Track to the Sky

Track to the Sky. .
"As soon as the passenger-car arrived at the bottom of the plane, the safety-car....came up behind it, and drawn up the plane by two broad iron bands working over a steam powered driven drum at the top, propelled the passenger car before it...."
"Special Correspondent, New York Times, December 14, 1872, p 3."

Originally built in 1844-45, this plane was part of the back track that connected the loading docks on the Lehigh River with Summit Hill and Panther Valley anthracite mines. For nearly 30 years, empty coal cars and occasional cars of tourists climbed this steep mountainside. By 1872, the Switch Back Railroad's coal hauling days ended. This plane became part of America's first tourist railroad.

Named and designed by Josiah White, the Mt. Pisgah Plane was longer and steeper than its partner six miles to the west, the Mount Jefferson Plane. Inclined planes were built to more quickly and efficiently return empty coal cars to the Summit Hill and Panther Valley coal mines. They replaced the use of mules that, between 1827-1845, pulled empty cars back up to Summit Hill along the "Down Track."

The steep 29 percent grade pushed the excited passengers back into their seats. The clicking of the safety system on the safety (barney) car gave a measured beat to the upward climb. America welcomed its first roller coaster.

(Caption, lower left:)

Josiah White, co-founder of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, had a gift for solving problems. In 1844, he devised and installed this mechanized plane that rose 664 feet toward the sky on a 29% grade with a track distance of 2,322 feet.