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98-600: During the mid-nineteenth century, the Pennsylvania Railroad laid tracks along the stream as part of its Main Line from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh . The headwaters of Turtle Creek are located in Delmont . The stream flows westward through the municipalities of Export, Murrysville, Monroeville, Penn Township, Trafford, Pitcairn, Wilmerding, Turtle Creek, East Pittsburgh and North Braddock, before and entering

196-424: A "Dirty Camp." Bouquet's description inspired the name of small stream that flows into Turtle Creek there, "Dirty Camp Run." After these hostilities abated, George Washington , who was part of both Braddock's ill-fated expedition and Forbes' successful campaign, returned to the area and is believed to have followed roads along Brush Creek and Turtle Creek en route to and from Fort Pitt . Washington traveled through

294-696: A baseball and softball complex built at a former Westinghouse site in Trafford, has some fields which straddle the Allegheny/Westmoreland County border. By 1908, two dams were known to exist on Turtle Creek; both were built at water intakes for industrial facilities. One was at the Westinghouse Machine Company in East Pittsburgh; it was described as being low and not appreciably obstructing the flow of

392-667: A canal across Pennsylvania and thus the Main Line of Public Works was commissioned in 1826. It soon became evident that a single canal would not be practical and a series of railroads, inclined planes, and canals was proposed. The route consisted of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad , canals up the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers, an inclined plane railroad called the Allegheny Portage Railroad ,

490-523: A classification system for their freight cars. Similar to their locomotives, the Pennsy used a letter system to designate the various types and sub-types of freight and maintenance cars. As noted, Pennsy colors and paint schemes were standardized. Locomotives were painted in a shade of green so dark it seemed almost black. The official name for this color was DGLE (Dark Green Locomotive Enamel), though often referred to as "Brunswick Green." The undercarriage of

588-608: A continuous railroad line ran between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh over the tracks of several entities including the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1853, the Pennsy was granted trackage rights over the Philadelphia and Columbia, providing a connection between the two cities and connecting with the HPMtJ&;L at Lancaster and Columbia. By 1854, the Pennsy completed its line from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, eliminating

686-681: A government-guaranteed $ 200 million operating loan forced Penn Central to file for bankruptcy protection on June 21, 1970. In May 1971, passenger operations, including equipment, were transferred to a new government-subsidized company called the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, or Amtrak . This was devised to relieve the Penn Central (and other railroads) of money-losing passenger service. Penn Central rail lines, including ex-Pennsy lines, were transferred to Conrail in 1976, and eventually Amtrak received

784-552: A heavily industrial area between the cities of Pittsburgh and McKeesport . The number of "subwatersheds" within the Turtle Creek Watershed depends on which organization defines the boundaries of these geographical regions. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) divides the Turtle Creek Watershed into four subwatersheds, giving each a 12-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC). The Turtle Creek Watershed Association (TCWA), motivated by guidelines which stated that

882-568: A height as to cause water to back up into the Turtle Creek channel. This happened multiple times, notably during the Great St. Patrick's Day flood of 1936 . The Westinghouse Floodgate project was undertaken from 1937 to 1938 for the purpose of blocking similar floods from backing up into the Turtle Creek channel. The project consisted of two adjoining floodgates, one 80 by 30 foot (24 m × 9 m) gate which could be lowered to block

980-552: A levee near the eastern edge of the Dura-Bond steel tube coating facility. The levee contains a small removable gate though which the tracks of the company's Turtle Creek Industrial Railroad pass, though the railroad's services were halted due to damage from the 2009 flood and it would never resume regular operation. The levee directs Turtle Creek into a concrete channel that runs beneath the road and continues for 1,315 feet (401 m). At this point low flow waters are allowed into

1078-546: A multi-modal freight transportation subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It owned oil tanker cars and used them to transport refined oil for mostly independent oil refiners during the era of John D. Rockefeller's and Standard Oil's oil refinery mergers of the 1870s. The company also owned grain freight boats on the Great Lakes and oil pipelines in the oil regions of Pennsylvania . When the company attempted to buy and build some oil refineries in 1877, Standard Oil bought

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1176-473: A percentage of its capital stock. Several lines were then aided by the Pennsy in hopes to secure additional traffic. By the end of 1854, the Pennsy purchased stock in the Ohio & Pennsylvania, Ohio & Indiana, Marietta & Cincinnati, Maysville & Big Sandy, and Springfield, Mt. Vernon & Pittsburgh railroads, totalling $ 1,450,000 (equivalent to $ 49.2 million in 2023). The Steubenville & Indiana

