SUMMIT TWP — In the 19th Century, when a vast continent was being tied together by a web of steel rails, plans were made to build a railroad through southwestern Butler County to connect the growing towns of Butler and Freeport.

Less than 1½ years later, an excursion train from Butler to Freeport celebrated the Butler Branch Railroad's opening on Jan. 18, 1871.

In the years that followed, industries and businesses thrived along the line because of the access to transportation it provided.

Workers attracted by employment opportunities helped to populate the area and the railroad served as a lifeline to the larger world for more than 100 years.

Eventually, the dominance of the railroads began to erode and the once mighty firms began closing down lesser-used, less-profitable lines.

The Butler-Freeport line's date with oblivion came in 1987, when Conrail pulled the plug on it.

In the middle of the 20th Century, a movement to reclaim these abandoned railways, which often were carved through scenic areas burgeoning with wildflowers and animal life, began to form.

The founders of this movement, called rails-to-trails, couldn't sit still while these pathways lay dormant. They acted because they recognized the benefits developing the trails would create for their communities.

From boosting a region's economy to protecting historical assets to prompting residents to exercise, the value of taking unused property and making it useful again was becoming more realized.

Five years after the line's closure, the Butler-Freeport Community Trail opened a portion of the route to hikers and bikers.

As the route was steadily reclaimed in the march from Freeport to Butler, lawsuits by landowners began to slow the recreational trail's progress.

Those suits were settled eventually and volunteers began grading and laying gravel as they worked their way northwest toward Butler again.

The majority of the infrastructure on the trail was built by the railroad before the line was abandoned, except for two spans at Monroe and Herman, which were replaced with narrow footbridges.

Most of the work now consists of clearing brush, cleaning culverts and mending washed out areas.

Ziegler said the trail often turns to Boy Scouts, who, among other tasks, build benches and bulletin boards for the trail as part of their Eagle Scout projects.

Now, after 18 years, the prize that many were eyeing, including the dog walkers, hikers, joggers, cyclists and the riders on horseback who are welcome to use the trail, is close at hand.

"The trail will connect Freeport with the Butler city limits early this summer," said Chris Ziegler, president of the Butler-Freeport Community Trail Council.

While Ziegler and those who support the 20½-mile trail with their sweat and their dollars will be happy to see that day come, there is another roadblock that will stall the path from going further into Butler.

In March 2009 after the trail council asked the state for assistance in picking the site of a bridge across Coal Run to connect the trail with Father Marinaro Park, inspectors from the state Department of Environmental Protection found the area near the bridgehead was contaminated by arsenic left behind from a former glass factory.

Plans for the bridge and trail construction near the tributary of Connoquenessing Creek halted until the DEP could assess the situation

Earlier this year, the state rendered its verdict on the bridge site.

"They found only one area of contamination," Ziegler said, "but it will involve remediation (to take care of the arsenic).

"Hopefully, it can be finished this summer."

While that's being done, Ziegler said the trail council is wending its way through the necessary channels to get permission to build the Coal Run bridge.

"We have to get a permit, which is a sort of hurry-up-and-wait process" she said.

Volunteers already have built the 115-foot-long structure, "and it's been sitting in my yard for a year and a half," Ziegler said with a chuckle.

Taking care of the arsenic and building the bridge are necessary to bring the trail into the park, but the trail council president said her group isn't standing still.

"While that's happening, plans to connect the trail with schools, parks, and to a path through downtown Butler will move forward," Ziegler said, who is working with city officials on this part of the plan.

To test the feasibility of what will become the downtown part of the extended trail, a bike ride has been scheduled for Friday for the proposed route.

Another proposal for the trail that's being delayed is the plan to buy the former Herman Train Station and the site of the Dittmer Store on Dittmer Road for use as a meeting spot for the trail council as well as a place for such things as a bed and breakfast, a bicycle rental and a soda fountain.

Ziegler said the group is still working toward that goal, but the going has been slow, especially when it comes to raising the money the group needs.

"It's still a work in progress," she said. "Things just take so long, especially with the economy the way it is."

One element of the trail that will be ready for this season is a site for primitive camping, which also will double as a place for Boy Scout activities.

Ziegler said the trail group will employ all volunteer labor to set up the area and will "rely a lot on Scouts coming to clear brush."

She said there will be some platforms and a portable toilet, but the group will "just leave it the way it is and provide room for people to camp."

The trail will be a busy place this year, the trail group president said.

Here are some of the activities scheduled:

• The annual Buffalo Creek Half Marathon is set for Oct. 16.

• The Butler-Freeport Historic GeoTrail, a geocaching event involving 20 stages at historic sites along the trail, will begin at Serene Valley Golf Course May 22. Geocaching involves participants using a GPS receiver to locate hidden containers called caches.

• The Freeport Flash 5K June 5.

More events are in the planning stage. Visit www.butlerfreeporttrail.org to find out more.

The council eventually wants to connect the Butler-Freeport Community Trail with the North Country Trail, a multistate trail that runs through northern Butler County.

But it won't happen anytime soon.

"That's in our long-term plans," Ziegler said. "But our main focus it getting into Butler."

While the bridge segment and the train station project are creeping along, Ziegler said the excitement of the trail finally reaching Butler remains.

"That's what we've been working for," she said. "Everything else is a bonus."

<b>Name: </b>Butler-Freeport Community Trail<b>Address: </b>P.O. Box 533, Saxonburg, PA 16056<b>President: </b>Chris Ziegler<b>Members: </b>180 paid members with 100 volunteers<b>Web site: </b>www.butlerfreeporttrail.orgto join: Membership levels are: Individual $15, Family $25, Supporting $50, Sustaining $100. Send a check payable to the Butler-Freeport Trail to the address above.