When it comes to the history of industrial Allentown, the railroad buffs are among the current experts. Our heavy manufacturing base moved it's materials on the tracks of several railroads. The Front Street area was crisscrossed with tracks and sidings. The West End Branch ran along Sumner Avenue, crossed Tilghman Street, looped around 17th Street and ended near 12th and Liberty. The Barber Quarry Branch ran along the Little Lehigh until it then followed Cedar Creek. It crossed Hamilton Street near the current Hamilton Family Restaurant and ended at what is now the Park Department Building. The rail buffs are current day archeologists, looking for remnants of those glory days. Shown above is a portion of the Barber Quarry pier and track. This is at the bottom of
Lehigh Street hill, near the former bank call center, near the former Acorn Hotel, in a former city still called Allentown.
photo courtesy of Mike Huber, Coplay
above reprinted from March of 2011
ADDENDUM AUGUST 22, 2023:The bridge has just been rebuilt, and the portion of the earlier railroad bridge show above was removed.
At 12th and Roth Avenue, in a triangle shaped lot, there was a Gulf Oil Company facility. On the Sumner Avenue side the rail spur, to the west of the coal yards, the train would drop off tanker cars full of raw refined gasoline by the Gulf facility. The facility would then mix various additives to the refined gasoline to differentiate it between the premium and regular grades, as well as anti-knock additives. The tanker trucks would then pull in there, get loads of gas to drop off at various Gulf stations around the city.
ReplyDeleteGulf gasoline no longer exists, although the name persists in a few stations. When Trexler Jr High was built, the ASD took over the structure also. I believe the west end spur rails along Sumner Avenue are also gone today.
I wish that all railroad buffs were just archeologists. Too many seem to want to use our tax dollars to relive (and rebuild) an era that has long since been passed by.
ReplyDeleteAlso, since you mentioned the bridge on Lehigh Street (the Wire Mill Bridge), kudos to Lehigh County for doing a good job on the replacement.
Yes, it took longer than it should have, but living with it closed made you appreciate how important the small bridge is. From what I can tell, it's an upgrade - for both vehicles and pedestrians. Hopefully it lasts for a long time.
I wonder what our traffic levels and air quality would be like if we used rail instead of all the trucks used today. Try taking a deep breath next time you drive by the airport. The wave of exhaust and fumes hit me as I was driving by this morning. I’m assuming it’s not just the all the trucks but all the planes in & out too.
DeleteYeah, sorry I don’t want to live in the 1800’s anymore.
DeleteI greatly prefer the ability - and freedom - to go where I want and when I want in the climate-controlled comfort of my gasoline-powered car, over having to shuffle off to wherever a train station is located and being herded like cattle onto a train that’s going to be making multiple stops.
And what advantage does a train station have over an airport, other than offering me a much longer trip (time wise) on long-distance travel?
At the same time, the air today is cleaner than what it was 75-100 years ago.
By my score, that makes it
Cars/Planes: 3
Trains: 0
anon@3:39: Those that I refer to as "railroad buffs" do not concern themselves with current urban issues, such as a new train to NYC. On the contrary, they know how much infrastructure would be involved and how costly it would be.
ReplyDelete