The West Penn was one of the first rail-trails I rode, some 775 trail miles and 4 years ago. The oncoming spectacular foliage beckoned me to spend a few short evening hours of this past beautiful weekend revisiting my old friend 15 miles north. I only got out 3 miles east from Saltsburg, but what I saw this time was simply fascinating. The Pennsylvania Main Line Canal was the first "high traffic" corridor through this river valley, but only for a short few 20 years or so. The West Penn Railroad came along in 1864 and built the first rail line high up on the river bank through the Kiski River valley, and high up on the hill in Saltsburg. Take a quick trip up the hill from the trail and check out the old city hall. It was the FIRST railroad station in Saltsburg, and it is worth visiting. Check out the wealth of priceless pictures inside! These people are very friendly, and very history conscious! Now, when you park near the PA-286 bridge to access the trail right behind you, check out those old stone piers down the river. Those are the piers of that first railroad bridge to cross the Kiski River here, and it served that old train station way up there on the hill! Along comes the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1902. They drained the old canal, and laid the new (2nd) railroad line on top of the (mostly) filled-in canal bed! The handsome "new" (2nd) railroad depot was located on the north side of that 286 crossing, at the east end of the new road bridge. Dangling crossarms rot on the few old pre-1950 telegraph poles along the trail on this line, a mile east of town. Skip ahead to 1950. After the devastating regional floods of 1936, they decided to build a flood control dam up here to protect Pittsburgh. Some nice new plaques along the trail east of town explain the decision to build it WAY downstream. Nevertheless, 15 miles of a new main line Conemaugh Division main line railroad had to be built around Saltsburg. You can see that current (3rd) railroad line, now Norfolk Southern's Pittsburgh-New Florence "Conemaugh Line", way up there behind White Station. You might even see or hear a train or two chugging east. The "old main line" (the West Penn Trail) was retained from White Station to Saltsburg so the railroad could still access that coal-rich branch line between Saltsburg and Trafford (the new Westmoreland Heritage Trail, currently running west to Slickville). Now the fascinating part of this is that you can see ALL of these transportation eras on this trail! About 25 years ago, Dr. William Dzombak, a professor at nearby St. Vincent College, in conjunction with Saltsburg's annual Canal Days festival, conducted a walking tour, through the then-high weeds of the intact old railroad, showing us quite a few traces of the old canal! Those traces are quite visible upstream from town, indeed, much of the canal bed still contains standing water, and the old towpath is quite visible at many places! I know there are water inlets and outlets and such out there, because we saw them back then. And while you are contemplating the old canal, look way up above you on the hillside, and observe that first railroad line grade riding up against those rocks! I was thinking, what a spectacular ride THAT must have been, up on that rock ledge! I do intend on revisiting, very slowly and very carefully, that four or five miles east from Saltsburg after all of the foliage is gone. What a place! It's just so beautiful, and so quiet and peaceful back there! Having just returned from the Xenia-Dayton trails out is Southwestern Ohio, let me say that there is a lot to be said for these wonderful, ISOLATED trails with no major 4-lane (or even busy 2-lane) noisemakers running parallel to them! This is a GREAT trail, and it IS one with a FASCINATING, almost 200-year history! Just drink it in!

My husband and I just got off the trail an hour ago. For us, we've never seen the water level this high. Unfortunately when you get near the Stone Arch bridge closest to the blockaded tunnel (the base of the switchback) you may have a hard time getting through since the water is over the bridge. So, for us, we enjoyed turning around and going to the end again...the spring scents are beautiful. Such a unique trail - we love it!

I have recently walked a short distance on the West Penn Trail with my 84 year old mother and one of my four sisters, it was so pleasant and such an easy walk that Mother was able to walk 1.5 miles.
But my story begins much earlier in time. In the early 1960’s we would walk this still used railroad track from White Station to Saltsburg to go to the Saltsburg Movie Theater, at that time we had to listen for the occasional oncoming train and had no time to notice the surroundings nor were we much interested at that time rather than flowers and trees the typical landscape coal company scares was and the Conemaugh river then smelled of the sulfur run off from coal mines in the area. And so as we walked there recently without the fear of an oncoming train our mother told us of walking to school using this same root in the 30’s and of those now gone who walked here with her. As bicyclists passed and nodded or stopped to chat we spoke of old times good and bad, of fresh air, the scent of spring and beauty of the wild flowers and how amazing it is to now see the changes in the landscape, all of the loveliness, the calm splendor of the area as it is now. I’m sure as the weather clears we will spend more time getting to know one another all over again along the West Penn Trail. The trail is truly a welcome prescription for the heart and soul.