The Ligonier Valley Railroad connected the communities of Latrobe and

Ligonier, Pennsylvania Ligonier is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,513 at the 2020 census. Ligonier was settled in the 1760s. The borough is well known for nearby Idlewild Park, one of the oldest amusement parks in t ...

, approximately apart, between 1877 and 1952. For much of its length, the railroad ran parallel to Loyalhanna Creek in a scenic mountain gorge. In addition to the Latrobe-Ligonier line, there was an extension to the coal mining communities of Wilpen and Fort Palmer to the north of Ligonier, as well as several shorter spurs serving coal mines. The railroad was owned and operated by the Mellon family of banking fame. Freight included coal, coke, lumber, and quarry stone.

History

The history of the railroad can be traced back to 1853, when the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...

passed the “Act of Incorporation for the Latrobe and Ligonier Rail Road Company.” The name was changed to the Ligonier Valley Rail Road Company in May 1871. Grading and construction were very slow owing to financial problems, and in August 1877

Thomas Mellon Thomas Mellon (February 3, 1813 – February 3, 1908) was an American entrepreneur, lawyer, and judge, best known as the founder of Mellon Bank and patriarch of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh. Early life Mellon was born to farmers Andrew Mellon ...

, a Pittsburgh banking magnate, agreed to purchase the line. Service finally began on December 1, 1877. The railroad was originally

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

, but was converted to in 1882. Another segment of the railroad has its roots in a 1903 venture known as the Westmoreland Central Railroad. This company proposed to build a railroad connecting Ligonier to Bolivar, where it would connect with the main line of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

. In 1904, the Ligonier Valley Railroad purchased the partly constructed line. In 1908, this was opened as the Ligonier-Wilpen-Fort Palmer branch and was in length. The segment that would have linked Bolivar was never constructed, leaving the coal mining community of Fort Palmer as the northernmost extent of the Ligonier Valley Railroad. A new headquarters building including station facilities was built 1909-1910 in Ligonier and is still standing. railroad-station-in-ligonier-pennsylvania

railroad-station-in-ligonier-pennsylvania

Passenger service

Passenger service was available between Latrobe and Ligonier up to the cessation of service in 1952. Stations in order from west to east were as follows. Distances shown are measured from Latrobe: * Latrobe (0 miles): Connection with

* Oakville () * Osburn () * Kingston () * Long Bridge, Pennsylvania () * Idlewild (originally Idle Wild): Served the railroad-owned Idlewild Park, an amusement park. * Darlington () * Milbank () (originally Coal Pit) * Bells () * Ligonier (): Headquarters, with connection to

Pittsburgh, Westmoreland and Somerset Railroad The Pittsburgh, Westmoreland, & Somerset Railroad (PW&S) was a short-lived railroad that connected the Pennsylvania communities of Ligonier and Somerset, running over a mountain known as Laurel Hill or Laurel Mountain. On occasion the railroad's ...

. The old depot and headquarters building now serves as offices for the Ligonier Valley School District. * North Ligonier (on the Ligonier-Wilpen-Fort Palmer extension) * Hannah's Run (on the Ligonier-Wilpen-Fort Palmer extension) * Wilpen (on the Ligonier-Wilpen-Fort Palmer extension) Some sources show slightly different mileages. For example, a 1941 timetable shows Ligonier as from Latrobe. Passenger service was quite frequent, considering the small populations of the communities along the line. The railroad-owned Idlewild Park was a substantial draw for passenger traffic, reflected in the fact that extra passenger trains were run on Sundays. In 1941, there were five trains per day in each direction between Latrobe and Ligonier. Four of the five stopped at all stations, while one train per day served only Latrobe, Kingston, Darlington, and Ligonier. In addition, three extra trains ran Sunday only, and yet another train ran daily except Saturday. The 1941 timetable shows no passenger service on the Wilpen branch. However, the June 1916 edition of the ''Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States'' shows two trains per day in each direction serving (in order from south to north) Ligonier, North Ligonier, Hannah's Run, and Wilpen.

1912 Wilpen disaster

The worst disaster on the Ligonier Valley occurred at 3:40 PM ( EST) on July 5, 1912, from Ligonier, on the Wilpen branch near the Wilpen Fair Grounds. A locomotive pushing a single wooden coach, northbound, collided head-on with a southbound freight train locomotive on a curve. The passenger coach, crowded with revelers returning from a holiday celebration, absorbed the brunt of the impact. In total, 26 people died and 29 were injured, including many children. The railroad relied on verbal orders to train crews, without signals, written orders, or written rules. According to the resulting investigation by the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

, the dispatcher and passenger train conductor disputed whether a verbal order had been issued to wait for the passage of the freight train. Investigators were shocked that the railroad had been relying solely on oral instructions to avoid collisions. Darlington Railroad Station Pennsylvania

Darlington Railroad Station Pennsylvania

Closure

Both freight and passenger service ended on August 31, 1952, except for the Latrobe-Kingston segment which was operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad as an

industrial spur A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...

. It has since been abandoned. Much of the railroad's right-of-way is occupied by the westbound lanes of

U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...

, parallel to Loyalhanna Creek. Some of the stations are still standing, including those at Oakville and Ligonier. Both Idlewild stations (the original 1878 building and the replacement 1931 structure) stand within the park and function as park buildings. The Darlington station is also located on park property and was given to the Ligonier Valley Rail Road Association by the park, has been restored, and is home to the association's museum.

References

External links