…10-4 on the tunnel Dave. Thanks.
…Have been over to Google and picked up a web site for the area: “Railfaning the Pennsylvania’s west slope”…Very interesting. Of course that whole area is interesting railroading.
I would have liked to have ridden down {or up}, the route around Mule Shoe Curve when it was still in existence. Too bad it was destroyed but it did give a big help to create a great grade for the “new” 220 Rt.
There’s a Johnstown America plant in Danville, IL and they make open top coal hoppers. They can build about 20 cars per day. One of our yard jobs will pull the plant about once a week and then one of crews will haul the new train to its new destination.
…Isn’t there possibly 3 plants at various locations…
The way I drive, its 45 minutes to Sandpatch (Garrett, PA) from the Galleria exit. It helps to know where the cops hide on 219 south.
…Yes, with that elapsed time you quote, you should know where they hide…I’m familiar with that area having been born in Stoystown and realize how far it is between those points.
According to their website they have three plants: Franklin Plant, Shell Plant, and Danville Plant.
See for descriptions
http://www.johnstownamerica.com/about/abt_facilities.htm
and see for directions
http://www.johnstownamerica.com/service/ser_drive.htm
The Franklin and Shell plants are both in the Johnstown area.
…aj: 10-4 on the 3-plants.
From what one can read…they are having a pretty good business cycle now.
Actually that’s the new 22. 220 is also known as I99 that runs North-South through Altoona, New 22 links up with it at the bottom of the Mountain near Duncansville,and runs West. up the Mountain…However, as you head up the grade, you will start paralleling the NS Main to your right. You can get a great view of trains climbing or descending the grade from new 22, especially when leaves are down. The trains appear to wrap along the edge of the mountain…As far as Muleshoe, the Muleshoe Curve is still in existence as a hiking trail maintained by the Park Service. Now though, it is so treed in along the trail, all it looks like is a trail going around a curve in the woods. If you take Old 22 down the mountain until just where it goes back to 2 lanes from 4, there is an overpass. Park here and hike up onto the trail. The overpass over the road is actually part of the Muleshoe Curve itself. Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown
LOL. With the way I drive it’ll take me a good 6hrs to get to Garrett, from Philadelphia. However if I hop on the Three Rivers at 30th Street Station (Amtrak) I’ll be there sooner! I would hope.
…Dave: Yes, I know better I misspoke on 220…I know it is 22…and I remember the old stone arch one passes under going down…{east}, on old 22.
And that’s exactly what the old PRR route is doing over on the other side…“wrapping” around the mountain edges to maintain the 1.8% to attain the summit. Great area to see railroad action as it’s been for the century plus.
CSXrules4eva…Hop on the Capitol Limited on CSX and come right through Garrett and Sand Patch.
Yeah, you could also hop off at Cumberland, stay at the Holiday Inn, rent a car, and fan Sand Patch. If you took the Pennsylvanian, you’d be 60 miles to the North and would have to drive down to the Patch. Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown
Dave, I’ve never been right to the Sand Patch tunnel…Is it accessable easily by road, etc…?
The East Portal requires some hiking…If you turn left off of 160 coming South onto the road that leads down to Mance, there is a entrance to a service road on the left,side of that road to Mance. Other Railfans have told me they have hiked into the service rd,to the CSX right of way, then up to the left to get to the Tunnel…its only a couple hundred yards hike up the service road to the CSX Main…The West Portal was always accessed from the Summit…using an access road that led to the Sand Patch Tower location, the road continued back to the West Portal, perhaps a quarter to half mile from the Summit Bridge…which, by the way, is no longer wooden, it was replaced with a modern concrete span…no high fences though…The access road to the West Portal was gated.the last time I was there…I believe gates might have been recently installed at the time I was last down there, about a year ago, so I don’t know what might have changed since then. Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown
…Just this afternoon I decided to pull up some photos over on Google of the Sand Patch area and specifically the tunnel. Lots of good ones to look at. Several are even positioned to allow one to see clear through the tunnel. It does look like rough territory and I’m sure it is…knowing where it is.
Even found some photos taken from up on the former WM Salisbury Viaduct as I did several years ago…A great location to photograph C&O as it passes right under that structure. As you may already know it has been outfitted with a concrete floor and wire mesh sides to serve the walking trail that passes over it…A great view from up there.
Years ago when our High School would head over that way to play basketball at Meyersdale I would look at that structure {it was in use then}, in awe and never could I imagine someday I’d walk across it…!
A couple of years ago, I tried to find the access to walk on that Salisbury Viaduct…after conversion to walking trail…I drove down old 219 and under the viaduct, then up side roads adjacent to the Viaduct…must have spent an hour trying to find where to get on it…everything dead ended…I never did figure it out, and gave up and left. Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown
…Right before you get to the Viaduct from the Garrett side turn left and head up a dirt road for several hundred yards and turn left andf follow that around to the right and it will take you right up to ROW level and you can park right at the edge of the east end. This was 2 or 3 years ago when we did that.
Now it is Pacer basketball time…must exit…until later.