1274-461: A split of two mountain ravines which were cleverly crossed by building a fill and having the tracks ascend a 220-degree curve known as Horseshoe Curve that limited the grade to less than 2 percent. The crest of the mountain would be penetrated by the 3,612 ft (1,101 m) Gallitzin Tunnels , from which the route descended by a more moderate grade to Johnstown . The western end of the line

1372-508: A stake in Madison Square Garden . The company began to acquire a portfolio of insurance companies in 1988. In 1994, the company reorganized as American Premier Underwriters , a subsidiary of American Financial Group , which continues to operate as a property and casualty insurance company as-of January 2024. Thomson (1808–1874) was the entrepreneur who led the Pennsylvania Railroad from 1852 until his death in 1874, making it

1470-421: A swimming hole by those who would break through the fence around it, and this was considered a potential drowning hazard, in part due to the currents which could form around the dam. The dam was also hazardous to fish and other aquatic life, promoting a rise in water temperature which causes a decrease in its dissolved oxygen, while physically impeding the migration of fish up and down the stream. It not only blocked

1568-594: A tunnel across the Allegheny Mountains , and canals down the Conemaugh and Allegheny rivers to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , on the Ohio River; it was completed in 1834. Because freight and passengers had to change conveyances several times along the route and canals froze in winter, it soon became apparent that the system was cumbersome and a better way was needed. There were two applications made to

1666-513: A watershed should be "2 to 15 square miles" in size, has further divided most of the USGS subwatersheads into fourteen subwatershed planning units. Both the USGS's and the TCWA's defined watersheds are listed in the table in this section. The flow-line of mid-twentieth century Turtle Creek meandered noticeably less than it did a hundred years earlier, particularly in its lower regions between Trafford and

1764-551: A year, then the B&;O bill would become effective and the Pennsy's void, thereby allowing the B&O to build into Pennsylvania and on to Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania Railroad fulfilled the requirements and Letters Patent were issued by the Pennsylvania governor on February 25, 1847. The governor declared the B&O's rights void the following August. In 1847, the Pennsy's directors chose J. Edgar Thomson , an engineer from

1862-617: Is now Murrysville. In 1763, the war with the French was concluded and Pontiac's War began, in which Henry Bouquet 's forces engaged a group of allied tribal forces at the Battle of Bushy Run . Upon defeating his opponents, Bouquet followed them downstream to the banks of Turtle Creek near what would become the town of Pitcairn , where he found the Native American forces had hastily abandoned their camp site, which Boquet referred to as

1960-630: The Broadway Limited which became the most famous train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad. This train ran from New York City to Chicago, via Philadelphia, with an additional section between Harrisburg and Washington (later operated as a separate Washington–Chicago train, the Liberty Limited ). In 1890, the Pennsylvania Railroad gained control of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (PCC&StL), itself

2058-604: The Congressional Limited s in both directions were the first trains in regular electric operation between New York and Washington, drawn by the first of the GG1 -type locomotives . In 1934, the Pennsylvania received a $ 77 million loan from the New Deal 's Public Works Administration to complete the electrification project begun in 1928. Work was started January 27, 1937, on the main line from Paoli to Harrisburg;

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2156-690: The Georgia Railroad , to survey and construct the line. He chose a route that followed the west bank of the Susquehanna River northward to the confluence with the Juniata River, following its banks until the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains were reached at a point that would become Altoona, Pennsylvania . To traverse the mountains, the line would climb a moderate grade for 10 miles (16 km) until it reached

2254-560: The Hudson River tunnels . The next area to be electrified was the Philadelphia terminal area, where Pennsy officials decided to use overhead lines to supply power to the suburban trains running out of Broad Street Station . Unlike the New York terminal system, overhead wires would carry 11,000-volt 25-Hertz alternating current (AC) power, which became the standard for future installations. On September 12, 1915, electrification of

2352-766: The Northeast Corridor and Keystone Corridor lines. After Conrail was divided between the Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation , most of the former Pennsy's remaining trackage went to Norfolk Southern. The few parts of the Pennsylvania Railroad that went to CSX after the Conrail split were: After 1976, the Penn Central Corporation held diversified non-rail assets including the Buckeye Pipeline and

2450-686: The Senator from Boston to Washington. On July 1, 1869, the Pennsylvania Railroad leased the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway (PFtW&C) in which it had previously been an investor. The lease gave the Pennsy complete control of that line's direct route through northern Ohio and Indiana as well as entry into the emerging rail hub city of Chicago, Illinois . Acquisitions along the PFtW&;C: Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad , Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad, Toledo, Columbus and Ohio River Railroad, and Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Ashtabula Railway gave

