PRR

Above is a photo of my grandfather Henry Clayton Layer (1884-1964) taken the day in 1957 he retired from the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). He is standing next to a K-4 Pacific Steam Engine with the train’s conductor (unidentified). Pop Pop worked for the PRR for 53 years, 50 of those as an engineer, following in the steps of his father who was a conductor for the PRR. I remember as a 9 year old boy the thrill of him taking me up into the cab of a steam engine (probably a K-4 Pacific given it was the run between Atlantic City and Philadelphia) as he turned the engine around on a track arrangement called a “Wye”.

The K-4 Class Pacific was the premier passenger steam engine used by the PRR capable of moving at a sustained 70 mph. Over 300 were built for the PRR, 75 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia but the majority in the PRR Juniata Shops in Altoona. The following photo (from the Internet) is of K-4 Pacific locomotive #3461 on display at the Horseshoe Curve near Altoona in 1969. It was retired in 1957, the same year my grandfather retired, and is one of only two remaining K-4 Pacific locomotives, this one owned by the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona where it since was moved for restoration.

Between the 1830s and 1940 the PRR was the dominant railroad in the US by every measure. The initial PRR owner, Robert Stevens (son of shipping baron John Stevens), introduced the steam engine to the US on its predecessor railroad - the Camden and Amboy Railroad in New Jersey. Prior to that, horses were used to pull train cars. In the early 1820s, Stevens proposed a railroad connecting Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and places west to compete with the commercial success of the Erie Canal. The trans-state railroad line Stevens proposed fully became a reality in 1850. It was delayed by political interests that favored and supported building a “Pennsylvania Road” composed of a combination of canals with locks and dams and short rail lines with incline planes and tunnels.

Today, the double tracked is referred to as the old PRR “main line,” running from Philadelphia through, Columbia, Harrisburg, Lewistown, Huntingdon, Spruce Creek, Tyrone, Altoona, and points west to Pittsburgh. The last photo is the original main line underpass at Spruce Creek. Through the underpass, a hard left turn (east) and a few hundred feet up hill stood the Spruce Creek train station. A stage coach that ran from that station was one of the few ways to travel to the Pennsylvania Agricultural High School 21 miles away during Penn State's and State College's early years. Today, the Little Juniata River and Spruce Creek, which converge in the village of Spruce Creek near the underpass, are well-known trout streams.

Many of the rail-trails my friends and I ("Three Old Guys with Beards") ride are rail beds that were small dedicated lines, some of which were brought into the PRR, or were PRR spurs. They outgrew their usefulness or were no longer profitable to PRR or its successor Conrail.