The Switchback Gravity Railroad, built in 1827, was only the second railroad built in America. It ran nine miles, hauling coal from Summit Hill down to the town of Mauch Chunk ( Jim Thorpe) and the Lehigh Canal in east central Pennsylvania. Image 1898.
The Switchback Gravity Railroad, built in 1827, was only the second railroad built in America. It ran nine miles, hauling coal from Summit Hill down to the town of Mauch Chunk ( Jim Thorpe) and the Lehigh Canal in east central Pennsylvania. Image It relied on gravity, with mules hauling the empty cars back up the hill. By 1844, the line's success and subsequent traffic necessitated a separate “back track” for empties. This created an 18-mile, figure-8 track plan, with the empties pushed up two steep grades by a steam-powered contraption that emerged from beneath the rails. During non-peak hours, the railroad offered rides along the route for the public, in specially outfitted cars. Following the line's dramatic descents and loops, these cars could attain speeds of up to 50 miles per the 1870s, the route, by then devoted exclusively to hauling passengers, became one of the nation's first tourist railroads. Only Niagara Falls exceeded the site's 75,000 annual visitors. This wild ride served as the model for the first roller coaster, introduced on Coney Island in 1884.
Size: 5566px × 4299px
Location: Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania, USA
Photo credit: © Arthur Miller / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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