Incline side of the reconstructed Engine House 6 at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

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Engine House 6 and the Lemon House are open for self-guided tours every day from 9 AM to 5 PM, except when closed on federal holidays.

Engine House 6 and the Lemon House are Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site’s two main attractions. Both can be accessed from the Visitor Center, and they are right next to each other. The round-trip walk to and from the Visitor Center is about .8 mile. Depart on the boardwalk behind the Visitor Center for an easy walk that goes slightly downhill. To avoid repeating yourself on the way back, take the gravel road near the Lemon House. If you are looking at the house, the road is directly behind you. This is slightly uphill, but no worse than the walk back up the boardwalk (it may even be easier). The road is short and comes out on the far end of the Visitor Center parking lot.

Start of the boardwalk to Engine House 6 and the Lemon House, Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

Start of the boardwalk to Engine House 6 and the Lemon House, Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

Engine houses were the buildings that housed the stream engines, boilers, gears, and sheaves (large wheels with groves in them for holding a rope, belt, or cable) that were used to move rail cars up and down an incline. So that the rail cars could pass through the engine houses and continue down the tracks unhindered, all the equipment was contained below ground level in a pit. There were ten inclines in total, so there once existed ten engine houses. In addition, a hitching shed at the bottom of the incline housed opposing sheaves. A continuous rope ran from the engine house to the hitching shed and looped around the sheaves to create a pulley system.

Partial reconstruction of the Incline 6 rail tracks, Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

When the Allegheny Portage Railroad closed down in 1857, all engine houses, hitching sheds, and track were dismantled and the pits were filled in. Thus, other than pieces of the building foundations that were buried in the pits, all traces of the railroad are gone from history. Knowing this, it’s not a big secret that the Engine House 6 on display at the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site is a reproduction of the original. However, parts of the foundation were excavated, and if you look carefully you can see the stone walls when you visit the engine house exhibit. Today’s building is a little larger than the original so that it can protect the foundation.

Stones from the original Engine House 6 foundation at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

Visitors are allowed to enter the engine house on their own for a self-guided tour. Inside are replicas of the equipment that would have been used at the time, plus wayside exhibits that help explain how the system worked.

Sheaves, ropes, and gears used in the operation of Engine House 6, Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

Only the boilers (brick structure) were above ground in the engine houses used at the Allegheny Portage Railroad

Wayside exhibit inside Engine House 6 at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

There is also a separate exhibit room that discusses safety related innovations such as the switch from rope to steel cable and an emergency braking mechanism that stopped cars from rolling back down the track when the ropes broke (cable broke as well, but rarely). In addition, there are reproductions of newspaper articles that recount accidents that occurred over the years. While many people died or were maimed on the Portage Railroad, surprisingly, most deaths were due to stupidity. One article tells of two men who got so excited about something that they jumped up to hug each other, lost their balance, and fell off their canal boat as it was being hauled up the incline and got run over.

Exhibit area inside Engine House 6 at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

Hemp rope was used to pull the trains up the incline on the Allegheny Portage Railroad until replaced by steel cable

Working model of a rail car used on the Allegheny Portage Railroad demonstrates the emergency braking system

There is also an exhibit with four videos that show how a steam engine works, plus a model of a steam engine with parts that visitors can move around to help better understand the dynamics of steam power. It takes five minutes to watch all four videos.

Exhibit at Engine House 6 on how steam engines work, Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

A thorough visit to Engine House 6 takes about 20-30 minutes, which allows time to read all the materials and contemplate exactly how things worked. When done, exit out the opposite side of the engine house, just as the rail cars would have done, and proceed over to the Lemon House, which is a hundred yards or so away.

Level side of the Engine House 6 at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

Tracks ran though the engine houses on the Allegheny Portage Railroad

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