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Montour Trail Celebrates its 25th Birthday

By J.R. Brower

Montour Trail volunteers are making sure trail users are aware that the year 2014 commemorates the 100th anniversary of the construction of the Montour Railroad through Peters Township, Bethel Park and South Park Township.

A Montour Railroad train of the 1970s pulled by two locomotives, one old and one new

Two special signs on the Bethel Park trail spur near Logan Road and Clifton Road, put in place by the Montour Railroad Historical Society, mark the occasion with descriptions and photos of the coal trains, upon whose beds the Montour Trail was created.

Most of the mines along the 46-mile railroad that ran through the West and South Hills, from the Ohio River to the Monongahela, closed in the 1970s, and right-of-ways were transferred to both municipalities and the Montour Trail Council, which officially began its work to lay down the recreational "rails-to-trails" in 1989.

Local railroad historians tell us how important the Montour Railroad was to the local economy. Not only did the trains haul coal, but they also serviced lumber yards, quarries and stores along its routes.

In 1913, the Montour Railroad only reached as far as Imperial from its starting point in Coraopolis. Since at least six mines were producing a lot of coal in McDonald, Cecil, Hendersonville, Hill Station (Peters), Coverdale (Bethel) and Library (Snowden, now South Park), work began in the year 1914 to build the railroad all the way to Clairton on the Monongahela River.

The Montour Railroad also hooked up to other railroad companies like the Union Railroad, Pittsburgh-Wheeling and Norfolk & Southern that took coal and goods out of state to other cities.

The 1914 railroad building project entailed construction of three tunnels and more than 30 bridges.

According to Bryan Seip of the Montour Railroad Historical Society, "It was estimated by engineers building the Montour Railroad in 1913 that about three million dollars would be required for the construction of the new railroad, including $120,000 for the purchase of the right-of-way properties from local landowners."

Seip goes on to say that from 1913 to 1914, much excavation was needed to lay the track on its "winding route" that did not include very many completely straight sections of track. Even the tunnels were curved, like the one near Hill Station. He said that the largest bridge, of the many that were built, was a 962-foot steel viaduct at McDonald.

Presently, work is expected to begin soon to reconstruct the Library Bridge viaduct over Route 88 in South Park Township. With the help of state and federal grants, the rehabilitation of that bridge is expected to cost $2.25 million. Another bridge in Peters that traverses Valley Brook Road is expected to begin construction this year at a cost of $1.5 million.

The year 2014 will be a year to look to the future when the Montour Trail eventually hooks up to the Great Allegheny Passage over the mountains to Cumberland, MD.

When walking or biking on the trail, it will also be a good year to reflect on the locomotives and trains of past century.

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