Parkesburg Yesterday

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Editor's Note:  On almost a daily basis Kerry Glenn posts pictures of Parkesburg's past along with short captions on the Parkesburg Locals (Past, present and "wannabes") Facebook group.  His captions paint a rich history of the town .  With Kerry's permission this Parkesburg Yesterday post is the first of what I hope will be many Parkesburg Yesterday posts under Kerry Glenn's byline.  You can check out the Parkesburg Local Facebook group here.

By Kerry Glenn

The premiere passenger locomotive of the Pennsylvania Railroad for decades was the K-4, which were built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Upland, Penna. between 1911 and 1917.

This March 28, 1937 photo - taken from the State Street bridge in Parkesburg (Suzanne Martin Adkins) - shows a K-4 pulling the "Duquesne" train (ran from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh) westbound past the old tower at North Gay Street.

From the cloud of steam enveloping the locomotive, I can make two assumptions - one being that the Engineer was signaling the Block Operator in the tower by blowing the whistle; or - the pop valve on the boiler was lifting.

 
It is all upgrade on the westbound line from Caln to the beginning of the curve entering Gap, and even the powerful K-4's had a hard time maintaining a speed of 35-40 M.P.H. going westward. The fireman may have built up excessive steam pressure trying to maintain speed, hence the safety valve lifted. 

The electrification in 1937 changed all that, as the sleek GG-1's could easily take the grade at 75 M.P.H., but that also meant that some grade crossings in the area had to be eliminated at that time, for safety reasons - the GG-1's were so quiet they couldn't be heard approaching an unguarded crossing at those high speeds.

The car shown beside the tower is a 1936 Ford.

The rusty locomotive right in front of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg is a K-4 like this one.