Allentown's West End Train

The Lehigh Valley Railroad operated a train branch line which served Allentown's commercial west end. It ran along Sumner Avenue servicing the scrap metal yards, warehouses and numerous coal dealers located there. The line then crossed Tilghman Street on a diagonal at 17th, before looping back east by Liberty Street at the Fairgrounds. The line ended at a rail yard now housing the small shopping center at 12th and Liberty. Although many of former commercial buildings still exist, all now house more retail type businesses. The B'nai Brith Apartments occupy the site of the former Trexler Lumber Yard. These historical shorts are difficult to write. Most current residents have no frame of reference to our former commercial past. True historians, such as the local railroad buffs, cringe at the lack of detail and specific location of the tracks. Suffice to say, that once upon a time, the mid-section of Allentown had much more commerce.


reprinted from December 2012

The Politics Of Racism In Allentown

Residents may remember that last year, after accusations of discrimination in city hall, Ed Zucal proposed hiring former FBI agent Scott Curtis to investigate. Mayor Tuerk claimed that the Curtis contract did not go through normal channels, and that the city would balk at paying the costs. Then last month council changed its mind (majority of votes changed) and suspended the Curtis contract.

Move ahead a month, and last week there was a new accusation of racism. A city worker found a noose like object on her desk. Now council president Cynthia Mota is heading an effort to hire a lawyer to investigate the culture at city hall. She states  "We remain committed to ensuring this process is free from political entanglements and focused on meaningful change."  She also claims that they will save money.

To this blogger, this new hire is actually completely politically entangled. If it wasn't, council would be proceeding with the previous investigation, which was already started. Are we taxpayers to assume that two investigations will cost less than one? Are we to assume that a lawyer will do a better job of investigating than a renowned former FBI agent? Hopefully, Affa and/or Hendricks will realize that the taxpayers are already invested in the Curtis investigation, and that it is the one that should proceed.

Companion post on O'Hare's Ramblings

Junkyard Train

Today, once again we ride a freight train of Allentown's great industrial past. In the early 1970's, the Redevelopment Authority tore down the neighborhood on either side of the Lehigh Street hill. At that time they had persuaded Conrail to move the the Barber's Quarry Branch line exclusively to the southern side of the Little Lehigh. The branch had crossed over and back to service the great Wire Mill. After crossing Lehigh Street, the train would proceed along the creek passing under the 8th Street Bridge. At the 10th Street crossing it would service another great industrial giant, Traylor Engineering. In 2009 President Obama visited a successor, Allentown Manufacturing, which has since closed. The line would continue along the creek until it turned north along Cedar Creek to Union Terrace. After crossing Hamilton Street by the current Hamilton Family Diner, it would end at the current park department building. Nothing remains of the line, the tracks were removed. The Allentown Economic Development Corporation recently sought a grant to rebuild the line to 10th Street, even though the plant Obama visited has closed. The neighboring former Mack Plant now houses a go cart track. How the money will be squandered remains to be seen. The top photograph was taken by local train historian Mark Rabenold in 1989. It shows the later relocated section of the track that was just east of the Lehigh Street crossing.

reprinted from March of 2011

ADDENDUM JANUARY 13, 2025:That track was never restored, nor an industry secured that would ever need a rail-siding. It was wishful thinking that could only be entertained by bureaucrats working in a municipal authority, using tax dollars. The park garage on Linden Street succumbed to neglect. The former Mack plant on S. 10th Street is now an indoor garbage sorting dump.

