless you take the road into downtown Johnstown. Just a comment on that path and that it is a combination of three rail lines.
Wow very interesting. Wish you would have been with me that day. You could have shown me so much cool stuff. Thanks for watching and commenting. God Bless 👍
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There is another exception to this rule. On the opposite side of the Little Conemaugh River, further up the hillside above the old Pennsylvania Railroad (now Norfolk & Southern) main line, you have the remains of the Southern Cambria Railroad, the "Dread of the timid traveler". The Southern Cambria was a single track electric interurban Streetcar line. The part of its old Right of Way that is part of the rail to trail today is bad enough (South fork to Mineral Point) but it was worse between Mineral point and Johnstown.
No one has tried to build on the old Right of way from Mineral Point to Echo, but at Echo you an still see the old trolley barn and a paved road with homes on it that was the old right of way. Once passed Echo, the old Right Of Way still exists and is only about six feet wide with a steep hillside on one side and a Cliffside on the other. Think about going through that section at 55 mph in a wooden Streetcar of the 1912 Era.
Once past that section, you go through a cut and the Right Of Way goes around what is today a huge horseshoe curve gravel pit. In 1912 it did the same for that was the old path of the Little Conemaugh River. Once passed that pit the Right of way takes another hard right and heads to Conemaugh Borough. Just outside the Borough the Right of way is gone, covered up as part of building present day PA 271 in the 1930s (In the 1930s it was US 219). The Southern Cambria went through Conemaugh Borough subject to the only traffic light in that Borough (and I suspect installed for the Streetcar in the 1920s, but never removed). The Southern Cambrian then return to its own Right of Way to Woodvale (this is a short bike trail today, but it stops short of Woodvale). From Woodvale a Bridge was built over not only the Little Conemaugh River and Pennsylvania main line but over present day PA 271. This way it's system did not mix or intersected the Streetcar system of Johnstown that then ran on that highway. It was a high bridge.
Anyway once off the Bridge, the Streetcar would go downhill into downtown Johnstown and then to its stop along Johnstown's Central Park.
Please note the Southern Cambria is known for having the most people killed in any Trolly/Streetcar system in the US. That was on its route to Ebensburg when a Streetcar lost its breaks and ran into another Streetcar following it. That was in 1918. The Southern Cambrian then issued bonds to pay off the victims and their families. In 1927 when those bonds became due, the Southern Cambria locked the doors to their car house and walked away, they had no money to pay the bonds or keep on operating, they just shut down.
That did not end all news on the Southern Cambrian. After the closing of the Southern Cambria, parts of the Right of Way was paved by the local townships. You can still see the remains of some Asphalt on the right of way to the Gravel Pit from Echo (and part of the Right of way is a paved road today). Often this paving was done poorly so people were injured and the local Government sued as late as the 1960s.
Please note, using the remains of the Southern Cambria you could connect the Path of the Flood with the Ghost Town Trail. The remains of the Southern Cambria to Nanty Glo and the Ghost Town Trail mostly exists. On an interim basis you could just bull doze a path under the power lines that crosses both paths as the Power lines heads to Nanty Glo. The other end would be harder, you have to either build a bridge or a tunnel under US 22, for when present day US 22 was built they just build right over that abandoned right of way. Where US 22 paved over the right of way was just after where the routes to Ebensburg and Nanty Glo split. Again most of the Right Of Way still exists but some small bridges would have to be built and the Johnstown Water Authority would have to give up its desire to keep that path to its exclusive use. Once that is done you are in Echo. This would be the most expensive part of the switch a Bicyle and Pedestrian only Bridge across the Old Pennsylvania main line and the Little Conemaugh River to the present day path. An alternative would be to reopen the old Southern Cambria Right of way to Conemaugh Borough. Most of that Right was way is intact, but crosses several roads and you will need to rebuild that part of the right of way covered up when PA 271 was built, but given we are NOT talking about anything heavier then a couple of hundred pounds using it, no where near the construction cost of a highway. Once done, access to the Path of the Flood could be obtain via the existing bridge from Conemaugh Borough to Franklin Borough.a
I wish I could, I lived in Johnstown as that path was being built. The National Park Service did the part from Minerial point to the Staple Bend Tunnel first. The main work was removing the Knotweed that covered the trail.
