View source for Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway

{{Short description|Freight railroad in Pennsylvania}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                        = Mauch Chunk Railroad<br>Summit Hill & Mauch Chunk Railroad<br/>Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad
| nrhp_type                   =
| image                       = Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad 1870.jpg
| caption                     = An aerial view of the [[Lehigh Canal]] in [[Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania]], {{Circa|1870}}
| location                    = Between Ludlow St. in Summit Hill and F.A.P. 209 in [[Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| locmapin                    = Pennsylvania#USA
| built                       = 1827
| architect                   = [[Josiah White]]
| builder                     = [[Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company|Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co.]] (LC&N)
| coordinates                 = {{coord|40|52|10|N|75|44|59|W|display=inline,title}}
| architecture                =
| added                       = June 3, 1976
| area                        = {{convert|47|acre}}
| refnum                      = 76001616<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
| designated_other1_name      = Pennsylvania state historical marker
| designated_other1_abbr      = PHMC
| designated_other1_date      = May 25, 1971<ref name=phmcdatabase>{{cite web | title =Switchback Railroad - PHMC Historical Markers | work =Historical Marker Database | publisher =Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission | url =http://search.pahistoricalmarkers.com/ | access-date =December 19, 2013 | archive-url =https://archive.today/20131207041235/http://search.pahistoricalmarkers.com/ | archive-date =December 7, 2013 | url-status =dead }}</ref>
| designated_other1_link      = List of Pennsylvania state historical markers
| designated_other1_color     = navy
| designated_other1_textcolor = #ffc94b
}}
[[File:Josiah_White_(1780-1850)_Erskine_Hazard_(1790-1865).jpg|thumb|[[Josiah White]] and [[Erskine Hazard]]-founding partners of the [[Summit Hill & Mauch Chunk Railroad]]]]
[[File:Schuylkill-Lehigh River Drainage Divides USGS, Hazelton-Mauch Chunk & Mountain Quads, NW+NE-4.jpg|thumb|[[Pisgah Mountain]] and the topography of the Summit Hill and Mauch Chunk Railroad]]
The '''Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway''', also known as the '''Mauch Chunk and Summit Railroad''' and occasionally shortened to '''Mauch Chunk Railway''', was a coal-hauling [[railroad]] in the mountains of [[Pennsylvania]] that was built in 1827 and operated until 1932. It was the second [[gravity railway]] constructed in the United States, which was used by the [[Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company]] to transport coal from Summit Hill downhill to the Lehigh canal.

The railway operated on {{TrackGauge|3ft6in|lk=on}} gauge track, and it was not utilized as a common carrier that linked with other railroads. The rail line was laid on top of the company's earlier {{convert|9|mi|adj=on}}-constant-descent-graded [[wagon road]]. The railway operated for more than half a century as a tourist attraction after it ceased day-to-day operations as a [[freight railroad]] in 1872. The onset of the [[Great Depression]] resulted in its eventual closure.

{{Quote|Pennsylvania's first railroad and first anthracite carrier opened on Saturday, May 5th, 1827, when seven cars of coal passed from the [[Summit Hill, Pennsylvania|Summit Hill]] mines of the {{nowrap|L.C.&N. Company}} to their [[Lehigh Canal|canal]] at [[Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania]], descending {{convert|936|ft|m}} in the {{convert|9|mi|km|adj=on|spell=in}} trip.<ref name=Heydinger/>|author=Earl J. Heydinger}}

== History ==
The Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway was the second permanent railroad{{efn |Heydinger describes two earlier, but temporary funicular railways (using the same equipment) which moved overburden and foundation materials to fill in Boston's Back Bay and reshape Beacon Hill&mdash;which had three summits when the projects began.}} constructed in the United States and the first over five miles long.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

=== Early days: 1827-1845 ===
[[File:Karl Bodmer Travels in America (5) (cropped).jpg|thumb|An 1832 portrait of the terminus of the Mauch Chunk & Summit Hill Railroad and the coal loading chutes below by [[Karl Bodmer]]]]
Like its rival the [[B&O Railroad]], the Mauch Chunk at first used animal power. Mules hauled the empty coal tubs to the summit and were sent down in the last batch of cars; the return trip required 4–5 hours. The road would send down groups of 6–8 coal cars under control of a brakeman, and once 40–42 cars were down, send down the special "mule cars" with the draft animals, thus having just enough animals to return all cars back to the top.

