NS heritage how do you pronounce"Monongahela"

Its spelled MONONGAHELA and pronounced MA-NON-GA-HEE-LA. Although some say MA-NON-GA-HAY-LA.

thanks.

There's a river by the same name in south western Pennsylvania.  It runs through Charleroi, Belle Vernon and Allenport, PA, just to name a few.   I have relatives, on my Mom's side, that live in the area and we have our annual family reunion at a little park in Allenport.   Traffic is usually slow on the weekends but I get to see a few coal drags on both sides of the river when I'm there.   NS on the west side and CSX on the east side.  Last year I caught a glimpse of a Norfolk Southern Nickle Plate Heritage unit rolling through on the point of a fairly long coal drag.

Chief Bob (Retired)

Just google mapped Allenport...looks like some serious twists and turns.

willygee posted:

Just google mapped Allenport...looks like some serious twists and turns.

I've been going back to that area ever since I can remember.   Things were VERY different 50 years ago!  In my eyes, it is one of the most beautiful parts of these united states!   And as they say, "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder".  If you Google Earth that area and follow the river I'm sure you would find it most interesting.  Lots of history in those hills. 

Chief Bob (Retired) 

Allenport??  Where's that???  What about Pittsburgh?  The confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers is located in downtown Pittsburgh.  It's a very well known location. 

philg posted:

Allenport??  Where's that???  What about Pittsburgh?  The confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers is located in downtown Pittsburgh.  It's a very well known location.

I referred to Allenport, a quaint little borough upstream from the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, only because I'm intimately familiar with the area.   Pittsburgh, being a more prominent  location, is much less familiar to me.   Passed it many times on my way to Allenport but never had the occasion to stop.  Perhaps I should.

Chief Bob (Retired)  

Most folks I work with pronounce it "Muh-non-guh-hail-ah"  when referring to the locomotive, but for the railroad itself we always just call it the "Mon line." 

But usually you use "Mon line" and "hell week" in the same sentence since the Mon line is where we do a year's worth of track maintenance in one week over the 4th of July.

This is due to the amount of traffic (though it's down quite a bit now) that prevents our large scale production style maintenance work (such as T&S or rail gangs)  from getting done. We take advantage of the Mine's annual July 4th shutdown to do all our work in one shot without disruption to train traffic.

"I referred to Allenport, a quaint little borough upstream from the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, only because I'm intimately familiar with the area.   Pittsburgh, being a more prominent  location, is much less familiar to me.   Passed it many times on my way to Allenport but never had the occasion to stop.  Perhaps I should. "

Pufferbelly,

I've actually been to Allenport and it is a quaint town.  FYI, the Monongahela, about which there have been many comic routines, actually flows northward into the Ohio at Pittsburgh.  Pittsburgh takes a lot of flak, but it's a great place to visit.

Mark Diff posted:

Its spelled MONONGAHELA and pronounced MA-NON-GA-HEE-LA. Although some say MA-NON-GA-HAY-LA.

Thanks mark..i did misspell in my original post but a moderator must have corrected my spelling

WillGee,

   Seneca Indian word - MONONGAHELA - Pronounced MO-NON-GA-HAY-LA

PCRR/Dave

PUFFRBELLY posted:

There's a river by the same name in south western Pennsylvania.  It runs through Charleroi, Belle Vernon and Allenport, PA, just to name a few.   I have relatives, on my Mom's side, that live in the area and we have our annual family reunion at a little park in Allenport.   Traffic is usually slow on the weekends but I get to see a few coal drags on both sides of the river when I'm there.   NS on the west side and CSX on the east side.  Last year I caught a glimpse of a Norfolk Southern Nickle Plate Heritage unit rolling through on the point of a fairly long coal drag.

Chief Bob (Retired)

Chief Bob, I found your post extremely interesting.  Know this area very well.   (Just drove through these towns last weekend!)  I've been visiting there for over 35 years.  My wife is originally from a small town called Elco, about a mile up-river from Allenport.  She still has family there so I'm a frequent visitor.  I've always enjoyed it for the train reasons you mentioned.  Several times a day trains come through, invariably coal drags...up-river a string of empties, down-river loads of coal.  I remember in the 80s seeing Conrail diesels but as you pointed out, it's all NS now.  Once I saw a CP engine joining the NS string.  And this picture, my current avatar, shows  BNSF power on that same line!).

Here's a few of these same tracks from my mother-in-law's back porch.  

