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 rapidity and on December 10, 1852, communication between the termini was possible, passengers and freight being transferred across the mountain crest by stage and wagon. In 1854 the railway was completed across the Alleghenies.

In 1850 the legislature took steps to improve the communication between the two ends of the canal by building the proposed portage road and avoiding planes. The work went on simultaneously with the building of the Pennsylvania track; as a temporary accommodation the railway company allowed the portage operators to avoid Plane No. 1, by using the railway track for a distance of four miles east from Conemaugh station, east of Johnstown. Planes No. 2 and No. 3 were avoided by means of a new double track to the foot of Plane No. 4. In 1854 the Pennsylvania Railway was completed across the mountain, and the trade of that company was of course lost to the Portage Railway. On July 1, 1855, the new portage route was in operation, though incomplete.

The great success of the Pennsylvania Railway and its importance to the commer-