In August of last year, my friend Scott Whitehead invited me to go fishing one afternoon after he closed up shop at Featherman Creations, a professional fishing destination for any kind of fishing you can imagine, just over in Penfield. Scott and I have ventured to several streams in central Pennsylvania – the Little “J,” Spruce Creek, Medix Run and others which were mainly fly fishing excursions –but last August we headed up to the Driftwood Branch of Sinnemahoning Creek to go after smallmouth bass using Rapala lures. I had not used these lures since fishing the Sea of Cortez in Mexico over several years, long ago, and I was eager to get out.
On a pretty August afternoon, we meet at Featherman at 5 p.m. Scott’s picked top water lures and said these bone-colored crankbaits and jerkbaits are magnets for smallmouth. We drive over an hour – east on Route 255 to 555 to 120, still heading east, and pull off on a paved shoulder under a mammoth train trestle a couple miles east past the town of Driftwood. The area is beautiful, tranquil…and nobody in sight. Scott is the first to hit the water. We’re both wearing thigh waders and venture out into the creek about 20 feet. Scott casts toward the middle stone bridge support, and on his third cast – bam –the first of the afternoon! Before I cast my rod, I gaze at this amazing trestle –a metal superstructure supported by stone abutments on each side of the stream. There’s another “pile” support mid-stream (the target area for the assault we’re launching), also constructed of large blocks of the tan-colored stone, and this place is absolute art.
We fish for a while and have some luck. The sun goes down and we decide to head back to Clearfield County for some pizza and conversation at Scott and his wife Marina’s place. After a nice pizza feed and some quick contemplation, I decide I’m going to head back soon to wander along the tracks of this beautiful bridge and explore what was once part of a rich history in railroading. And the very next weekend, I do.
That next weekend, at the trestle, between Main Street and Sinnemahoning Creek, about a dozen houses adorn Railroad Street which is a stone’s throw from the majestic bridge. A middle-aged man is outside mowing his lawn…I approach, and we have a few minutes of friendly conversation. I ask him about the railroad and the amazing bridge that crosses this beautiful stream. He says it was part of the Buffalo Line, which was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) system. He mentions the large stone blocks used to build the abutments and the mid-stream piling are made of sandstone quarried from central PA, high in magnesium which give the bridge’s foundation strength and longevity. He says that in a corner of the abutment just off Main Street, chiseled into one of the sandstone blocks is the year the bridge was completed. We finish our conversation and after a few minutes gazing around this stone monument, I find it –1902.
One hundred and twenty years ago, the technology and processes to build such structures were primitive. The reliance on materials and manpower was much more important than it is today. The immigrants that cut and fitted the massive stone blocks of this trestle were hardworking craftsmen without the luxury of cranes and tools to cut and move them. When all is said and done, the Driftwood Branch Sinnemahoning Creek Railroad Bridge is beautiful in so many ways, and this place is truly timeless. It could be 1902 or 2022, and I’m sure the bridge and landscape remain almost the same. Spectacular. I think I want a better understanding of Pennsylvania railroading, and this region in particular….
Editor’s note: Part II of “Fishing and railroading in central Pa.” will appear in the Jan. 14 edition of the Tri-County Weekend.
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