Chair

Iron chairs were used to anchor rails to a cut stone base along the Allegheny Portage Railroad. Stone blocks called “sleepers” served as the railroad ties on level sections of this early railroad link between sections of the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal. Each sleeper had two holes chiseled into them, and the iron chairs were securely anchored to it at roughly three feet intervals. “Bull-head” rail, in 18 foot long sections, would be slid through the center portion of the chair and locked in place with a key placed into the remaining gap.

These iron chairs represent an integral link in the system over which goods and people were transported between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. This early railroad, which was designed to cross a mountain chain, was an integral link in the statewide canal system. These systems significantly reduced travel time and made regional trade exponentially more efficient.