The Sherwood Forest Faire
( http://www.sherwoodforestfaire.com/ ), in McDade,
By Tim Dooley, Vagabond Voice News
Texas, has a three-day weekend ahead, opening on
Friday for Spring Break.
“Highlighted Routes”
My shoutout to the intrepid one-weekenders goes to
the High Desert Pirate Fair
(http://www.hdpiratefaire.com/), in Hesperia,
California, celebrating its 4th season.
Welcome to “Highlighted Routes,” a new weekly
column. Inspired by last week’s “King’s Highways”
feature, each week we are going to take a look at
some of the more interesting roads that we travel
during our vagabond wanderings, with a little history,
The Pirate Fair will be celebrating the Golden Age of
Pirates, with much Revelry & Merry Making. Fun for all
ages from the littlest Powder Monkey to the oldest
Captain. Face Painting, Games to play, Stage Acts to
enjoy, Battles between Pirates, Food from the four
corners of the known world, Ale, Wine & Mead
and there may even be a trial of a Pirate.
Many Merchants with wonderful items to purchase.
The Merchants have traded their best powder & shot
to procure most of their merchandise.
an oddity here and there, and even a little bit of useful
information! This week, we are going to take a look at
one
of
America’s
longest-running
unfinished
construction projects: The Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Ra ilroad Spite
In the 1880s, William Henry Vanderbilt and Andrew
Carnegie, among others, were tired of what they saw
as exorbitant shipping rates on the Pennsylvania
Railroad, which at the time was the largest rail line, by
I wish everyone a fantastic weekend full of happy
people and much folding money in your tip jar!
volume of passengers and cargo, in the country. In
1883, they began construction of a rival rail line, which
they called the “Southern Pennsylvania Railroad.”
Ma Dooley, signing off!
________________________________
Ongoing
Arizona Renaissance Festival,
(http://arizona.renfestinfo.com/) in Gold Canyon,
Arizona.
Bay Area Renaissance Festival
(http://www.bayarearenfest.com/), in Tampa, Florida
Florida Renaissance Festival (http://www.ren-
fest.com/), in Deerfield Beach, Florida
Sherwood Forest Faire
( http://www.sherwoodforestfaire.com/ ), in McDade,
Texas
One Weekend
High Desert Pirate Fair
(http://www.hdpiratefaire.com/), in Hesperia, California
Construction stopped only two years later, when the
railroad companies reached a new agreement, leaving
nine tunnels, as well as parts of a bridge over the
Susquehanna river, constructed but unused.
Nine Percent Solution
As the automobile became a more important mode of
transportation, the need for a safe, direct route across
the Alleghenies became more evident. The William
Penn Highway (Now US 22) was the main road from
east to west, but winding mountain passes and steep
grades, some as high as nine percent or more made
the drive across the Keystone State quite hazardous.
In the 1934, a remedy was proposed. The new
Turnpike would roughly follow the abandoned railroad
right-of-way, passing through seven of the nine
tunnels on its route from Irwin (west of Pittsburgh) to
Middlesex (West of Harrisburg).