We left the B&O station in Pittsburgh early in the morning. The train had just one locomotive, and only a few passenger cars. It was small, considering other trains that had made the trip we were beginning, but this was a historic train, since it would be the last of its kind. The passengers had been invited to share this auspicious "last ride," as well as being given the chance to hear about, and experience, a visionary idea.
It was the mid-1970s, and the train was the last passenger train to use the Western Maryland line from Pittsburgh to Hancock, Md.
The first part of the trip was a typical train ride through urban areas.For the most part, the scenery was limited to the backs of buildings, roads, automobiles and trucks. We passed forgotten places jumbled with discarded machines and pieces of nature, like tree-of-heaven and ragweed that favor disturbed ground.
Following the Monongahela River, the rails took us to the confluence of the Youghiogheny at McKeesport. Then we headed up the Yough. The lake-still waters of the Mon gave way to the crinkled riffles of the free-flowing Yough. The tree-of-heaven groves gave way to silver maple, sycamore, slippery elm and white ash. Ragweed gave way to Dutchman's breeches.
After passing Connellsville, an even more dramatic change took place. The whispering riffles on the Yough grew to roaring rapids. Gentle valley slopes steepened to near vertical cliffs. The train clung to a narrow cut in the hillside, with rock walls and oak forests towering over the cars to the right and a sheer drop to white frothy river to the left. We were cutting through the heart of Chestnut Ridge.
After twisting and turning, following the sinuous path of the Yough, we came to the high bridge that spans the river just outside of Ohiopyle. From there, for a very brief stint, the landscape leveled around the little town. But soon again the cliffs rose as we cut through the heart of Laurel Ridge and passed some of the oldest rock in western Pennsylvania.
Soon, Confluence provided another pause in the severity of the landscape. Here our route took us away from the Yough as we began to follow the Casselman River. Small towns – Harnedsville, Fort Hill, Markleton, Rockwood and Garrett – were nestled like beads in the forested valley that wound with the river. The train labored as it gained elevation going higher and higher into the Allegheny Mountains.
Near Meyersdale the scene outside the windows changed again. We rolled between farms and fields and crossed the now placid Casselman one last time. In the distance Allegheny Mountain stood like a fortress defending the eastern edge of the North American continent from the central plains.
We burrowed under the high ramparts of the fortress by way of the Big Savage Tunnel. The engine's labor was done, and the little train rolled easily down the east side of Allegheny Mountain headed for the Potomac basin. Through Frostburg, Cumberland and finally to Hancock, the last passenger train to use the Western Maryland Railroad tracks finished its day's work.
This special trip in the mid-1970s was the last of one kind of travel on that path, but it was planned to introduce private and public officials to the potential of another form of travel. The vision elucidated that day was to replace steel wheels with spoked wheels – railroad cars with bicycles – to build a trail from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md., and join with the existing C&O Canal trail that leads to Washington, D.C.
At the time, the vision was too ambitious. It would be too difficult to maintain, said some. Others were convinced that such a trail would never be used, never be popular. For the moment, the vision was dimmed. But the vision didn't die.
In Ohiopyle State Park the old rail bed was acquired, and it was converted to a bike path using excess materials from other projects. People began to use the path and suggested it be extended. Soon, 27 miles of crushed limestone trail followed the former Western Maryland line, and visitors in droves were riding, walking, jogging, strolling and otherwise following the path of the long-gone trains.
More recently, others rekindled the original vision. The Allegheny Trail Alliance – seven trail groups from southwestern Pennsylvania – united to build a network of trails that included the old Western Maryland line and extended it to include other converted railroad rights of way. Their goal is to finally connect more than 300 miles of trails and provide a recreational corridor from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.
Now, nearly 30 years later, the dream is very close to reality.
This spring, I decided to re-create my train ride. I decided to bike, in segments, what is now know as the Great Allegheny Passage, or GAP trail. Remembering the labor of the locomotive hauling the several passenger cars upstream along the rivers, I opted to do my reunion biking in the opposite, downhill, direction.
My first excursion began at what is now the eastern end of the finished trail in Meyersdale, in Somerset County. The former station has been restored as a visitors center and is open on weekends. At all times there is ample parking, restrooms and water. Food and lodging are available close by in the town.
The first portions of the trail pass along the edges of Meyersdale, past private yards and farm fields, as well as under and across a couple of roads. The human settings have their own unique nature. Cardinals, robins and house sparrows are a common and welcome diversion to the regularity of pedaling. I always have to remember to give myself plenty of time on these outings, since biking isn't my only intention. I frequently stop to do a little bird-watching and check out the wildflowers along the path. I'm always careful about where I stop since the right of way is narrow and the private property on either side must be respected at all times.
Northwest of the town, the trail gently curves out of a narrow cut, and the panorama of the Casselman River valley unfolds. Just beyond, the trail sits atop a massive steel structure known as the Salisbury Viaduct. From the ample girders that once supported 100-ton steam locomotives, I passed over old Route 219, the four lanes of new Route 219, farm fields rippled by spring plowing and the mirror surfaced Casselman River.
The high vantage point of the Salisbury Viaduct, a structure born of older technology, provides a spectacular view of new technology. Across the valley, white blades slowly rotate in the winds passing over the Allegheny Mountains. These modern machines, one of three farms now in the Allegheny Mountains, are drawing renewable energy from wind, sparking a new industry in the region. The Green Mountain Energy wind farm is built on a reclaimed strip mine above Garrett. The eight 200-foot-tall wind turbines generate 10.4 megawatts of electricity —enough to power 2,500 average Pennsylvania households.
While casually riding the trail, watching the windmills slowly turn, feeling the rhythm of my feet against the pedals, and hearing the gentle song of tires on fine gravel, I was reminded of my original ride on this path and the clatter of the wheels against rails and easy swaying of the rail cars.
In just over 4 miles, the trail swings into Garrett. After a jig and a jog on some local roads, I got back on the original railroad bed. Just down stream, the trail crosses Bigby Creek. Here the Casselman ends its quiet meandering behavior and starts to make its other voice heard in the valley. Boulders and ledges churn the river as it drops more rapidly and the wild side of the river shows itself. From here to Rockwood the trail also leaves civilized human haunts and crawls through a wild, natural landscape.
On my outing, early spring wildflowers lined my path. Each change in the forest is matched by a change in the species of plants. Young forests of cherry and ash are carpeted with spring beauties and wild blue phlox. Moist, rich, north facing hillsides under sugar maples and beeches, harbor red trillium, wild ginger and hepatica. On the steep rock cliffs glistening with groundwater seeping from crevices, there are hanging gardens of early meadow rue and great bellflowers. Each turn in the trail provides a new landscape to explore with new treasures to enjoy.
My turn-around-point on this outing was Lick Run, between Garrett and Rockwood. The GAP trail has benches appropriately placed for sitting and taking time to drink in the beauty of the surroundings. I biked during the middle of the week and had the trail to myself. After taking time to survey my surroundings and thoroughly enjoy a mild early spring day, I headed back toward Meyersdale.
On the way back, I thought about the visionary ideas of those people who arranged my introduction to this path, these rivers and these steep forested mountain gaps. I though about the foresight of the people who more recently took up that early dream and were making it a reality. And I thought about the many people who will ultimately use this trail to touch the natural beauty of these mountain landscapes that are a western Pennsylvania treasure.
