History Lesson: Ringtown / Catawissa Railroad and why we need to know.

Thoughts of jumping a train, starting a new life and going off to work in a foreign land seem like much simpler times. Simple they were not, just different. Today marks a new challenge of preserving some of America's rail heritage. Railroad buffs from all around the word are doing their parts by putting thoughts into words and placing them in a public spotlight. ( The internet ) Here is one of my contributions leave whatever knowledge that you have of this branch in the comments.

Today's history lesson is about the Ringtown / Catawissa railroad and the large trestle bridge that spanned gorge near Trexler Run Creek. Much of the bed still exists today but there are many parts where you would never have know a railroad was there except the grey line on your map. More information on the entire branch can be found at Catawissa Railroad In search of this old rail bed I went down Fetterman lane in Ringtown, Pa and stopped and talked to the fellow who lives at the end of the road. He told me that the rail bed was actually where the lane now exists. During the railroads approx 100 years of operation (1860- 1953), a huge trestle bridge left the ledge on his property and spanned from mountain to mountain.

Pictured is a photograph from the time which he brought me inside to see.




I didn't not catch the gentleman's name but I would only assume that he was a Fetterman. He told me stories about working in the fields and picking potatoes while passenger train cars clicked bye with onlookers hanging out the windows. The trestle was a magnificent sight but father time would get the best of any wooden structure at some point. Sometime in the future the trestle was demolished and dirt was hauled in to build the rail bed in it's place. The area was now known to the locals as Ringtown Fill.


What exists today of a once flourishing rail road is nothing but a few cement pads in the woods. Trees that you couldn't believe are 66 years old adorn the fill and it would be hard to imagine driving anything over top of the area let alone a locomotive. A small boy scout camp sits at the bottom of the fill and I can only hope that the pack leaders are telling these kids about an industrial era where a train used to run on top of the very ridge they are next to. Fetterman commented that after the demise of the rail line, some of the "Ringtown Fill" was hauled back out and spread on the local roads for cinders in snowy weather.

Some of the other famous tunnels on the line are Lofty tunnel and apparently a Ringtown tunnel. I have yet to see the Ringtown one but the history of all this is fascinating to say the least.

Where the Catawissa Railroad entered onto the bridge portion:


Panoramic photo of the Ringtown Fill Today


The bridge over Trexler Run Creek is the only evidence that some serious work was put in here.