2548-565: The 1860s, Col. Miller's son, George T. Miller, operated a boatyard that built about half the coal boats on the river and a sawmill that produced about two million gun stocks for the Civil War. Even in its heyday, Port Perry was not its own municipality. It remained under the jurisdiction of Versailles Township until 1869 and North Versailles Township afterward. The construction of the Edgar Thomson Steel Works on

2646-544: The 1920s, it carried nearly three times the traffic as other railroads of comparable length, such as the Union Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads. Its only formidable rival was the New York Central Railroad (NYC), which carried around three-quarters of the Pennsy's ton-miles. In 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with New York Central and the railroad eventually went by

2744-468: The 20th century, the Pennsy tried electric power for its trains. Its first effort was in the New York terminal area, where tunnels and a city law restricting the burning of coal precluded steam locomotives. In 1910, the railroad began operating a direct current (DC) 650-volt system whose third-rail powered Pennsy locomotives (and LIRR passenger cars) used to enter Penn Station in New York City via

2842-645: The Delaware River from Philadelphia) to South Amboy, New Jersey (across Raritan Bay from New York City), as well as a newer line from Philadelphia to Jersey City, New Jersey, much closer to New York, via Trenton, New Jersey. Track connection in Philadelphia was made via the Pennsy's Connecting Railway and the jointly owned Junction Railroad . The Pennsy's Baltimore and Potomac Rail Road opened on July 2, 1872, between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. This route required transfer via horse car in Baltimore to

2940-726: The Monongahela River in North Versailles Township . Turtle Creek is the English translation of the Native American name, naming the area for its abundance of turtles. During the mid-eighteenth century, the Turtle Creek valley lay on the western frontier of the British colony of Pennsylvania, and much of its early written history revolved around the French and Indian War . In 1755, the first major battle in

3038-551: The New York Central Railroad. The Pennsylvania Railroad absorbed the New York Central and eventually went by the name of Penn Central Transportation Company . The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) required that the ailing New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NH) be added in 1969. A series of events including inflation, poor management, abnormally harsh weather, and the withdrawal of

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3136-620: The PRR began passenger train service from New York City via Philadelphia to Washington with limited stops along the route. This service became known as the "Congressional Limited Express." The service expanded, and by the 1920s, the Pennsy was operating hourly passenger train service between New York, Philadelphia and Washington. In 1952, 18-car stainless steel streamliners were introduced on the Morning Congressional and Afternoon Congressional between New York and Washington, as well as

3234-556: The Pennsy access to the iron ore traffic on Lake Erie. On June 15, 1887, the Pennsylvania Limited began running between New York and Chicago. This was also the introduction of the vestibule, an enclosed platform at the end of each passenger car, allowing protected access to the entire train. In 1902 the Pennsylvania Limited was replaced by the Pennsylvania Special which in turn was replaced in 1912 by

3332-443: The Pennsy owned 439 freight cars. By 1857, it had 1,861 cars, and in 1866, 9,379 cars. Freight equipment was either acquired new from builders or built by the railroad itself. The Pennsy acquired more cars from the railroads it absorbed. In some instances, privately owned cars were either purchased from a builder or railroad acquisition. One such example was the 1877 purchase of Empire Transportation merchandise and oil cars. By

3430-566: The Pennsylvania Railroad gained control of the Northern Central Railway , giving it access to Baltimore, Maryland , and points along the Susquehanna River via connections at Columbia, Pennsylvania, or Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. On December 1, 1871, the Pennsy leased the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company , which included the original Camden and Amboy Railroad from Camden, New Jersey (across

3528-567: The Pennsylvania Railroad served out its final three decades as a privately owned short-line, the Turtle Creek Industrial Railroad , before flooding from the creek prompted its end of service and eventual conversion into part of the Westmoreland Heritage Trail . The coal mines in the Turtle Creek watershed have all closed, but the abandoned mine drainage they emit continues to adversely effect

3626-484: The Pennsylvania Railroad was the largest railroad (by traffic and revenue), the largest transportation enterprise, and the largest corporation in the world, on par with the London & North Western Railway . Over its existence, Pennsylvania Railroad acquired, merged with, or owned part of at least 800 other rail lines and companies. At the end of 1926, it operated 11,640.66 miles (18,733.83 kilometers) of rail line; in

