| Here is page 63 of a 96-page monograph entitled "Power To Burn: Smoke, Steam, & Cinders" that was edited by James M. Shafer and published during 1976. Photo Caption: "The viaduct trestle, 90 feet high and 369 feet long, was built in five days after the Johnstown Flood. The railroad sustained a terrific loss because of the natural disaster." This was not entirely a "natural" diaster since human neglect contributed to it. The earthen Conemaugh River Dam that gave way during heavy rains on Friday, 31 May 1889, was built during the 1830's in support of the Allegheny Portage Railroad (APR). When the APR was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1859, the latter became the new owner of the Dam. The PRR's neglect of the Dam over the next 30 years contributed directly to the widespread destruction and loss of life. |