Saturday, July 23, 2011

Allegheny Portage Railroad

July 22
Two of Pennsylvania's canals back in the early 1800s went on either side of the Allegheny Mountains but they didn't connect. Engineers made a railroad that crossed the Allegheny mountains to bring them together. It was called the Allegheny Portage Railroad. It picked up boats on one side and dropped off on the other. We also went to the area of the reservoir that flooded Johnstown in 1889. The dam was made of dirt and rocks and gave way in the middle after a big storm. The wall of water took 45 minutes to reach Johnstown. The people in Johnstown had just celebrated Memorial Day when the flood came.

No comments:

Post a Comment