The house is close enough that you can feel the vibration when full trains speed by.  In the early days when I would spend the night the blast of diesel horns would wake me (there's no crossing gates at the 3 or 4 crossings between Allenport and Elco, so they really lay on the horn) and I used to wonder, "how the heck do people around here sleep through this?"  And then of course in time you got used to it.  Now obviously I love it!  

Today this area is very quiet.  There used to be several small retail businesses.  A small luncheonette/variety store.  A Beer distributor, small markets, etc. etc..  Lots of kids riding around on their bikes.  Not much now, very few young families.  Most stores are closed.  Lot of run-down looking real estate. Kind of sad. 

btw, I know PhilG ...he's a very pleasant, sociable, likable guy.  I don't think he meant any harm by his post.  Hopefully just a misunderstanding  ..the type that frequently occurs with the limitations of online communication.  I doubt this would've come across the same way in a face to face meeting.  

And some people have issues with Oconomowoc..... 

mike.caruso posted:

PUFFRBELLY posted:

There's a river by the same name in south western Pennsylvania.  It runs through Charleroi, Belle Vernon and Allenport, PA, just to name a few.   I have relatives, on my Mom's side, that live in the area and we have our annual family reunion at a little park in Allenport.   Traffic is usually slow on the weekends but I get to see a few coal drags on both sides of the river when I'm there.   NS on the west side and CSX on the east side.  Last year I caught a glimpse of a Norfolk Southern Nickle Plate Heritage unit rolling through on the point of a fairly long coal drag.

Chief Bob (Retired)

Chief Bob, I found your post extremely interesting.  Know this area very well.   (Just drove through these towns last weekend!)  I've been visiting there for over 35 years.  My wife is originally from a small town called Elco, about a mile up-river from Allenport.  She still has family there so I'm a frequent visitor.  I've always enjoyed it for the train reasons you mentioned.  Several times a day trains come through, invariably coal drags...up-river a string of empties, down-river loads of coal.  I remember in the 80s seeing Conrail diesels but as you pointed out, it's all NS now.  Once I saw a CP engine joining the NS string.  And this picture, my current avatar, shows  BNSF power on that same line!).

Here's a few of these same tracks from my mother-in-law's back porch.  

The house is close enough that you can feel the vibration when full trains speed by.  In the early days when I would spend the night the blast of diesel horns would wake me (there's no crossing gates at the 3 or 4 crossings between Allenport and Elco, so they really lay on the horn) and I used to wonder, "how the heck do people around here sleep through this?"  And then of course in time you got used to it.  Now obviously I love it!  

Today this area is very quiet.  There used to be several small retail businesses.  A small luncheonette/variety store.  A Beer distributor, small markets, etc. etc..  Lots of kids riding around on their bikes.  Not much now, very few young families.  Most stores are closed.  Lot of run-down looking real estate. Kind of sad. 

btw, I know PhilG ...he's a very pleasant, sociable, likable guy.  I don't think he meant any harm by his post.  Hopefully just a misunderstanding  ..the type that frequently occurs with the limitations of online communication.  I doubt this would've come across the same way in a face to face meeting.  

Hey Mike,

I know where Elco is.    I have a cousin that lives in Stockdale.  Just up the hill from Elco you can take a left onto Route 88 and follow it into Coal Center.  A right onto Pike Run Drive will give you a very scenic route to the little Borough of Daisytown which is just down the hill from Crescent Heights where my Mom is from.  I have several cousins still living there as well.  As a child, it was a wonderful place to go.  It is still a great place to go even as an adult.   Our family, Mom, Dad, My Sister and I, would spend a week or two there during the summer for vacation.  As far as PhilG is concerned, I took NO offence to his post.   I was quite certain he was being facetious and just having a little fun.   I wouldn't even consider it a "misunderstanding".   I certainly meant no harm in my reply to PhilG.  Just tossing the ball back in his court.   As they say, "no foul, no call".  Besides, PhilG has been to Allenport so he can't be all bad.   Great Pictures by the way.

Chief Bob (Retired)   

In the happy days of yore my Dad, may God rest his soul, used to tell stories about swimming in the wake from the sternwheelers pushing coal barges up the "Muh nong uh hayla"

Only outsiders have a problem with our native names.

Plenty of tree tops to look at.

Up river, eventually the Mon meets the Yak, Yakagany River. Some beautiful parts of Pennsylvania.  The P&LE (Great Allegheny Passage bike trail) follows the Yakagany, changing to Old western Maryland RR, Connellsville, PA , Take the camera.   Confluence, PA.

A lot of history along the "Mon"  going back to George Washington and earlier. BTW it is the "Yock", not Yak.