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On Saturday 12-Jan-2008 I took a short walk to visit the remains
of the Montour Railroad around Mile post 30. This is one of the few remaining
areas of the Montour that have not been 'sterilized' by conversion to the
Montour Trail. Don't get me wrong, I am glad the trail has been built, better
than housing developments that would remove all traces of the railroad. But when
sterilization takes place much of the remaining history of the Montour is carted
away. Ties, ballast, old rail, engine parts, spilled loads, plates, spikes most
gone when the trail is constructed.
I set out on this trip by myself and wanted to visit the area
before complete conversion over to the trail. For those who have not taken the
time to make Montour visits to 'pristine' areas before the trail, you really need
to make the time. When you walk the the old RoW the ghosts still linger. You can
imagine steam engines belching smoke and cinders, the smell of SW-9's working the
hills with full loads of coal for Champion and squealing wheels. The piercing
headlamps exiting the tunnels and lighting the surrounding hills and trees.
Below is the section of the track chart of the area.
Above is a photo of eastbound coal loads at Rowley, MP 30.1, with
Engine 24. This was the afternoon of my last day of school at the
end of May, 1949. With three months of freedom ahead of me, it
just didn’t get any better. The day had started with brilliant
sunshine and ultra clear conditions, but about the time of this picture
I noticed that high clouds were slowly moving in. We just had a
half-day of attendance on that final date and got home bearing our
report cards and anything else that didn’t belong at school.
After lunch I took my first camera, a 127 size Baby Brownie Special and
headed out for adventure. This is what I saw about 3:30 PM.
That’s Hahn Drive in the picture at about the location of the old farm
underpass beneath the railroad.
An interesting feature in this picture is the steel tower carrying the
high tension electric line that ran along the railroad from about
Thompsonville to Henderson, maybe further. This line seems to be
labeled P.C. Co. on your valuation map at Greer Tunnel. A gang
came along in the summer of ’48 or ’49 and painted those towers.
They must have worked for a contractor named Kuder because on a number
of abutments they left a painted tag in 1 ft high letters stating the
Kuder Kids Were Here. It’s too bad I didn’t get a picture of
that. It was a serious defacement that remained visible for years.
This picture shows the openness of the countryside at that time.
Bill Poellot
Below is an aerial view of the Greers area. I've added text and the basic route
of the tunnels. Greers is slightly curved as shown on the image.
Google Link
I started the journey by parking nearby and climbing the hill near the bridge
over Valley Brook Rd. This is not the best place to start as I found out later.
It is better to take Buckeye St. and park where the street
crosses the right-of-way. The first thing I noticed was the work being done
on the bridge over Valley Brook Road. It is very muddy in the area from the
heavy machinery moving across the area.
There is an access road that comes down the hill across the MROW and down to
Buckeye Rd. This is a good place to park and go either way Greers tunnel or back
toward #4. There was a road that came out here and went back to the widows
house. - Carter Roth
Bridge work over Valley Brook Rd.
From here I started heading to the north portal of Greers Tunnel. Along the way
were the regular assortment of ties that have been moved to the side. Most of
the RoW before reaching the Buckeye St crossing was muddy and strewn with large
boulders. There is a small stream running down the hillside on the left as you
walk, probably from a spring higher up the hill.
Small waterfall cascades down the hillside
As you move along you will notice an old foundation and headboard from an old
bed. This is the remains of the residence of Widow Johnson. Mrs. Johnson lived
on a farm and often was the recipient of the generosity of the Montour
employees. In the old steam days they would shovel coal from the train for her
to burn in her furnace. As I paused at the foundation I wondered how she
would get to market as there are no road access to her house. You can see in the
image that there is some work going on near her house. I hope it's not removed
by trail construction.
Widow Johnson's house foundation
After the Widow Johnson's house you will cross Buckeye St. On the south side of
Buckeye St the RoW becomes more pristine without any development work being
done. The Row is drier and more solid with a covering of cinders. Looking down
to the right you will see that the rail follows Chartiers Creek well below.
Slowly rising out of the trees is what I refer to as Greers Bridge. The is a
truss bridge that crosses over the active Pittsburgh and Ohio Central railroad.
The deck of the bridge is very worn but a small walkway has been placed on the
deck surface I assume to allow surveyors to gain access to the tunnel for
restoration.
Greers Bridge
Bells Tunnel of the P & OC Railroad can easily be seen from the bridge deck.
Greers Bridge deck with installed walkway
Pittsburgh & Ohio Central Bells Tunnel
Looking from the portal to the bridge
P&OC Bell Tunnel Portal
Following crossing the bridge there is a good amount of mud
before the entrance into Greers Tunnel. The first thing you notice is how
the tunnel is slowly being buried by soil creep from the hillside. There are
some cracks in the tunnel portal that looks as if the top section of the
portal has separated from the bottom half.
The North portal of Greers tunnel, notice the soil creep.
When you enter the tunnel the first things you notice is the
amount of water pooled in the bottom of the tunnel. This has caused many of
the remaining ties to rot. Most are still in pretty good shape but they are
not stable underfoot. There is still some rail on the inside and looks to be
frog rails and not the main rail. The rail is twisted and bent in places. The tunnel
is shorter than I had imagined when I first viewed it from the south side
across the viaduct. The walls have graffiti as one would expect for a dark
location away from any houses.
Inside Greers Tunnel, lots of water on the floor
Inside Greers
At the end of the tunnel near the viaduct the rails become
parallel again. The tunnel floor is drier making it easier to walk, no more
balancing on the ties and rails. At the exit of the tunnel there are a
number of boulders strewn about. I am going to assume that they fell from
the hillside over the portal.
Look out towards the South and Greers Viaduct.
Once outside the tunnel you of course notice the long and
high Greers Viaduct that crosses over Chartiers Creek. The viaduct is fenced
off to prevent access and for good reason. Do not go out onto the viaduct.
Greers Viaduct
As this point it was time to turn around and head back
through the tunnel. On this portal is the construction date of 1922. You can
see the curve in the tunnel and the exit from here. This curve is why the
tunnel looks deeper than it is from across the viaduct, you can not see from
one side to the other.
Heading back into the tunnel
I started to head back into the tunnel and obviously found
the same conditions, dry to mud.
Just inside the south portal.
Exiting the north portion of the tunnel reveals the bridge
and the amount of mud between the two. If your going to make the trip bring
some boots. I didn't and got some wet feet but well worth the trip.
Locking from the North portal to the bridge.
So this ends my second journey to the Greers area. I've put
some of the remaining photos below. This is a great area for exploration,
bridges, tunnels and an active rail line make for a nice few hours
exploring.
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Montour
Railroad 