The next part was Incline Number 1, that terminated at the bottom of that Incline.
Please note after Hurricane Ivan hit, Incline Number one was washed out.. The National Park Service decided to rebuilt it with concrete retaining barriers right across the path to prevent further wash outs. These Barriers stick out of the ground about an inch can can be rough when you ride down the Incljne on your bicycle.
On the downhill side of Staple Bend Tunnel is a path bypassing the tunnel. It appears to have been built in the 1830s as part of the Construction of the tunnel. It is passable but overgrown and no maintenance I suspect no maintenance since the 1830s.
If you ever go to the Staple Bend Tunnel when temperatures have been around or below freezing, a huge sheet of Ice forms at the entrance of tunnel next to Incline Number one. It is slick and Dangerous and I advise staying away from the Tunnel when the temperature is around or below freezing.
The second part was also easy, from the Franklin PA Ball field along the water pipeline to where the pipeline does down hill but the path goes more or less straight.
The difficult part was between those two ends. Even today, you can follow the waterline to the road that Parallels the railroad tracks to Incline Number 1, but it is gated off for it is used by heavy equipment during the week as mining for gravel is done in the old curve of the Little Conemaugh River.
Sidenote, till the Pennsylvania railroad was built in 1852, the Little Conemaugh dud a huge swing around what is now the Staple Bend Tunnel Hillside. In 1852 the Pennsylvania Railroad straightened out the river to its present course so to run the railroad along the new course of the Little Conemaugh River. In the resulting empty curve was and is a huge amount of gravel that is presently being mined and thus the gates to prevent people from reaching that dirt road (The tracks are no longer active along that dirt road, they were last used about 2010 to store unused train cars, the old Pennsylvania railroad track is still in use but is on the opposite side of the Little Conemaugh River). There is a plan to leave this area to the National Park System but not till the gravel is gone and that is not expected till after 2040.
Back to the trail. After the two above section were done the middle part was "done". This was difficult for you could follow the water pipeline so far and then the old telephones lines so far but neither had been built to take any vehicles and last longer then needed to install the waterline and then the Telephone line (which may have started as a telegraph line). This was built and two bridges installed, one at the foot of Incline Number 1 to follow the water pipeline, the other where the path had to follow the Telephone phone line. This area was heavily infested with knowledge that covered the path, till an effort was made to kill off the knowledge and that was a five year project (you can only kill knowledge by killing its roots but Knotweed sends nothing to its roots till it flowers in mid July, thus you can only use roundup or other root killer from mid July to the end of September when the Knotweed shuts down completely for the winter).
While the Knotweed was being addressed, further work on the trail commences. Penndot was replacing the Bridge from Franklin Borough to Conemaugh Borough at the same time period. Traffic on the old bridge was restricted by a red light run by the contractor. When the Red light went bad, the Contractor asked the Franklin Fire Department to fix it and told them how. It was an easy fix, but one that would have took hours for the Contractor to reach (it was on the weekend). In appreciation for that help the Contractor offered money but the Borough asked can they provide help on the trail? The Contractor agreed, and did more work then any payment would have covered, bulldozing the trail from the two unfinished ends. Since this was to be a bike trail, construction to automotive levels not needed, a good bulldozing was sufficient.
Thus the trail was temporarily finished. A problem so arrosed. In the middle of the bull dozed trail was a small waterfall that covered an unstable part of the hillside. That unstable part then collapsed not only on the trail but took part of the trail with it. This took a couple of years to fix. What was needed was concrete blocks to stabilize the hillside. Once that was done the trail was open.