3724-508: The Pennsylvania legislature in 1846. The first was for a new railroad called The Pennsylvania Railroad Company to build a line between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The second was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), which wanted to build to Pittsburgh from Cumberland, Maryland. Both applications were granted with conditions. If the Pennsylvania Railroad did not raise enough capital and contract to build enough railroad within

3822-688: The Turtle Creek Valley Railroad began service from Trafford , proceeding along the middle and upper sections of Turtle Creek. It was acquired by the PRR in 1903, and the railroad would be further extended beyond the bounds of the Turtle Creek watershed to Saltsburg . Andrew Carnegie 's Union Railroad was laid along Turtle Creek and its tributary, Thompson Run connecting to his Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock. George Westinghouse 's Interworks Railway began service in 1902, connecting his three major manufacturing facilities in

3920-485: The Turtle Creek valley, another type of road took advantage of the gentle gradient that the creek carved through the surrounding hills. In 1852, the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad opened for business, transporting passengers and freight between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh via track laid along the left bank of the lower section of Turtle Creek and farther upstream through the Brush Creek valley. In 1891,

4018-579: The aquatic life in the creek. The Turtle Creek watershed is the region drained by Turtle Creek. Sixty-six percent of its area is located in Westmoreland County , with the balance in Allegheny County . The watershed's area is 147.41 square miles (381.79 km). It drains forests, farmlands, abandoned mines, and urban and suburban communities. The watershed includes portions of thirty-three municipalities. The lower watershed drains

Turtle Creek (Monongahela River tributary) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4116-401: The area multiple times, and was known to have stopped at the residences of two early settlers of the Turtle Creek area. One was Martha Miers, a French and Indian war widow, who had an inn near Thompson Run. The other was John Fraser , who had served with Washington under General Braddock and who settled near the mouth of Turtle Creek. A century after the first military roads were carved through

4214-419: The average capacity of a Pennsylvania Railroad freight car increased from 31 to 54 short tons (28 to 48 long tons; 28 to 49 t). This increased to 55 short tons (49 long tons; 50 t) in the mid-1930s and then to 56 short tons (50 long tons; 51 t) in 1945. By the start of 1946, the Pennsy's freight car ownership decreased to 240,293 cars and in 1963, down to 140,535. The Pennsylvania Railroad used

4312-764: The banks of Turtle Creek. For example: a portion of US Steel's Edgar Thomson Works which appears to be in North Braddock is actually in North Versailles. Businesses in Broadway Park on PA Route 130 are also in North Versailles, but have addresses in Monroeville. The Pitcairn Intermodal Terminal (formerly Pitcairn Yard, and Wall Yard before that) lies in both Monroeville and North Versailles, but, ironically, not in Pitcairn. All American Park,

4410-569: The beginning of the twenty-first century, much of the infrastructure that changed the Turtle Creek valley remained in place, but had changed in form and purpose. The Pennsylvania Railroad's main line has become Norfolk Southern 's Pittsburgh Line , where heavy freight traffic still runs, but passenger service has been reduced to once per day on Amtrak 's Pennsylvanian . Passengers no longer board trains at Pitcairn Station; its yards have been converted into NS's Intermodal Terminal. The Edgar Thomson Steel Works and Union Railroad still operate, now under

4508-464: The company. The controlling, non-institutional shareholders of the PRR during the early 1960s were Henry Stryker Taylor , who was a part of the Jacob Bunn business dynasty of Illinois, and Howard Butcher III, a principal in the Philadelphia brokerage house of Butcher & Sherrerd (later Butcher & Singer). On February 1, 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with its longtime arch-rival,

4606-454: The concrete-lined lower section. The town of Export, which the upper section of Turtle Creek flows through, sustained nearly $ 2 million in damages (approximately $ 2.76 million in 2023) from this flood alone. Construction on its flood control system began in 2010, and work on the $ 9.8 million (approximately $ 13.4 million in 2023) project was completed in the fall of 2012. The completed project begins just upstream of Puckety Drive, with

4704-529: The control of US Steel and its subsidiary Transtar . Westinghouse's railroad is gone, but his airbrake facility still operates at its original site under the name Wabtec ; the Westinghouse electrical plant is now the Keystone Commons industrial park, and portions of the foundries in Trafford have become baseball facilities, with other parts awaiting redevelopment. The Turtle Creek Branch of

4802-413: The creek itself, and an adjoining 40 by 20 foot (12 m × 6 m) gate that would be simultaneously block (Old) Braddock Avenue, which runs parallel to Turtle Creek in its floodplain. On the left bank of the creek next to the gates stands a gatehouse/pump-house, which held three 5,000 hp (3,700 kW) pumps capable of pumping 7,500 cubic feet (210 m) of water downstream per second in

