Ligonier Valley Rail Road Newspaper Articles
We have compiled over 1,400 newspaper articles that mention the Ligonier Valley Railroad, or related subjects. The articles were originally published starting in 1873 and our collection runs through 1995. Enjoy!
Ligonier Echo
Wednesday, July 26, 1905
New Railroad, Ligonier To Somerset
P. W. & S. To Span The Mountain By Next November
Will Connect With L.V.R.R.
Will carry Passengers, Express And Freight Across The Mountain Tap Timber And Coal
As noted three weeks ago in the Echo exclusively, the Pittsburg, Westmoreland &
Somerset railroad financed by the Byers-Allen Lumber company and eastern capitalists, is being built to Somerset, affording a short route to Pittsburgh through Ligonier for passengers, express and freight, all of which will be handled by this road. Somerset is now connected with Johnstown by the Somerset & Cambria branch of B&O. The P. W. & S. will give Somerset a direct connection with Ligonier and Pittsburgh, shortening the distance from there to Pittsburgh 37 miles.
The road, which has been managed and operated from Ligonier since it was first built as a lumber-carrier road by the Byers-Allen Lumber company, will now become more important as a means of transportation when it reaches out to the county seat of Somerset county and passes through some rich coal and timber land. It is reported that the Byers-Allen company has secured control of additional valuable timber land on the mountains and parties interested in this new road have obtained options on Somerset county coal
field through which the P. W. & S. will pass, this opening up a traffic that will be beneficial to Ligonier for many years. The road is now built to the vicinity of the Zufall place on the Somerset county side of the mountain. Two hundred men or more are now at work grading the road on toward Somerset. The work of building the road up to the present time has been financed by the Byers-Allen Lumber company. We were informed Monday by Mr. L. H. Allen that the road would be completed by November 1, 1905. Contractors are at work at present in opening up a sixty foot tunnel which is necessary in the construction of the road.
The Somerset Standard of last week has the following among other things to say on the subject of the building of this railroad:
"The recording of a mortgage in the Recorder's office last Saturday for $700,000 given by the Pittsburg, Westmoreland & Somerset railroad company in favor of the New York Trust Company of New York, is documentary evidence substantiating the above statements.
"On portions of the P. W. & S. railroad leading up the western side of the Laurel Hill mountain the grade is six per cent, but it is proposed to 'switch-back' these portions of the road and thereby reduce the grade to three per cent.
"The new road will approach Somerset on the north side of the town, will cross the Stoystown road at grade between the residence of James B. Saylor and the bridge over Cox's creek, and connect with the Somerset and Cambria road near that point.
"At a meeting of the directors of the railroad company in Ligonier in the latter part of June it was voted to increase the bonded indebtedness from nothing to $700,000 for the
purpose of carrying on certain improvements, namely, 'to construct, own, maintain and operate a standard gauge railway extending from a point of connection with the Ligonier Valley Railway, in the borough of Ligonier, to a point of connection with the B&O, in the borough of Somerset, a distance of about thirty miles.' A resolution that the company make and execute 7000 of its 30-year, five per cent. gold bonds of denominations of $1000 each, was adopted, and a first mortgage has been given to the New York Trust Company upon its 'tracks, rights of way, depot, grounds, rights, privileges, franchises,
machine houses, rolling stock, etc.'
"The financial transactions with Kerster & Co., the New York bankers, were carried on by Mr. L. H. Allen of the Byers-Allen Lumber Company. The New York Trust Company are the trustees for the bond holders.
"A number of civil engineers have been through this section for some time running lines and securing levels for the proposed extension, and several hundred men are at work on the Laurel Hill mountain and in the vicinity of Zufall, carrying on the work of construction. The latter part of last week a number of foreigners came to Somerset over the S. & C. and were taken overland to the work on the mountain, and since then men have been arriving almost daily.
"The costs of construction for the new railroad will be reduced materially by the fact that a portion of the abandoned South Penn roadbed will be utilized."
The borough council of Somerset was asked to grant a franchise to the company to enter the town, which was unanimously granted last Friday night when the matter was first brought to the attention of the members of council. This certainly shows the warm friendship and favorable opinion of Somerset people. Everybody in Somerset county seems to be enthusiastic on the building of the new railroad. It goes without saying that Ligonier people are favorable to the building of this new railroad.
There has already been put upon the Ligonier end of the road a passenger train which makes connection on schedule time with the Ligonier Valley railroad, leaving Ligonier in the forenoon after the arrival of the morning train and returning in time for the 4:40 train in the afternoon, the train running to the Zufall place in Somerset county and returning to Ligonier.