What's that? Old tipple in Ligonier Township stands as remnant of local railroad history

A concrete piece of history is visible to thousands of Route 30 motorists daily, but vehicle traffic is the reason it became defunct.

The remnants of an old tipple stick out on the westbound side of the highway between Ligonier and Latrobe as a reminder of a time when railroads were the main mode of transportation for construction materials, such as stone.

“It’s a significant vestige of the Ligonier Valley Rail Road,” said Bob Stutzman, co-founder of an association dedicated to preserving the railroad’s history.

The tipple is estimated to be about 100 years old.

It was used by Booth & Flinn stone quarry atop the Loyalhanna Gorge to transport its product to rail cars that waited underneath. Stone was sent down the hill to the tipple by a chute that is still visible. There were different hoppers for various sizes of stone and gravel, Stutzman said.

Once all of the rail cars were loaded, an engine would pick them up and head to their destination, he said.

At the time, the westbound side of Route 30 was used solely by the Ligonier Valley Rail Road, and two-way traffic moved on the opposite side of Loyalhanna Creek.

A wooden section atop the concrete tipple fell into disrepair sometime between 1932 and 1947, said Doug Kurtz, association board member and docent.

At that time, trucks were being loaded at the quarry site to move materials.

The wooden sorting mechanism later was rebuilt when Latrobe Construction owned it to ship stone by rail for the building of the Conemaugh Dam near Saltsburg. More than 447,000 tons of gravel was transported that way for the project, Stutzman said.

“Every little bit helps in maintaining the history,” Kurtz said.

The Ligonier Valley Rail Road ceased operation in 1952 and, thus, so did the use of the tipple. The quarry remains in business, now under Hanson Aggregates.

About 13,000 vehicles pass by the tipple daily, according to PennDOT traffic maps. Motorists see it change with the seasons — becoming overwhelmed by green trees and brush during warm months and more visible during cold times.