Looking westward on the Juniata River toward Thompsontown Station (on the left bank) Note: Newspapers at the time interchange Thompsontown Station and Thompsontown in their reporting. To keep things organized, I will refer to the wreck location as Thompsontown Station, which was the stopping place on the Pennsylvania Railroad where the wreck happened. I stepped … Continue reading The 1864 Fast Line East TrainDisaster
Memorial to the wreck's Unknown Dead, Paxtang Cemetery. Insert: top of the memorial In all the times I have passed through Harrisburg, I've made very few stops at the cemeteries to visit the graves of community members buried there. On this particular trip I was detouring from my journey to visit a memorial within the … Continue reading Wreck of the Cleveland and Cincinnati Express
Note: The first part of the Walter L. Main wreck can be found here: Wreck of the Walter L. Main “Where are we off to today?” Mike asked as he plopped down in the passenger’s seat. “Here and there,” I replied. “Have some cemeteries we need to visit.” “Who are we looking for?” “The victims of … Continue reading Remembering the Victims of the Walter L. Main
"Where we headed this time?" Zech asked as we headed towards Altoona to do some exploring. As many times as I'd been in the Altoona region, I had done every little exploring, but this was about to change. "I have a couple places I want to see. There's a list on the seat." I replied. … Continue reading Wreck of the Walter L. Main
“Are you sure you know where you are going?” Zech asked as I parked at Cedarquist Park along the eastern bank of the Ashtabula River. “I know exactly where we need to go,” I spoke solemnly. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been here.” Though it had been a number of years since I had … Continue reading The Ashtabula Train Disaster
Fog lingered on the Juniata River as I pulled into the parking area at the Lewistown Narrows Boat Access. Here the Juniata meanders between the Blue and Shade Mountains on its journey towards Amity Hall and its confluence with the Susquehanna River. Getting out of the vehicle, I walked down to the water’s edge to … Continue reading The Great Lewistown Train Robbery
The Pennsylvania Rambler 