4900-542: The creek was further diverted to straighten the tracks of the railroad on its right bank, where the Westinghouse Interworks Railway company ran its trains. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also diverted the flow of the creek in the Blackburn neighborhood of Trafford to create a wye (pronounced like the letter "Y") to enable its trains to switch directions there. The pond formed by part of

4998-512: The creek. In 1852, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company began running its main line along the left bank of the lower section of Turtle Creek. In 1874, it acquired 215 acres (87 ha) of land for its Wall Yard (later known as Pitcairn Yard), construction of which would involve relocating much of Turtle Creek northward before the completion of the yards on the left bank of the creek in 1892. Sometime between 1903 and 1915

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5096-633: The electrified trackage are still in use, owned and operated by Amtrak as the Northeast Corridor and Keystone Corridor high-speed rail routes, by SEPTA , and by NJ Transit . The Pennsylvania Railroad's corporate symbol was the keystone , the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's state symbol, with the letters "PRR" intertwined inside. When colored, it was bright red with a silver-grey inline and lettering. The Pennsylvania Railroad bought its first 75 freight cars in 1849. Two years later,

5194-476: The end of the century, a third and fourth track were added. Over the next 50 years, the Pennsy expanded by gaining control of other railroads by stock purchases and 999-year leases. At the end of its first year of operation, the Pennsylvania Railroad paid a dividend, and continued the dividend without interruption until 1946. The Pennsy's charter was supplemented on March 23, 1853, to allow it to purchase stock and guarantee bonds of railroads in other states, up to

5292-597: The event that the gates needed to be lowered. The height of the gates meant that they could withstand backwater from the Monongahela river as long as the river surface remained below 750 feet above sea level. In 1999, the Turtle Creek Valley Council of Governments determined that operating and maintaining the facility placed too great a financial burden upon the boroughs of Wilmerding, Turtle Creek and East Pittsburgh. Photos taken in 2013 indicate

5390-528: The first passenger train, the Metropolitan, went into operation over the newly electrified line from Philadelphia to Harrisburg. On April 15, the electrified freight service from Harrisburg and Enola Yard east was inaugurated, thus completing the Pennsy's eastern seaboard electrification program. The railroad had electrified 2,677 miles (4,308 km) of its track, representing 41% of the country's electrically operated standard railroad trackage. Portions of

5488-558: The floodgate facility is no longer being maintained. While the Westinghouse Floodgates protected the lower Turtle Creek Valley from backwater flooding from the Monongahela River downstream, it was not designed to protect from flash flooding pouring down from tributaries upstream. Flash floods in 1911, 1942 and 1950 all deposited rain at a rate which exceeded the capacity of Turtle Creek to drain it, and, in October 1954,

5586-410: The formation of Conrail. It reorganized in 1994 as American Premier Underwriters , which continues to operate as a property and casualty insurance company. With the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the beginnings of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 1828, Philadelphia business interests became concerned that the port of Philadelphia would lose traffic. The state legislature was pressed to build

5684-547: The largest business enterprise in the world and a world-class model for technological and managerial innovation. He served as the Pennsy's first Chief Engineer and third President. Thomson's sober, technical, methodical, and non-ideological personality had an important influence on the Pennsylvania Railroad, which in the mid-19th century was on the technical cutting edge of rail development, while nonetheless reflecting Thomson's personality in its conservatism and its steady growth while avoiding financial risks. His Pennsylvania Railroad

5782-541: The lettering and outlining was originally done in real gold leaf. After World War II, the lettering was done in a light shade of gold, called Buff Yellow. For most of its existence, the Pennsylvania Railroad was conservative in its locomotive choices and pursued standardization, both in locomotive types and their component parts. Almost alone among U.S. railroads, the Pennsy designed most of its steam locomotive classes itself. It built most of them at Altoona Works , outsourcing only when Pennsy facilities could not keep up with

5880-409: The line from Philadelphia to Paoli, Pennsylvania, was completed. Other Philadelphia lines electrified were the Chestnut Hill Branch (March 30, 1918), White Marsh (1924), the main line to Wilmington, Delaware (September 30, 1928), West Chester (December 2, 1928), Trenton line (June 29, 1930), and completed on July 20, 1930 the Schuylkill Branch to Norristown, Pennsylvania, later followed by

5978-423: The line served the coal region of southern Illinois and as a passenger route for the Pennsylvania Railroad's Blue Ribbon named trains The St. Louisan , The Jeffersonian , and the Spirit of St. Louis . By 1906, the Pennsylvania built several low-grade lines for freight to bypass areas of steep grade (slope) and avoid congestion. These included: Some other lines were planned, but never completed: Early in

