Two Lane Adventure in New York – Saturday, June 8th 2019

Some of the group (Dana, Dawn and Sheila) went to shoot skeet at Addison Fish and Game Club. Well Dana went to shoot. Dawn and Sheila went to visit with other shooters and spouses. Dana is shooting in preparation for their Memorial Open he will shoot in next weekend. Others, Randy, Karen and Royce, stayed and enjoyed the quite at the campgrounds! Rick and Lynn took a drive on their own to explore the area! Rob, Sheila, Charlie and myself took a car ride with our cameras to the Tioga-Hammond Lakes and Dam. The beauty of north-central Pennsylvania is evident at Tioga-Hammond Lakes. They are surrounded by lush forested ridges, the lakes offers recreational opportunities for all.

The project is unique in that it consists of two separate dams, one on the Tioga River and the other along Crooked Creek.  The lakes formed by both dams are joined by a gated connecting channel. Why did they create the dam project? To answer that, we need some background.

The Upper Tioga River Watershed, which encompasses 280 square miles in northcentral Pennsylvania, is part of the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. The Tioga River Watershed makes up the greater portion of the county. The Tioga River proper begins in Bradford County and flows westward, near Blossburg it turns northward and flows that direction until it reached the Chemung River in New York State. The Cowanesque River Starts in Potter County, flowing eastward and joining the Tioga River near Lawrenceville. As recent as the 1970’s, the Tioga River supported Class A wild brook trout populations.  Today the Tioga River from the confluence of the Fall Brook tributary can no longer support aquatic life. Why?

In the early 1800’s, coal was discovered near Blossburg.  Deep and strip mining for coal were major industries in the region through the 1980s, with mining operations ending in 1990. When deep mining began in the watershed, entries into the mines were dug from below the groundwater table.  To keep the mines from filling with water, horizontal tunnels, known as drifts, were dug to allow water to drain by gravity out of the mines.  Water entering one mine could travel for many miles downhill collecting drainage from many other mine areas along the way before discharging in large amounts from a common opening.  Many coal seams are surrounded by pyrite-laden rock.  When pyrite is exposed to air and water in the deep mine, it reacts to form sulfuric acid that further dissolves metals in the surrounding rock.  The result is known as Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) pollution.  AMD has water quality characterized by low pH, high acidity, and high dissolved metals like iron and aluminum.

The devastation of the river’s water quality is the direct result of AMD pollution.  Some of the more heavily polluted tributaries have pH levels similar to battery acid. Remarkably, the tributaries entering the Tioga River north of Blossburg do not suffer from AMD pollution.  While these tributaries help to dilute the AMD polluted waters, the pollution emanating from the upper watershed is so severe that the river cannot recover and cannot support aquatic life. The Answer was the Tioga Hammond Dam Complex. The project was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 3 July 1958. Construction costs were more than $200,000,000. In nearly 40 years of operation the lakes have already paid for themselves in flood damage prevented. The two dams working together provide major flood control on the north branch of the Susquehanna River as far south as Wilkes-Barre, PA.

The Tioga Hammond Dam was constructed in 1978 and put into operation in 1981 as part of a flood control project.  The unnatural blue-green color that is frequently seen in Tioga Lake is due to the precipitation of aluminum which results when mine drainage begins to become neutralized by alkaline water.

The Dam complex provides some AMD remediation.  Hammond Lake impounds Crooked Creek and controls a drainage area of 122 square miles.  The water collected in Hammond Lake is alkaline and can be mixed with the polluted waters of Tioga Lake through a 2,700-foot connecting channel. Corps employees at the Tioga Hammond Dam monitor the chemistry and temperature of the lakes.  Using the connecting channel to control the amount of water released downstream from each lake, the Corps is able to control the quality of water north of the Dam thus permitting aquatic life to survive.

