Over the Mountains by Boat and Rail, 1840

Follow a traveler across Pennsylvania's Main Line and see how canals, railroads and the telegraph linked East and West.

Answer Key

The route

Read the described map, the table and the diary. Then answer the questions.

Described map: the Main Line, Philadelphia to Pittsburgh
1. Philadelphia, an Atlantic port on the Delaware River, where the trip starts.
2. Columbia, on the Susquehanna River, about 80 miles west of Philadelphia.
3. Hollidaysburg, at the eastern foot of the Allegheny Mountains, reached by canal up the Susquehanna and Juniata river valleys.
4. Johnstown, on the western side of the mountains, across the high ridge from Hollidaysburg.
5. Pittsburgh, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers join to form the Ohio River.
6. Cincinnati, Ohio, several hundred miles down the Ohio River to the southwest.

Sections of the Main Line, completed 1834 (approximate miles)
Section	Way to travel	Miles
Philadelphia to Columbia	Railroad	82
Columbia to Hollidaysburg	Canal	172
Hollidaysburg to Johnstown	Portage railroad	36
Johnstown to Pittsburgh	Canal	104

From the Diary of Clara Linwood (an invented traveler)

1April 6, 1840, Philadelphia. I leave tomorrow for a teaching post in Cincinnati. My uncle, a merchant, says Pennsylvania spent years and millions of dollars on this Main Line because New York's Erie Canal, opened in 1825, was pulling the trade of the West to New York City. That canal follows a low, fairly level gap through the mountains. Pennsylvania has no such gap, so its route mixes canals and railroads.

2April 7, Columbia. We rode the railroad cars all day across rolling farmland and reached the Susquehanna by evening. Here we boarded a long, narrow canal boat. Our boat is built in sections that can be pulled apart, which puzzled me until a boatman explained what lies ahead.

3April 9, on the Juniata. Mules on the towpath pull us at a walking pace past mills and stone locks that lift the boat as the valley climbs. At night we sleep on narrow shelves in the cabin. A boatman told me the canal is usually drained or frozen from about December to March, and then freight waits for spring.

4April 10, the Allegheny Portage Railroad. At Hollidaysburg the sections of our boat were rolled onto railroad cars. The ridge ahead is far too high and steep for a canal. Instead, steam engines at the top of each inclined plane haul the cars up the slope with thick ropes, and between the planes, horses or small locomotives pull them along level stretches. Ten planes carry us up and down the mountain. From the summit I could see ridges rolling away like waves.

5April 11, Pittsburgh. The boat was joined together again at Johnstown, and we floated down to Pittsburgh, a smoky city of iron works and glass factories. In about four days I have crossed the state. Tomorrow I board a steamboat down the Ohio River.

6Note added in 1855. I made the trip east again this year, entirely by the Pennsylvania Railroad, which opened its line over the mountains in 1854 with a great curve near Altoona that lets trains climb without ropes. It took less than a day, in snow that would have frozen the old canal. Telegraph wires, which first reached Pittsburgh from Philadelphia in 1846, now run beside much of the track. In 1857 the state sold the Main Line to the railroad company.

Use the table. Add the miles.

The whole Main Line from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh was about 394 miles long. Of those miles, about 276 were by canal.

Use the diary and the map. Why did the Main Line use a railroad, not a canal, between Hollidaysburg and Johnstown?

A. The rivers there were too deep for canal boats.
B. The ridge between them was too high and steep.
C. New York owned the canal rights in that area.
D. Trains were cheaper than boats on flat land.

Underline the sentence from the April 6 entry that best explains why Pennsylvania built the Main Line.

I leave tomorrow for a teaching post in Cincinnati.My uncle, a merchant, says Pennsylvania spent years and millions of dollars on this Main Line because New York's Erie Canal, opened in 1825, was pulling the trade of the West to New York City.That canal follows a low, fairly level gap through the mountains.Pennsylvania has no such gap, so its route mixes canals and railroads.

Based on the April 7 and April 10 entries, why was Clara's canal boat built in sections?

A. So travelers could sleep in separate cabins
B. So its parts could ride rail cars over the ridge
C. So small crews could repair it in a river town
D. So it could fit through the narrow canal locks

Linking East and West

Use the map, the table and the diary.

In January 1841, a Pittsburgh glassmaker wants to send a large load of glass to Philadelphia on the Main Line. Based on the diary, what problem would he most likely face?

A. Steamboats on the Ohio would not carry glass.
B. The inclined planes had not yet been built.
C. The canal sections were likely frozen or drained.
D. Philadelphia's port was closed to Western goods.

Use the map. Why was Pittsburgh an important link between the East and the West?

A. Its rivers formed the Ohio, a water route west.
B. It sat on the Atlantic coast near Philadelphia.
C. The Erie Canal ended at its waterfront.
D. It stood at the top of the Allegheny ridge.

Sort each detail by the way of crossing the mountains it describes.

Cars hauled up slopes by ropesTrains running in winter snowA trip of about four daysA great curve near AltoonaMules on a towpath beside the JuniataA trip of less than a day

Main Line (1834)	Pennsylvania Railroad (1854)
Cars hauled up slopes by ropes A trip of about four days Mules on a towpath beside the Juniata	Trains running in winter snow A great curve near Altoona A trip of less than a day

Use the diary. Subtract the years.

The Pennsylvania Railroad opened its line over the mountains 20 years after the Main Line was completed. The state sold the Main Line to the railroad company 3 years after the railroad's line opened.

Think like a geographer

Use everything on the page.

In 1850, a Philadelphia flour merchant wants to know the price of flour in Pittsburgh before he buys. Based on the 1855 note, how did the telegraph most likely help him?

A. He could learn the Pittsburgh price the same day.
B. He could keep the canal open through the winter.
C. He could ride to Pittsburgh in less than a day.
D. He could ship flour along the wire to Pittsburgh.

10.

In 1840, a farmer near Cincinnati ships barrels of pork to Philadelphia, using the Ohio River and the Main Line. Use the map. In which order would the barrels pass these places?

A. Pittsburgh, Hollidaysburg, Johnstown, Columbia
B. Johnstown, Pittsburgh, Columbia, Hollidaysburg
C. Columbia, Hollidaysburg, Johnstown, Pittsburgh
D. Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Hollidaysburg, Columbia

11.

Claim: "Geography made Pennsylvania's Main Line a weaker link between East and West than New York's Erie Canal." Do you agree or disagree? Make your own claim, use at least two pieces of evidence from the map, the table or the diary, and explain your reasoning.

I agree. The Erie Canal followed a low, fairly level gap through the mountains, but Pennsylvania had no such gap (April 6). Because the Allegheny ridge was too high and steep for a canal, the Main Line had to switch from railroad to canal to a portage railroad and back to canal, so boats were taken apart and hauled up ten inclined planes by ropes (April 10). The table shows four separate sections, and 276 of its 394 miles were canal, which was usually frozen or drained from about December to March. All of this made the trip slower and harder than a single water route. Pennsylvania only overcame the mountains with the railroad of 1854, whose curve near Altoona let trains climb without ropes and run in winter, and soon the state sold the Main Line to the railroad.