2025 Visit Johnstown Visitors Guide - Flipbook - Page 28
Adventures in Innovation and Industry
Discover how our innovation and industry fueled
westward expansion and modernized America!
Johnstown Inclined Plane
Photo Credit: Ed Dreikorn
WESTWARD, HO! CONQUERING THE
ALLEGHENIES BY CANAL AND RAILROAD.
In the early 19th century, the Allegheny
Ridge presented a nearly insurmountable
obstacle rising nearly 1,200 feet standing
in the way of expansion to the west. To
conquer the Ridge — and cross it with
roads, canals, and rail — was a challenge
that mustered American ingenuity and
established Pennsylvania as an industrial
giant. The Pennsylvania Mainline Canal,
completed in 1830, was the first route
connecting Philadelphia with Pittsburgh
and shortened the journey from three weeks
by wagon to four days by railroad and
canal. The Pennsylvania Railroad leaped the
mountains with an all-rail route, sparking
the development of the region’s iron, steel
and coal industries. Civil engineering
masterpieces such as the Horseshoe Curve
and the Gallitzin Tunnels, as well as the vast
Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive and car
shops in Altoona, established the Ridge area
as an early testing and research laboratory
for railroading.
LEARN HOW CANALBOATS WERE
HAULED OVER THE MOUNTAINS!
ALLEGHENY PORTAGE RAILROAD
NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
U.S. Rt. 22, Gallitzin Exit. 110 Federal Park Rd.,
Gallitzin, PA 16641 | 814-886-6150 | nps.gov/alpo
The construction and operation of the
Allegheny Portage Railroad was one of
the greatest engineering feats of the 19th
century. Visitor center, restored historic
Lemon House tavern, hands-on exhibits
and full-scale models in the Engine
House Interpretive Building. Picnic
area, hiking, and cross-country ski trails.
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site
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