The railway used gravity and two [[cable railway|inclines]]. A powered double-incline led up to the top of two separate summits along [[Pisgah Ridge]] on the return leg and each summit had "a new down track" returning the cars several miles farther west in each case. This saw-tooth elevation profile gave the new return track a swooping characteristic ride later deliberately designed into [[roller coaster]]s. About the same time,{{when|date=December 2018}} when other mine heads were opened in lower elevations of the [[Panther Creek Valley|Panther Creek]] [[Panther Creek (Little Schuylkill River)|Valley]] LC&N added several descending switchback sections and other shorter [[cable railway]] climbing inclines to bring the coal up from the new [[Lansford, Pennsylvania|Lansford]] and [[Coaldale, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania|Coaldale]] mines to the Summit Hill loading area for the gravity railway trip down to Mauch Chunk, thence to the Lehigh Canal (and in 1855, by [[rail transport]]) and their customers. The railroad became an early American tourist attraction and is considered<ref>Anderson, John W., Transitions: From Eastern Europe to Anthracite Community to College Classroom, iUniverse:New York, 2005, p. 30</ref> the world's first [[roller coaster]],{{efn |The earliest documented pleasure riders were in 1827 by visitors out to admire the new railway technology. This gives rise to the credit of the railway as the first roller coaster.}} a role it would keep and satisfy with tourists for over five decades after it was abandoned as a primary freight railroad.

=== 1846-1871 ===
[[File:Mount Pisgah plane looking up.jpg|thumb|The'' 'Up Route' cable Railway'' addition of 1846-47]]
By 1845 the increasing demand for coal<ref name=britannica /> and the poor logistics of a single-track route meant the company needed to improve its railroad. In 1846, they built a new uphill line using two steam-powered, Josiah White engineered {{convert|120|hp}} [[funicular]] systems to replace move cars uphill.<ref name=jersey /> These inclines used two telescoping wheeled ''Barney'' pusher cars attached to the cables by steel tow-bands running between two large diameter winch wheels{{efn
 |Winch wheels, similar to a Ski Lift, especially the wheels on a cable car system, but low to the ground for the Barney cars to chase around reversing travel direction and track at either end.
}} located in the Barney tunnels. When a car was ready to ascend, it was drifted down the slight incline from above and behind the Barney tunnel to wait at a latch. The barneys came up and coupled behind to push the cars uphill. One of the inclines rose {{convert|664|ft|m}} up [[Mount Pisgah, Carbon County, Pennsylvania|Mount Pisgah]],<ref name=DEL&LHcanals>{{cite book |last1= Bartholomew|first1= Ann M.  |last2= Metz|first2= Lance E. |last3= Kneis|first3= Michael |date= 1989 |title=Delaware and Lehigh Canals |language= en  |edition= First |location=Oak Printing Company, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania |publication-date= 1989 |isbn= 0930973097 |lccn= 89-25150 |publisher= Center for Canal History and Technology, Hugh Moore Historical Park and Museum, Inc., [[Easton, Pennsylvania|Easton]], Pennsylvania }}, p. 140–141.</ref> and the other crossed Mount Jefferson.  The downhill trip continued to be powered by gravity.<ref>{{cite web| title=The Mauch Chunk, Summit Hill, and Switchback Gravity Railroad| url=https://www.angelfire.com/pa5/switchbackrr/| access-date=February 9, 2008}}</ref>  The up track was equipped with a ratchet{{efn |Up track ratchets are almost an anomaly, these show an unusual safety-first attitude for something implemented before the Victorian Era.}} which would prevent a car that detached from the cable from running away down hill.<ref name=jersey />  This invention later evolved into the [[Lift hill#Anti-rollback device|anti-rollback device]] used on roller coasters.<ref name=britannica /> The railroad changed its name to the Mauch Chunk, Summit Hill and Switchback Railroad.<ref name=jersey />  The modernization of the railroad reduced a passenger round-trip from 4.5 hours to just 80 minutes.<ref name=britannica />

=== 1872-closure ===
[[File:Chutes_Loading_the_Canal_Boats_on_the_Lehigh_Canal.jpg|thumb|Engraving of the [[Lehigh Canal]] in the February 1873 edition of ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'']]
In 1872, the [[Panther Creek Railroad]] opened as a replacement for the switchback line. The Lehigh Coal and Railroad is considered the first American company to use [[vertical integration]], providing raw materials, shipping, processing and final goods.

Some famous personalities who visited the railroad include [[Prince Maximilian of Wied]], President [[Ulysses S. Grant]], [[William Backhouse Astor Sr.|William Astor]], son of [[John Jacob Astor]], and [[Thomas Edison]].<ref>Vince Hydro's Insider's Guide to the Switchback, Jim Thorpe Insider's Press, 1999.</ref>
The [[Central Railroad of New Jersey]] (CNJ) purchased it in 1874 and leased it to brothers Theodore and H. L. Mumford who operated the line as a tourist attraction.  On May 24, 1929, the CNJ sold the line to the new Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway Company, which operated until 1932, when the line fell victim to the [[Great Depression]].  The [[Mortgage loan|mortgage]] on the property foreclosed and it was sold to scrapper Isaac Weiner for $18,000 (equal to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|18000|1932}}}} today).<ref name=jersey />

