Borough of Etna - Centennial Festivities Yearbook (Etna, PA)

Page 69 text:

PITTSBURGH AND WESTERN LOCOMOTIVE 1886 Sections of this line were double-tracked between 1885 and 1390. It was sold to the B810 in 1886. The B S: O continued its operation with horse drawn cars in order to retain the franchise. The B S O was looking for an outlet to Chicago. It financed Henry TV. Oliver who built the Pittsburgh and Western through to New Castle. Control of the stock of the P Sz W was purchased by the B 81 0, and the name was formally changed to Baltimore and Ohio on February 1, 1902. Today, due to progress in other , ..',f7 .,, . ' fields of transportation, mostly freight is handled by the B 8 O through Etna. ln the early 1900's the Pittsburgh, Harmony, Butler and New Castle Railway was founded. A right of way was purchased and a line Constructed between Pittsburgh and Butler. The main power house was at Renfrew. 5V3 miles south of Butler. The Pittsburgh and Butler Railway was commonly known as the Butler Shortline. ,-'r-f, ,- F-. YI! .. . H f' ' ' sara .,,+ pikv 'I N-....,ka,,.. THE CUT GOING INTO ETNA FROM ROUTE 8 ns., H ' I

Page 68 text:

M 1 a 1 4 ,vt iw The Railroad is thc Pittsburgh and Western. 64 754711355 ' 1' Kid '51 , n . 1 ' t, ...rf ,,,,-- Old Undercliff Hotel at corner of Route 8 and Saxonburg Blvd. There were three toll-houses in all along the routeg the first being located at Evergreen Road and Butler Plank in Shaler Twp., the second located where the old Etna Theater now stands and was operated by a man named Deer. The final one was at the bridge crossing Pine Creek to Willows' Street with ,lohn 1V1cCoohney in charge. It was a common sight in the 189075 and early l900,s to see many loads of hay moving along the Butler Plank Road to be weighed on wagon scales at the Etna General Store owned by the Spang Chalfant Company. Many of the farmers lived too far north to make the trip in one day, so they would spend the night at the 'ccutw fsee picture of Cutl located below the intersection of K.D.K.A. Blvd. fpresent Saxonburg Blvd.l and route 8. The ucutw was made when con- struction of the Butler Plank Road required cutting through a solid rock formation a distance of about 150 feel. The cut was 30-35 feet high. There were two hotels in the immediate vicinity where stables and hay sheds furnished shelter for the wagons and animals. One of the hotels was built by Robert Thompson and was operated by George Beet. The other was operated by lVlr. Schoepher. 1 Butler Plank Road operated as a toll road between Allegheny fNorth Sidel and Butler for 53 years. In 1905 the Allegheny County Commissioners bought that portion of the Butler Plank Road between Etna and the Allegheny County Line. This portion of the road became a free road. The part in Butler County con- tinued as a toll road. At the time of this sale the Butler Plank Road was the oldest and one of the most successful plank roads in the United States. In 1910 to 1912 the portion of this road in the Allegheny County was bricked and warrenited and became one of the first paved roads in Allegheny County. People of today, unless they have read about it have no idea of the early railroad era. The first passenger railroad service here was inaugu- rated in 1877 when the Pittsburgh-New Castle and Lake Erie railroad was constructed as a result of the reorganization of the Pittsburgh Northern Co. The following year, the road was completed between Etna and Zelienople, hauling both passengers and freight. Two years after the road began service, it failed and was sold at sheriffis sale. After reorganization the railroad was called Pitts- burg and Western railroadf' gt-, - the llutlf-r Plank Ruud ip l902.

Page 70 text:

fi m,,,,........f--v-- ,. X -Q., f. i I 1 0 F i 2 . . Q I h PITTSBURGH 81 NORTHERN RAIBROAD HARMUNY ROUTE C.-XR HARMONY ROUTE CAR BUTLER SHORTLINE ON CRESCENT AVENUE l J X X X X X x 'NX X salfxggff ,,.:'9iIfy' 5 J -rm? 44 QQ 1' E ' KX flag U 77 ff-I lin X fl Fvgvffsdi, 0- I ff- x gidxgzeeaf Wy I wi fav, I, L fr 4,461-q.:1!g17f I, :mb in X J- dfhf '43 Dpi' ef Qui QL g :anim A 059 ,v W n V H2 ,Av Sk J. r 9' 5-M M 1, 5 ' ,f nj' 1,5 g ,, gy, 5- .I 91 J 'I 9' I NVRIAI NIIW Ol FINA SHOWIINY ROUTFS USE 66