By the mid-60's, the Army Corps of Engineers had begun buying property in the areas that would be drowned by the new lakes, and began removing and relocating old cemeteries from the area. They also began condemning properties in the area, although in some cases, the owners were permitted to remain in their homes until a later time. It is reported that at least nine cemeteries that were moved. Most were small family cemeteries, but several were much larger, containing hundreds of graves. The Corps of Engineers recorded the names on the stone markers, and presented the list to the Wellsboro chapter of the DAR for inclusion in their records, and possible notification of next-of-kin. Just how the next-of-kin were chosen remains a mystery.

The Tioga River Watershed is home to three Army Corps of Engineers dam complexes. The Cowanesque River is home to the Cowanesque Lake. The Tioga River is home to the Tioga Dam, and Crooked Creek houses Hammond Lake. Hammond Lake has 685 surface acres of water. The project includes the Ives Run Recreation Area with a campground, boat launches and overnight mooring for campers. Fishing, picnicking, swimming, various sport fields, a volleyball court and a display garden with native trees, shrubs and flowers. Tioga Lake, with 498 surface acres of water, located just a few miles north of Mansfield, Pennsylvania. Its secluded location offers a boater's paradise and great water-skiing opportunities.

We took a drive into Ives Run on the east shores of Hammond Lake. It has a beautiful boat launch and overnight mooring for campers and tons of campsites. Personally, I don’t think they are as nice as the spots we have! The unique thing, is driving into Ives Run, we passed under a railroad overpass and a train went by. We learned later that it is Tioga Central Railroad. It operates scenic excursion trains over a right-of-way which in part dates to 1840. The section between Corning, New York and Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, was part of the Tioga Railroad, opened in 1840 to connect Blossburg, Pennsylvania, with the Chemung Canal at Corning.

The Tioga Railroad was renamed the Blossburg and Corning Railroad in 1854. The section between Lawrenceville and Wellsboro Junction, Pennsylvania was completed in 1872. This line extended south from a connection with the Blossburg and Corning Railroad at Lawrenceville through Wellsboro to the coal mines at Antrim, Pennsylvania. In 1873, the Blossburg and Corning Railroad and the Wellsboro and Lawrenceville Railroad were merged to form the Corning, Cowanesque and Antrim Railway. Owned largely by the Fall Brook Coal Company. They offered through passenger service between Lyons, New York, and Williamsport, Pennsylvania. In 1899 the Fall Brook Railway was leased to the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, which in turn reorganized in 1914 as the New York Central Railroad. The New York Central was succeeded in 1968 by the Penn Central Transportation Company, which was itself succeeded in 1976 by Conrail.

photo credit: Tioga Railroad

In 1988 Conrail ceased operation of its line between Wellsboro Junction and Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, leaving only the line between Gang Mills, New York, and Wellsboro, and making the name “Wellsboro Junction” something of a relic. With this abandonment, the remaining line became and continues to be the only railroad in Pennsylvania’s Tioga County. At the end 1992, Conrail ceased operation between Gang Mills and Wellsboro. The line was purchased by Growth Resources of Wellsboro (GROW) and the Wellsboro & Corning Railroad began operations under the North Shore Railroad. Tioga Central began operating scenic passenger excursion trains in 1994. Today, the Tioga Central passenger service is operated by the Wellsboro and Corning Railroad which is a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Railroad.

We ended our excursion in the small town of Tioga, our two choices for food were Mema’s or Jason’s Pub. We selected Jason’s Pub. It was clean and a typical local bar and eatery. We grabbed a high top table for 4. 

The bartender was the waitress, cook and dishwasher! But, the service was quick, the burgers were delicious and the atmosphere was fun! We watched some older guys play the video gambling machines. It a great end to our sightseeing trip. Sheila and Randy made dinner for all of us in the smoker, yum, yum … it was lasagna! How is it every time we are camping, everything revolves around food!

The sunset skies over the lake were a pretty pink.

We found a couple on the shore, up from us that needed to get a room!

We enjoyed another excellent fire, complements of Rick and Dana!

Someone needs to break it to Ruger, he is a bit too big to be a lap dog!

The moon tonight was spectacular! It is in the waxing crescent phase. What the heck is that … As the moon moves around Earth, the side we can see gradually becomes more illuminated by direct sunlight. It is between the first quarter and the new moon.