The Train Of Union Terrace

The Conrail engine backs across Walnut Street in 1979, as it delivers a flatcar of large granite slaps and blocks to the Wentz Memorial Company, by 20th and Hamilton Streets. The Union Terrace track was next to the former ice skating pond, behind the WPA Amphitheater Stage Mound. The train locomotive, and it's boxcar of granite, weighing untold tons, passed over a simple trestle with 8" inch beams. The pedestrian bridge which Cunningham and Solt claim is inadequate, has 24 inch steel beams. The industrial era of Union Terrace has passed. Even the Wentz property is now for sale. Please join me tomorrow evening, Wednesday March 14th, and help save the Stone Arch Bridge at Union Terrace. The Commissioner Meeting is at 7:30pm. For those unable to attend at that hour, your presence would be appreciated at the committee meeting on destroying the bridge at 5:45. Ice Skating is no longer permitted on the pond. The Amphitheater is falling apart. Let us assert ourselves, and save something of Allentown's history.
Train photograph was taken by Dave Latshaw in the 1979, and is part of the Mark Rabenold collection. Rabenold is a local train historian, specializing in Allentown's former branch lines.
click train photo to enlarge

above reprinted from March 13, 2012

ADDENDUM JANUARY 10, 2025: I did manage with the help of some commissioners to save the historic Walnut Street stone bridge. The amphitheater is in the final stages of restoration. However, in addition to the former train trestle being removed, so was the nearby little walk bridge into the park from the Walnut Street side. The return of that walkway remains on my list for Union Terrace.

A Bridge Still Stands

Last night, Glenn Solt, project manager for Lehigh County, came to the county committee meeting prepared with a twelve page report, and the engineer who wrote it. They testified that the condition of the Reading Road Bridge has deteriorated, the cost of repairing it has increased, but that the cost of replacing it has gone down. Solt is determined to rid Union Terrace of that old stone arch bridge. Never mind that it was completely rehabilitated in 1980, 156 years after it was built in 1824. Never mind that Hamilton Street Bridge is a quarter block north, and a new Union Street Bridge is being built a half block south.

Michael Molovinsky, an Allentown blogger who has previously written about the bridge, accused the county of exaggerating the condition of the bridge and the cost for rehabilitating it rather than replacing it. Molovinsky said the bridge's historic value is irreplaceable, "Let me be frank: Mr. Solt has no feel for history whatsoever," Molovinsky said. "... This bridge cannot be replaced. It's that simple." Colin McEvoy/The Express Times/June28,2012

This was the first bridge built west of Allentown, crossing Cedar Creek, on the route west to Reading, and one of the last remaining stone arch bridges. Although I would like to see a stake driven through the project, technical legalese demands that I periodically appear and defend our history and culture. The bridge replacement funds were approved years ago, and the matter at hand is a small contract for engineering studies.

reprinted from 2012

ADDENDUM: I'm happy to report that I would continue campaigning for the bridge, and eventually convinced the County Commissioners to save the structure.

UPDATE JULY 9, 2020: During his time as County Executive, Don Cunningham and his project manager Glenn Solt, managed to demolish several historical stone bridges. Worse, these losses were misrepresented as progress. When Allentown replaced the 15th Street bridge (Ward Street) traffic was detoured over Schreiber's Stone Arch Bridge, built in 1828.

ADDENDUM JANUARY 9, 2025:With the enthusiasm of then county commissioners Michael Schware, Lisa Scheller and Brad Osborn, I was able to save the bridge. Currently, the Union Terrace amphitheater is in the final stages of restoration. A former small pedestrian bridge over the pond run needs to be replaced, to reconnect access from Walnut Street to the park.

FOP Endorses Ed Zucal For Mayor

The Allentown Fraternal Order Of Police has endorsed Ed Zucal for mayor. 

Ed  Zucal press release

Zucal Endorsed by Allentown FOP (Allentown, PA) On Tuesday evening, Allentown City Councilman Ed Zucal, Democratic candidate for Mayor of Allentown, received the endorsement of the Allentown Fraternal Order of Police. 

 “I’m enormously proud to have received the support of the men and women who work to keep our city safe,” said Zucal. “As police and residents continue to face persistent crime and quality of life issues, they’re ready for a new direction. Sadly, the lack of leadership and often embarrassing behavior from Mayor Matt Tuerk has hurt the reputation of the city and destroyed the trust of the people who serve it. I’m running to change that.

 “As a former police officer in the city of Allentown, I know what it takes to deliver safer streets and higher quality of life for the people of Allentown. With the help of our law enforcement, we’ll work to protect and serve the people of Allentown, and bring respect and leadership back to the city we love.”