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Johnstown’s Inclined Plane

July 6, 2020 by Debbie
Johnstown's Inclined Plane
Inclined Plane Ticket Booth and Visitor Shop.

Johnstown’s Inclined Plane is a famous tourist attraction. Known as “the world’s steepest vehicular inclined plane”, this fascinating structure dates back to 1891.

Conception and Construction

As you have read in a previous post, Johnstown was nearly destroyed by a devastating flood in 1889. When the earthern dam at the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club gave way, 20 million gallons of water and debris made its way to Johnstown.

The town began to clean up and rebuild. The flood had a major impact on the Cambria Iron Company. Cambria Iron began to look at property they owned at the top of Yoder Hill. This area was mostly farms and some steep, muddy roads. They had previously sold some of their land to provide space for Grandview Cemetery.

Cambria Iron commissioned a famous landscape architect named Charles Miller to lay out the settlement of “Tiptop”. Tiptop would change the name to Westmont. Westmont was safe from any future floods, as well as being above the smoke, noise and smell the city. This new landscape began to attract the towns well-to-do denizens.

Johnstown's Inclined Plane
Bridge to Inclined Plane and walkway over highway.

One major problem existed with this new settlement. Travel to and from was troublesome and time consuming. Cambria Iron hired a Hungarian engineer named Samuel Diescher to design the Inclined Plane. Diescher also designed the Duquesne (1877-today), Castle Shannon (1890-1964) and Fort Pitt (1882-1900) inclines in Pittsburgh.

Inclines had been used in Europe for a long time before the United States began to build them. The U.S. began building inclines around 1825. The Allegheny Portage Railroad built ten for its canal system in the 1830’s. These modes of transportation had proved efficient and build-able.

The Inclined Plane was erected in 1891. There was now an efficient mode of transportation from the city to the suburb of Westmont. It was also an effective evacuation route for any future disasters.

Johnstown's Inclined Plane
View of the valley below.

Johnstown’s Inclined Plane

Johnstown’s Inclided Plane is a 896.5 foot funicular that moves up and down a 502.2 foot vertical slope with a grade of 71.9%. A funicular is a grade-separated fixed guide-way transit system. Funicular’s utilize two counterbalanced passenger cars attached to opposite ends of a cable. The cable is looped over a pulley at the upper end of the track.

The rails that the cars ride are supported by 720 railroad ties made from Southern Yellow Pine. Each tie is 14 feet long. The cars themselves are 15’6″ wide, 15’2″ tall and 34′ long. They are capable of carrying up to 65 people, or 6 motorcycles or a car.

The Inclined Plane opened on June 1, 1891. It cost $133,296 ($3,755,636.77 in today’s money). The original motor was a steam engine. It was replaced with an electric motor in 1912. The original cars were double decker. The double decker cars carried horses and wagons on the main upper level, while passengers rode in compartments below. The double decker cars were replaced by single decker cars in 1921.

Johnstown's Inclined Plane
View of a car from the observation deck.

Everyday Use to Evacuation

The Inclined Plane was operated by Cambria Iron Company and eventually their successor Bethlehem Steel until 1935. Bethlehem Steel sold the Inclined Plane to the borough of Westmont.

March 17, 1936 saw tragedy strike Johnstown again. During this flood, 4,000 people utilized the Inclined Plane to evacuate the flooding city to safety.

In 1962 the Inclined Plane saw its first major renovation. The electric motor was rewound, the ties were replaced and the cars were repainted. During 1973 the Inclined Plane was added to the list of National Register of Historic Places.

Johnstown's Inclined Plane

July 20, 1977 brought the third of Johnstown’s famous floods. Again the Inclined Plane was used to evacuate people from harms way. The Inclined Plane was also used to transport down boats and supplies to those performing rescue operations.

Johnstown's Inclined Plane

Westmont sold the Inclined Plane in 1983. They sold it for $1 million to Cambria County Transit Authority (CamTram). After their purchase, CamTram spent $4.2 million to renovate this icon of Johnstown. Their renovations included replacing the inclines foundation piers, the structural steel and tracks. They finished in 1984. The Inclined Plane was designated a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1994.

Amazing View

Johnstown's Inclined Plane
Observation deck.

It takes 90 seconds to ride from the city of Johnstown up to the borough of Westmont. Once a visitor arrives at the top, they can stand at the observation area. From here the visitor can see all of Johnstown. For anyone one who wants to better understand the Great Flood of 1889, I suggest coming here to view the city.

A visitor can walk up a steep flight of stairs to a park area located above the Inclined Plane. Here you can stand under an amazing 30′ x 60′ American Flag. It is the largest free-flying flag in the U.S. This massive flag, one of the largest in the U.S., is on a 125′ flagpole.

This flag is the Centennial Flag. It was raised to commemorate the centennial of the 1889 Flood. The flag was dedicated in August 1989.

Centennial Flag
Centennial Flag atop the hillside overlooking Johnstown.

Anyone interested in learning more can visit the Johnstown’s Inclined Plane page. To read more on the history visit here.

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