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6076-405: The locomotives were painted in black, referred to as "True Black." The passenger cars of the Pennsy were painted Tuscan Red , a brick-colored shade of red. Some electric locomotives and most passenger-hauling diesel locomotives were also painted in Tuscan Red. Freight cars of the Pennsy had their own color, known as "Freight Car Color," an iron-oxide shade of red. On passenger locomotives and cars,

6174-418: The low-grade freight line from Morrisville through Columbia to Enola Yard in Pennsylvania; the Port Road Branch from Perryville, Maryland, to Columbia; the Jamesburg Branch and Amboy Secondary freight line from Monmouth Junction to South Amboy; and the Landover-South End freight line from Landover, Maryland, through Washington to Potomac Yard in Alexandria, Virginia. In less than a year, on January 15, 1938,

6272-403: The lower Turtle Creek valley. As industry grew in the Turtle Creek valley, several towns began to grow around the factories, railroads and resources along the creek. By 1876, the largest towns along Turtle Creek were the railroad towns of Port Perry , which no longer exists, and Turtle Creek , which was incorporated in 1892. Pitcairn incorporated in 1894 and the borough of Wall incorporated on

6370-458: The merged product of numerous smaller lines in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Commonly called the Panhandle Route , this line ran west from Pittsburgh to Bradford, Ohio , where it split, with one line to Chicago and the other to East St. Louis, Illinois , via Indianapolis, Indiana . In 1905, the acquisition of the Vandalia Railroad gave the Pennsy access across the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri . Double-tracked for much of its length,

6468-448: The mid-1860s, the railroad had 9,379 freight cars; a decade later, 32,718; the mid-1880s, over 49,000; 1896, more than 87,000. The Pennsy changed its car reporting methods around 1900. The railroads owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad system were now included in reports, in addition to the Pennsylvania Railroad proper. So, in 1900, the Pennsy had over 180,000 freight cars; by 1910, 263,039. The zenith of freight car ownership

6566-431: The mouth of the creek at the Monongahela River. This artificial channelization of the creek was prompted by industrialization of the region. Diversions to suit the expanding railroads of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company had the most obvious impacts, while alterations to suit the needs of George Westinghouse's manufacturing companies and Andrew Carnegie's steel operations are also evident in changes shown in historical maps of

6664-446: The name of Penn Central Transportation Company , or "Penn Central" for short. The former competitors' networks integrated poorly with each other, and the railroad filed for bankruptcy within two years. Bankruptcy continued and on April 1, 1976, the railroad gave up its rail assets, along with the assets of several other failing northeastern railroads, to a new railroad named Consolidated Rail Corporation , or Conrail for short. Conrail

6762-413: The natural Turtle Creek stream channel alongside Old William Penn Highway, while excess flow is directed underground through an additional 2,905 feet (885 m) of culvert to rejoin the meandering stream on the west side of Export. Initially, a second phase of construction with additional protective elements was planned, which was needed for "full 100-year protection", but state officials later decided that

6860-412: The next day, ending Pennsylvania Air Line service. In the early 1880s, the Pennsylvania acquired a majority of PW&B Railroad's stock. This action forced the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) to build the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad to keep its Philadelphia access, where it connected with the Reading Company for its competing Royal Blue Line passenger trains to reach New York. In 1885,

6958-444: The old creek-bed eventually took a name derived from that of Blackburn's farm and this wye, "B-Y Pond". Turtle Creek served as part of the political boundary between what were once North Versailles and Patton townships, as well as part of the boundary between Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties. When the flow-line of the creek was altered, the political divisions were not redrawn, and so some seemingly out of place borders now exist near

7056-498: The opposite bank of the creek a decade later; both grew in response to the sprawling rail-yard between them. East Pittsburgh , Wilmerding and Trafford were all populated by the workers of the Westinghouse factories. The town of Export was established near the headwaters of Turtle Creek as a mining community, which exported coal via the Turtle Creek Branch of the PRR to industrial areas downstream and elsewhere. At

7154-456: The opposite side of Turtle Creek in the 1870s doomed Port Perry. As railroad operations at the works expanded over the decades, properties in the town were bought up and razed to make room for tracks and yards. Hastening the community's decline were the depletion of nearby coal mines in the late 19th century and the moving of the locks and dam downriver to Braddock in the early 20th century. The Pittsburgh Gazette observed in 1904 that Port Perry

