Figure 6i. — View of Belmont inclined plane on Philadelphia and Columbia 

 Railroad, looking east. The first Columbia Bridge over the Schuylkill is at 

 upper center; Philadelphia can be seen in the distance at right. From J. C. 

 Wild, Panorama and Views of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1838). Library of 

 Congress photograph. 



tiring, and it is from these reminiscences that I have 

 drawn more of what I have written on the Old 

 Portage than from my own observation, as I only 

 visited it twice during the time the Roberts were on 

 it. On one of these occasions W. Milnor Roberts 

 referred to the great trouble he had in the effort to 

 substitute locomotive power for horses on the levels 

 between the inclines. 



The Portage had not been operated over one year, 

 when a locomotive built in Boston was received. At 

 that time moving grain in bulk to the Eastern markets 

 had not been conceived of; it was all racked, loaded 

 into canal boats at Pittsburgh, and at Johnstown it 



and other heavy freight such as flour, pork, and whis- 

 key in barrels, was transferred on open four-wheel 

 platform cars and covered with canvas or tarpaulins. 

 The sparks thrown from this wood-burning Boston 

 locomotive set fire to the canvas covers, and neces- 

 sitated carrying a man with broom and buckets of 

 water to every two cars of the train. The same kind 

 of canvas-covered cars were also on the Columbia 

 Road for the same class of freight, but as the wood 

 burning locomotives came into use in place of the 

 horse-power the canvas-covered cars had to be taken 

 off. By the end of the second year all the eleven 

 levels of the Portage were operated by locomotives. 



155 



