The Forbes Road follows what is now Rt. 40 (and roughly the PA turnpike) from the eastern settlements of PA at Philadelphia to the west just south of Pittsburgh and into Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was a common destination for those going further west as they would get on a river boat there and have access to Ohio, Kentucky, etc. all the way to New Orleans. For more information see "Indian Trails to Super Highways" by William H. Shank and "Map Guide to American Migration Routes, 1735-1815" by William Dollarhide. Besides road and rail (RRs didn't come into play until the 1850's) there was also canals. These were in existence in the east and west of the Allegheny mountains, but not through the mountains. The portage railroad would haul settlers, goods, and boats over the mountains. This had a short life time due to the slowness of canal travel vs. railroads which were improving and spreading all the time. For more information see "The Amazing Pennsylvania Canals" by William H. Shank. Hope that is helpful. -- Elissa On Fri, 28 Dec 2001 15:24:02 -0500 "Sue M" <starshine166@attbi.com> writes: > Carol, > I would think that it would have to have been by rail, or the good > old > fashioned horse and buggy. > Sue* > ----- Original Message ----- > > > Can anyone tell me what would be the most common, affordable, mode > of > travel, East to West in Pennsylvania in the mid to late 1800's? > Would it be > by rail? What if a family was moving and had household goods to > transport? > Still rail, or if not, what other modes were available? > > > > Thanks in advance to anyone who has looked into this. Carol S. > > > > --- > > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.310 / Virus Database: 171 - Release Date: 12/19/2001 > > > ==== PA-PITTSBURGH Mailing List ==== > SUE* MCALISTER-Pittsburgh List Mom > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy > records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

Does anyone have any clues to what the cost of travelling from, say Philadelphia to Pittsburgh would be, and how that price compares to today's dollar value ? Just wondering how many would be able to afford rail travel. When we consider the number who traveled by train it must have been reasonably affordable. Carol S. ----- Original Message ----- From: <espowell@juno.com> To: <PA-PITTSBURGH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, December 28, 2001 7:54 PM Subject: Re: [PITTSBURGH] Travel mode 1850-1870 > The Forbes Road follows what is now Rt. 40 (and roughly the PA turnpike) > from the eastern settlements of PA at Philadelphia to the west just south > of Pittsburgh and into Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was a common destination > for those going further west as they would get on a river boat there and > have access to Ohio, Kentucky, etc. all the way to New Orleans. For more > information see "Indian Trails to Super Highways" by William H. Shank and > "Map Guide to American Migration Routes, 1735-1815" by William > Dollarhide. > > Besides road and rail (RRs didn't come into play until the 1850's) there > was also canals. These were in existence in the east and west of the > Allegheny mountains, but not through the mountains. The portage railroad > would haul settlers, goods, and boats over the mountains. This had a > short life time due to the slowness of canal travel vs. railroads which > were improving and spreading all the time. For more information see "The > Amazing Pennsylvania Canals" by William H. Shank. > > Hope that is helpful. > > -- Elissa > > On Fri, 28 Dec 2001 15:24:02 -0500 "Sue M" <starshine166@attbi.com> > writes: > > Carol, > > I would think that it would have to have been by rail, or the good > > old > > fashioned horse and buggy. > > Sue* > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > > > Can anyone tell me what would be the most common, affordable, mode > > of > > travel, East to West in Pennsylvania in the mid to late 1800's? > > Would it be > > by rail? What if a family was moving and had household goods to > > transport? > > Still rail, or if not, what other modes were available? > > > > > > Thanks in advance to anyone who has looked into this. Carol S. > > > > > > > > --- > > > > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > > Version: 6.0.310 / Virus Database: 171 - Release Date: 12/19/2001 > > > > > > ==== PA-PITTSBURGH Mailing List ==== > > SUE* MCALISTER-Pittsburgh List Mom > > > > ============================== > > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy > > records, go to: > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > > ________________________________________________________________ > GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! > Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! > Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: > http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. > > > ==== PA-PITTSBURGH Mailing List ==== > SUE* MCALISTER-Pittsburgh List Mom > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >