Switchback Railroad Hike - The Fall 2011 Tour




Here we see the barney car emerge from the pit.  An "outrigger" was winched down onto the "cat step."  This safety device is identical to the one adopted by successive rollercoasters and gave both a distinctive clink-clink-clink sound as the cars ascend the plane.  At the base of Mt. Pisgah, the cars traveled 2,250 feet of inclined plane and 664 feet of elevation.  The engine house is at the top.  Jordan Cook is all smiles as he made many ventures this day, including some new metal finds that may be parts of the former steamstacks of the engine house. CLICK HERE - For the Spring 2011 Hike and a more complete history of the Switchback with rare photos.

Once again, students, family and staff of the Lehighton Area Middle School took part in a 3-hour hike of the remains of the Switchback Railroad engine house atop Mt. Pisgah in Jim Thorpe (formerly Mauch Chunk.) 
The adventurers marveled at the view and the rich history of this forgotten place, which is perhaps the most important link in the early development of coal production that fueled our Industrial Revolution.
The 50-plus hikers even ventured out to the former Hacklebernie Tunnel that was first driven in 1824 by Josiah White himself in an attempt to bring a source of coal closer to the shipping terminus at Mauch Chunk and the Lehigh River.

Here is one of the few pictures (albeit a drawing based on photos) that illustrates the entire 18-mile expanse of the Mauch Chunk Railroad, otherwise known as the "Switchback."  You can see the dam on the Lehigh River, constructed to create a "harbor" for canal boats to load up with coal.  To the right of the river, just above the dam, you can see the beginning of the Lehigh Canal as it circles the bottom of "Mauch Chunk" Mountain, so named by natives as "Land of the Sleeping Bear."  Though the "chutes" are not depicted here, you can see the red roofs of the Switchback Station at the rightmost terminal arc.  The great plane above that is the Mt Pisgah Plane and engine house.  The other plane is the Mt Jefferson plane and engine house that leads to Summit Hill. The straightaway from the base of Mt Jefferson all the way to Mauch Chunk was originally a one-way "Stone Turnpike" in which the cars descended by day and pulled back up empty by mules at night.  The planes, engines, and "backtrack" were constructed for operation in 1846.   The original "Stone Turnpike" was constructed over the winter of 1818-1819.  The entire system runs at a steady four to six percent declination or four to six feet per running 100 feet.  The one and only and entire model of the Switchback can be viewed at the Mauch Chunk Museum and Cultural Center, West Broadway, Jim Thorpe.

The mine was not extremely profitable and was used intermitantly over the years.  Eventually it was driven clear through to the Nesquehoning side of the mountain.  Keith Bellhorn's grandfather, a miner who lived in Hacklebernie around the 1930s walked through the tunnel each day coming and going from his job as a miner in Nesquehoning.

Students gape at the view of the Lehigh Gorge - With all our recent rain, the Glen Onoko Falls were quite visible, a rare treat for this time of year. The Lehigh River is approximately 1,000 feet below.


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Here, Miss Finkboner makes her way across the top of the collapsed tunnel. Since the tunnel was driven in 1824, 24 years before the construction of the Switchback's "backtrack," a short trestle was built to traverse the mine. This is also the place where the Switchback actually got its name from the Y- switches that allowed descending coal cars to zig-zag down the mountain side, each time it reached a terminus or switch that kicked the car onto the opposing section, "switchbacking" down the mountain, eventually connecting to the "downtrack" and on down to the coal chutes to the Lehigh River.

Parents and students were eager to see the mine's entrance, defying the steep 30 foot drop.

Students were enthusiastic to find the entrance of the collapse tunnel, the first coal mine tunnel ever driven in North America.

Students even scaled the side of the mountain to reach the nearly closed opening of the collapsed mine tunnel.
Among the students attending the hike, along with parents, grandparents and siblings were: Shain Hrusovsky, Emily Miller, Haley Nahf, Sam Maholick, Jordan Cook, Gavin Sherer, Grace Lienhard, Emma McClafferty, Lily Hutton, Scott Kuzma, Cameron Zerbe, Lindsay Carrigan, Kelsey Knappenberger, Daniel Brown, Ryan Nametko, Trent Derhammer, Daniel Thomas, Isabelle Meckes, Justice Schlier, Amanda Mathisen, Gage Whiteman, Seth Nace, Mark Solt, Brooke Focht, Benjamin Mathisen, Emily Bartron, and Alex Hawk.

Everyone had a blast.

Students even were able to make 3 different GeoCache finds.

Among the L.A.M.S. staff members attending the hike were Mark Maholick, Jake Molchany, Carly Finkboner, Mollie Llewellyn, Sharon Focht, and Ronald Rabenold.

A repeat of this hike is planned for April.  Part 2 of the hike, the "downtrack" and downtown Jim Thorpe tour ending at the Mauch Chunk Museum and Cultural Center with its complete Switchback Railroad train display, is planned for early May for 3 evening tours.  (See The 'Essential Jim Thorpe Tour' is our Spring hike, Part II of the Switchback tour.)

Related links on this website:
Spring Hike 2011(This post has many vintage photos of the SBRR), Josiah White's Genius, October 2010 Hike, PA Canal Society Visits Mt Pisgah, and My Sunday Hike.

Also, if you are looking for a comparable site in the area, I suggest you look into the Penn Haven Junction inclines of the Beaver Meadow Railroad above the Black Creek.  In the "Virtual Lehigh Gorge" tour, about mid-way through, are pictures and some history of those dual inclines that once operated there.



CLICK HERE - For the Spring 2011 Hike with a more complete Switchback history and rare photos.