Now, I have described what I call the "Lower trail" the trail shut off by gates to keep people off the dirt road being used by heavy trucks hauling gravel, but there is a third trail what I call the Upper Trail.
The Upper Trail starts at the Franklin Borough parking lot for the main trail. Just before the start of the main trail. The Upper Trail (which appears to be an old logging road, thus its poor condition but at the same time about six to eight feet wide) is to your left and goes uphill. It use to be covered with knotweed but for its uphill portion most of its knotweed has been killed off. It is a slow long climb that Parallels the Main Trail.
At that high point you have another trail to your right. I have never gone on it for on the maps it looks like it goes into an area of homes. There is a connecting trail to the main trail but it is very steep and overgrown. I have walked on it and I do NOT recommend it.
The Upper Trail then goes downhill for a piece. where the Upper Trail starts to go up hill again, there is a trail to your left that takes you to the main trail.
You again go uphill to another high spot where you have a trail to your left, going downhill to the Main Trail.
The Upper trail goes on, but it is much more overgrown. You will reach an intersection with another trail. The trail to your right appears on maps to go to an area of homes, so I never traveled on it. To your left and downhill, the trail takes you to the main trail but again over very rough terrain. This trail ends on the main trail between the two bridges.
I use to go on that trail about once a week when I lived in Johnstown, it was an interesting trip on all three trails and they interconnected trails. Please note except for the water pipeline and Telephones line, these are all old logging roads, long abandoned, properly last used for logging pre 1900.
When was the Ehrenfeld to mineral point and staple bend trail built?
That path connects three different but at times interconnected railroads. From South Fork for about 1/2 mile going up hill you follow a late 1800 gear railroad track. When the path turns to the left and downhill, to your right is the rest of the remains of that geared railroad track.
Around 1912 a electric railway was built from South Fork to that old railroad track then up hill till the point I mentioned above. This was the Southern Cambria railroad till you get to Mineral Point. The Southern Cambria went straight, cross the road twice, then Connected with a branch that went to Ebensburg (Now gated off).
The path goes downhill through Mineral Point, cross under the Railroad track and connects up with the remains of the Staple Bend tunnel path, the remains of the old Pennsylvania canal plain number 1. That plain technically started with the Staple Bend Tunnel. On the other end of the Staple Bend Tunnel is the remains on Incline #1. The incline pulled boats up the grade as part of a system of ten inclines to haul boats up and then down Allegheny Mountain. The Pennsylvania Canal was built to compete with the Erie Canal. To get the canal boats over Allegheny Mountain it was decided to haul the boats over Allegheny Mountain using steam powered stationary engines. This was built in the 1830s and Steam Engines were not yet powerful enough to haul themselves and cars over that mountain, so it was decided to use small stationary engines to haul the boats up in stages. That way the steam Engines did not have to haul themselves and the two cars of the incline balanced each other so the steam engines only had to pull up the incline the weight of any cargo (less any cargo going down in the car going down the Incline).
The Inclines were abandoned in 1854 when steam locomotives were big enough to haul themselves and train over the mountain. That abandonment included the Staple Bend Tunnel.
In the late 1800s a water pipeline was built from the dam at Mineral Point to Johnstown through the Staple Bend Tunnel and Incline #1. At the bottom of Incline #1, the path follows that water line, till the path starts to go up hill along a telephone line (Now underground, but remains of some telephone polls still line the path). This is the roughest part of the path and took the longest to build.
When the paths straightens out again, you will see a gated off path coming from the railroad tracks, that is the water line and the path follow that water line to where the old Steel Mills in Franklin Borough had been located (and the end of the trail unless you take the road into downtown Johnstown.
Just a comment on that path and that it is a combination of three rail lines.
Wow very interesting. Wish you would have been with me that day. You could have shown me so much cool stuff.
Thanks for watching and commenting.
God Bless 👍