Construction of the Indian Creek Valley Railway began on
November 29, 1906 with the driving of a ceremonial silver spike at
Indian Creek (aka Hampton).
The ICV was built by a lumber company that would use this railway
and a series of smaller narrow-gauge railroads to harvest the
timber on the western slopes of Laurel Hill. The first several
miles up the gorge from the Youghiogheny River were extremely
difficult to grade but hard-working Italian laborers accomplished
this feat with little more than hand tools and horse-drawn carts.
They got the railway done to Mill Run in 1908 and the first trains
ran on the line that summer. These trains were mainly for hauling
logs but they also had some makeshift passenger cars that quickly
became a popular mode of transport for residents of the valley. The
ICV was finished the whole way to Jones Mills via Indian Head,
Melcroft, and Champion in 1910. Traffic on the 22-mile railroad
increased to four passenger trains per day in addition to the
freight trains that carried logs, lumber, and coal. The timber
which had brought the railroad into the valley was pretty much gone
when the ICV was merged into the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in
1926 but coal traffic on the line was sufficient to keep it going
for awhile longer. It served more than two dozen mines that sprang
up in the valley in the post-lumbering period. The mines eventually
played themselves out also and the railroad was abandoned a short
time after the last coal mine near Melcroft closed in 1969. The
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy acquired the right-of-way in 1976
and the section between Champion and Indian Head has been converted
into the hike/bike trail where you can find D@nim@l’s ICV
Trail Cache. This cache will be found on an undeveloped part of
the same trail. I hope that you can appreciate this short history
lesson and the legacy of the ICV even if you do not appreciate
Quest Master’s mischief...
Nobody said that this was going to be easy... Nobody said that
it was going to be safe...
Directions: The ICV crosses Route 381 at 39° 58.224', 79°
27.093'. It also crosses Route 653 at 39° 59.688', 79° 25.999'. You
may begin at either of these two ends and nowhere in between.
Choose your approach carefully. One way is much shorter than the
other but you'll have to do a high wire act to get across a major
water hazard without getting the feet wet. Be sure to check out the
"beach" and swimming hole at 39° 58.380', -79° 26.235'.
