What railroad was built in 1827 that hauled both passengers and coal on one stretch of track up to speeds of 65 mph (that was not the speed of the whole operation just one straight section of track)?
Hint: The same railroad was the inspiration for the American Roller Coaster.
I beleive that you are refering to the Mauch Chunk & Summit Hill Railway in Carbon County, Pennsylvania
Doh! That was fast…yes that was it. Geez, thought that would take everyone at least a week. Another National Geographic special I saw on TV. Could not believe they hit 65 mph back then. Allegedly the line was ridden for thrills by the likes of General U.S. Grant and Thomas Edison to name a few.
It still exists as the Switchback Railroad Trail or similar names. Now used mostly for hiking or extreme mountain biking:
http://www.traillink.com/trail/switchback-railroad-trail.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauch_Chunk_Switchback_Railway
This web page from 2007 says there was some interest in studying the possible rebuilding of a portion of it:
http://www.switchbackgravityrr.org/index.html