7252-552: The other lines heading north from the city. On June 29, 1873, the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel through Baltimore was completed. The Pennsylvania Railroad started the Pennsylvania Air Line service ("air line" at the time being understood as a nearly-straight and nearly-flat route with distance similar to "as the crow flies") via the Northern Central Railway and Columbia, Pennsylvania. This service

7350-474: The railroad's needs. In such cases, subcontractors were hired to build to PRR designs, unlike most railroads that ordered to broad specifications and left most design choices to the builder. The Pennsy's favorite outsourced locomotive builder was Baldwin Locomotive Works , which received its raw materials and shipped out its finished products on Pennsy lines. The two companies were headquartered in

7448-640: The rainfall caused by the remnants of Hurricane Agnes in June 1972 (13,200 cu ft/s or 370 m/s at East Pittsburgh), Hurricane Ivan in September 2004 (9,760 cu ft/s or 276 m/s at Wilmerding), and a non-tropical cyclone-related flash flood in June 2009 (10,100 cu ft/s or 290 m/s at Wilmerding). The June 2009 flood not only damaged the Thompson Run valley, but also flooded parts of Turtle Creek several miles upstream of

7546-532: The remnants of Hurricane Hazel caused what was then the flood of record by attempting to discharge 12,300 cubic feet (350 m) of water per second through a Turtle Creek channel that had a drainage capacity of only 5,100 cu ft/s (140 m/s), overflowing its banks and causing an estimated $ 13 million in damages (approximately $ 117 million in 2023). The following year, the Turtle Creek District Flood Authority

7644-440: The rest of the main line to Trenton, New Jersey. In 1928, PRR's president William Wallace Atterbury announced plans to electrify the lines between New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Harrisburg. In January 1933, through main-line service between New York and Philadelphia/Wilmington/Paoli was placed in operation. The first test run of an electric train between Philadelphia and Washington occurred on January 28, 1935. On February 1

7742-546: The river, the channel was improved with stone and concrete walls and a similarly lined bottom, affording a 20,000 cu ft/s (570 m/s) capacity for this more heavily developed, lowest section of the creek. Construction of the concrete channel lining was completed in 1967, and control was turned over to the local flood authority, which was expected to maintain the channel at its constructed drainage capacity by occasionally removing accumulation of sediment, vegetation and other debris. The channel proved adequate to discharge

7840-678: The same city; Pennsy and Baldwin management and engineers knew each other well. When the Pennsy and Baldwin shops were at capacity, orders went to the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio. Only as a last resort would the Pennsy use the American Locomotive Company (Alco), based in Schenectady, New York, which also built for Pennsy's rival, the New York Central. Port Perry, Pennsylvania Port Perry

7938-462: The second phase was not necessary and the protection from a "50-year storm" provided by phase one of the project would suffice. Download coordinates as: Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR ), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company , also known as the " Pennsy ", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania. At its peak in 1882,

8036-413: The stream. The Trafford dam, located just upstream of Turtle Creek's confluence with Brush Creek, was more imposing, once standing at eight feet (2.4 m) tall and 50 feet (15 m) wide in the shadow of the bridge which carried PA Route 130 . By the time the Westinghouse plant in Trafford closed, the nearby dam had outlived its original purpose. The water which pooled around the dam had found use as

8134-608: The theater took place near the mouth of Turtle Creek at the Monongahela river, where the British General Edward Braddock was mortally wounded and his forces compelled to retreat from what became a failed expedition to capture the French Fort Duquesne . In 1758, General John Forbes led a more formidable and ultimately successful expedition against the fort, establishing a more northerly military road which crossed Turtle Creek in what

8232-589: The town: the Pittsburgh, McKeesport and Youghiogheny Railroad (operated by the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad ), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (which had absorbed the Pittsburgh & Connellsville line), the Union Railroad , and the Port Perry Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad . Growth of the steel mill and the proliferation of railroad tracks continued to crowd out and isolate

8330-419: The travel of fish, but also that of local canoeists, who described the dam as "dangerous, unrunnable and unportageable". The Trafford dam was finally removed in September 2013. Because of their relatively low elevation with respect to that of the Monongahela river, the Westinghouse facilities in East Pittsburgh and Turtle Creek were vulnerable to back water flooding, when the waters of the Monongahela reach such

8428-626: The use of the inclined planes of the Allegheny Portage Railroad. In 1857, the PRR purchased the Main Line of Public Works from the state of Pennsylvania. This purchase included 275 miles (443 km) of canal, the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, and the New Portage Railroad (which replaced the now abandoned Allegheny Portage Railroad). The Pennsy abandoned most of the New Portage Railroad in 1857 as it