=== National Register of Historic Places ===
In 1976, a {{convert|47|acre|adj=on}} section of the former right-of-way, from Ludlow St. in [[Summit Hill, Pennsylvania|Summit Hill]] to F.A.P. 209 in [[Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania|Jim Thorpe]], was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad".  The listed area included four [[contributing sites]].<ref name=nris/>

The right-of-way is now the [[Switchback Railroad Trail]].<ref>{{cite web| title=Mountain Bike Trails in Pennsylvania : Pocono Mountains Region Mountain Biking : Switchback Trail : bikekinetix.com| url=http://www.bikekinetix.com/t_pa/pa_rail/switchback_rt.php| access-date=February 9, 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214142753/http://www.bikekinetix.com/t_pa/pa_rail/switchback_rt.php| archive-date=December 14, 2007| url-status=dead| df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==Gallery==
<gallery class="center">
Image:Jefferson plane looking up.jpg|Looking up the Jefferson plane.
Image:Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad 1900.jpg|A car near the Five Mile Tree crossover bridge.
Image:Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad bridge.jpg|About halfway up, where the up and down tracks crossed.
Image:Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad track.jpg|The track, with cables and safety ratchet.
Image:Mount Pisgah plane looking up.jpg|Looking up Mount Pisgah.
Image:Summit Hill switchback station.jpg|The Summit Hill station.
Image:Mauch Chunk switchback station.jpg|The Mauch Chunk station.
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name=britannica>{{cite encyclopedia| title=History: 1870| author=Pescovitz, David| url=http://www.britannica.com/coasters/1870.html| encyclopedia=Inventing the Scream Machine| publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]]| access-date=February 9, 2008}}</ref>

<ref name=Heydinger>{{cite journal |title=Railroads of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company: GROUP IX
 |last=Heydinger |first=Earl J. |publisher=Railway and Locomotive Historical Society
 |date=1964
 |journal=[[Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin]]
 |volume=110 |issue=110 |pages=59–62
 |jstor=43518101
}}</ref>
<ref name=jersey>{{cite web| title=CNJ Mauch Chunk Switchback|url=http://www.gingerb.com/cnj_mauch_chunk_switchback.htm| access-date=February 9, 2008}}</ref>
}}

===Sources===
* {{cite web|url=http://delawareandlehigh.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Switchback_Planning_Study.pdf |title=Switchback Gravity Railroad Historic Landscape Preservation Planning Study |year=2007 |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110051347/http://delawareandlehigh.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Switchback_Planning_Study.pdf |access-date=2 October 2020|archive-date=2017-01-10 }}
*{{cite journal |title=Railroads of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company: GROUP IX
 |last=Heydinger |first=Earl J. |publisher=Railway and Locomotive Historical Society
 |date=1964
 |journal=[[Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin]]
 |volume=110 |issue=110 |pages=59–62
 |jstor=43518101
}}
* {{cite web
 | url= http://www.cprr.org/Museum/FAQs2.html#First_RR
 | author=Frederick C. Gamst in QUESTIONS & COMMENTS, FAQ's (Page 2 of 2)
 | title=America's First, First Railroad, in 1795
 | publisher =Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
 }}
* {{cite work
 | publisher=Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
 | author = Frederick C. Gamst (University of Massachusetts)
 | title  = The Transfer of Pioneering British Railroad Technology to North America
 | url = http://www.cprr.org/Museum/First_US_Railroads_Gamst.html
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway}}
* [http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/beyondsteel/search/searching/_0_0_1_1/ Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company Records] in  [http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/beyondsteel/intro/ Beyond Steel: An Archive of Lehigh Valley Industry and Culture].
* [https://www.angelfire.com/pa5/mining/ Early Mining Pictures] &ndash; Anthracite Mining pictorial: Mines & Structures operated by the L.C.& N., Summit Hill, Lansford and Coaldale, Pennsylvania.
* [https://www.angelfire.com/pa5/switchbackrr/ Switch-Back Gravity Railroad]: Proprietary photos touring the LC&N built [[Summit Hill & Mauch Chunk Railroad]], the 2nd railway in North America
* {{plain link|http://www.angelfire.com/pa3/summithill18250/ |www.summit-hill.com}} - local historian, documents many scenes along the 18 mile round trip of the railway's loop.

{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway}}
[[Category:Rail infrastructure on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Defunct Pennsylvania railroads]]
[[Category:Railway lines opened in 1827]]
[[Category:Transportation in Carbon County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:3 ft 6 in gauge railways in the United States]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Carbon County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Railway lines on the National Register of Historic Places]]
[[Category:1827 establishments in Pennsylvania]]