8526-531: Was "passing away". Despite a terminally declining population, Port Perry remained a site of major rail and river traffic flows. In 1914, articles in the trade journals Railway Review and Steel and Iron claimed, on the basis of statistics compiled by the Pittsburgh Industrial Development Commission, that more annual tonnage of freight passed Port Perry than any other point in the world. Four railroads ran through

8624-487: Was "the best on the western waters." Zadok Cramer's The Navigator (1802) referred to the settlement as Perrystown. A later edition of the Navigator stated that the town by the mouth of Turtle Creek had "not progressed". Only eight families reportedly resided there in 1840. It was not until some fifty years after its founding that Port Perry began to develop in earnest. The original Monongahela Lock and Dam No. 2

8722-471: Was 54.5 miles (87.7 km) longer than the old route but avoided the transfer in Baltimore. The Union Railroad line opened on July 24, 1873. This route eliminated the transfer in Baltimore. Pennsy officials contracted with both the Union Railroad and the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) for access to this line. The Pennsy's New York–Washington trains began using the route

8820-486: Was a town along the Monongahela River near Braddock, Pennsylvania and by the mouth of Turtle Creek . It disappeared by 1945, having been gradually replaced by railroad tracks serving the nearby Edgar Thomson Steel Works . The town was laid out in the 1790s by its founder, John Perry. On June 1, 1795, Perry advertised his "new town", citing its proximity to roads, mills and quarries, and claiming its harbor

8918-501: Was assisted by the Pennsy in the form of a guarantee of $ 500,000 worth of bonds. In 1856, a controlling interest was purchased in the Cumberland Valley Railroad and the Pennsy constructed additional lines in Philadelphia. In 1857, the aforementioned Main Line of Public Works was purchased for $ 7,500,000 ($ 245 million in 2023). The Empire Transportation Company was founded in 1865 by Joseph D. Potts and became

9016-423: Was built beside it and opened in 1841. The town was resurveyed and replatted by Col. William L. Miller, who lived on the adjacent hill. Miller opened a boat supply store that also functioned as a kind of post office before the establishment of an official post office in 1850. The Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad laid the first railroad tracks through the town in 1857; the line reached Pittsburgh in 1861. In

9114-548: Was in his day the largest railroad in the world, with 6,000 miles of track, and was famous for steady financial dividends, high quality construction, constantly improving equipment, technological advances (such as replacing wood fuel with coal), and innovation in management techniques for a large complex organization. The railroad's other presidents were: The Pennsylvania Railroad's board chairman/CEOs were: The railroad's vice-presidents were: The Pennsy's main line extended from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1861,

9212-415: Was itself purchased and split up in 1999 between the Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation , with Norfolk Southern getting 58 percent of the system, including nearly all of the remaining former Pennsylvania Railroad trackage. Amtrak received the electrified segment of the Main Line east of Harrisburg. The Penn Central Corporation held several non-rail assets which it continued to manage after

9310-481: Was now redundant with the Pennsylvania Railroad's own line. In 1861, the Pennsy leased the HPMtJ&L to bring the entire stretch of road between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia under its control. The Johnstown to Pittsburgh stretch of canal was abandoned in 1865 and the rest of the canals sold to the Pennsylvania Canal Company in 1866. The main line was double track from its inception, and by

9408-458: Was organized to work with the Army Corps of Engineers on a massive channelization project whose design and construction continued into the next decade. From its confluence with Brush Creek in Trafford to a point 2.2 miles (3.5 km) downstream, Turtle Creek was channelized to the extent needed to accommodate a flow equal to that caused by Hazel. For the 3.8 miles (6.1 km) downstream to

9506-416: Was reached in 1919 when the Pennsy owned a reported 282,729 freight cars. Steel in freight car construction began during the later part of the 19th century, when cars were now being built with a steel underframe and wooden bodies or were all steel. The Pennsy steadily replaced their wooden cars with steel versions until there were no more wooden cars by 1934. During the first quarter of the 20th century,

9604-562: Was simultaneously built from Pittsburgh, eastward along the Allegheny and Conemaugh rivers to Johnstown, while the eastern end was built from Harrisburg to Altoona. In 1848, the Pennsy contracted with the Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mountjoy and Lancaster Railroad (HPMtJ&L) to buy and use equipment over both roads, providing service from Harrisburg east to Lancaster. In 1851, tracks were completed between Pittsburgh and Johnstown. In 1852,

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