A State-By-State Guide
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Pennsylvania is home to some of America’s earliest railroad activity:1827: The Switchback Gravity Railroad, only the second railroad built in America, hauled coal from Summit Hill to the Lehigh River at Mauch Chunk,
now Jim Thorpe.
1829: The first steam locomotive in America, the Stourbridge Lion, went into operation – for one run only - on the Delaware & Hudson Canal
Company Gravity Railroad in Honesdale (Shown above: The remains of abutments for an over-and-under bridge for this railroad).
1834: Construction of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, a series of inclines and rail lines, was begun to scale the Allegheny Mountains and connect
Philadelphia with Pittsburgh.
1846: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania created the Pennsylvania Railroad, the “Standard Railroad of the World,” which became the nation’s
largest Class I railroad.
1854: The world famous Horseshoe Curve opened to through train traffic over the Allegheny Mountains to connect Philadelphia with the Ohio River
and routes west.
That was just within the first 25 years of the beginning of railroading in America. Pennsylvania’s central location along the eastern seaboard, combined with abundant reserves of such critical natural resources as oil, coal and timber, insured that the state would be saturated with rail lines. As a result, there is a trove of sites to educate and entertain a railroad tourist.
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Alexandria; LOWER TRAIL; PA Route 4014 at US Route 22; www.traillink.com/trail/lower-trail.aspx; www.tyrone.k12.pa.us/railstotrails/index.asp; www.rttcpa.org/: 17 miles, crushed stone. Ex-Pennsylvania Railroad Petersburg Branch follows and occasionally crosses the Juniata River, through woodlands and past farms. NOTES: 1]. Unusual for having evolved from Indian path to canal, to railroad, to rail trail; 2]. Historic markers and remnants of canal and the coke industry dot the trail; 3]. Williamsburg is approximately 12 miles in, offering convenience stores and a restaurant; 4]. There are other parking locations along the route of the trail.
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Castanea; CASTANEA STATION; Logan Avenue at West Allison Street: Year-around, daily (historic display is outdoors), railroad building, equipment, display. NOTES: 1]. Ex-New York Central System station built in 1899; 2]. Features a round display area, built to the specifications of a wooden water tank, that holds historical notes, photographs, and railroadiana.
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Centre Hall; WHISTLE STOP RESTAURANT; 104 East Wilson Street; 814/364-2544; www.whistlestopcentrehall.com: Year around, partial week, varying hours. NOTES: 1]. Ex-Lewisburg & Tyrone/Pennsylvania Railroad 1885 station; 2]. The original ticket window, a Pennsylvania Railroad stove and the original freight scales survive, plus railroadiana; 3]. A restored Erie Stillwell passenger car, the Snydertown flagstation and a New York Central wooden caboose are adjacent.
Harrisburg; HARRIS TOWER; 637 Walnut Street; 717/232-6221; HarrisTower.org: Ex-Pennsylvania Railroad interlocking tower, seasonal, Saturdays, railroad building, displays. NOTES: 1]. A unique restoration of where six men worked just west of the Harrisburg train station, controlling 3,250 feet of track and 115 switches and signals. They moved 125 passenger trains a day, many of them in multiple sections (meaning, for example, that 4 sections of the Broadway Limited may pass at one time, but count only as 1 train), all of them requiring a change of locomotives, many of them requiring the addition or deletion of cars from their consists (meaning switch engines were moving among the trains the whole time), plus 25 freight trains (most through freights were diverted around the station), plus numerous troop trains in WWII, PLUS all trains interchanged with the Reading Railroad. This without benefit of computers or telecommunications equipment beyond a telephone, teletype, and telegraph. 2]. Members of the Harrisburg Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society have installed a tower-wide computer simulation replicating a typical day in April 1943, enabling visitors to experience first-hand – you have to throw levers and activate switches – what it took to control this mayhem. 3]. Still busy Harrisburg station complex sees numerous trains arrive and depart daily.
Jersey Shore; PINE CREEK RAIL TRAIL; Railroad Street and Phillips Street; 570.724.2868 (Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry); www.traillink.com/trail/pine-creek-rail-trail.aspx, www.visittiogapa.com/railtrail.html (offers printable map [.pdf]): 61 miles; crushed stone. This ex-New York Central route hauled timber and coal along Pine Creek across the floor of Pennsylvania’s Pine Creek Gorge, known as the Little Grand Canyon. It passes through several state forests and small towns en route. Intermediate Trailheads: Waterville – Slate Run – Blackwell. NOTES: There are other parking locations and trailheads along the route of the trail.
Northumberland; FRONT STREET STATION; 2 Front Street; 570.473.3626; www.frontstreetstation.com: Year-around, daily, uniform hours. NOTES: 1]. Ex-Pennsylvania Railroad Station built in 1909; 2]. Overlooks active Norfolk Southern tracks that see light traffic daily; 3]. Some dining areas occupy former passenger cars.
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Rockhill Furnace; THE IRON RAIL BED & BREAKFAST; 371 Meadow Street; 814.447.3984 or 814.599.6966; www.ironrailbandb.com: Overlooks the East Broad Top Railroad roundhouse and station complex, a tourist excursion operation running trains May through December; all rooms overlook railroad settings. NOTES: 1]. Former home of the East Broad Top Railroad’s General Superintendent; 2] Also adjacent to the Rockhill Trolley Museum; 3]. Home to the annual Rockhill Ragtime Festival in June. EMAIL DAVE BRIGHTBILL
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Wellsboro (Wellsboro Junction); PINE CREEK RAIL TRAIL; PA Route 287/US Route 6 at Lower Marsh Creek Road; SEE Jersey Shore.
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Williamsburg; LOWER TRAIL; Canal Street near New Beginnings Road: SEE Alexandria.
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North Warren; TRAIN STATION; 1 Railroad Street; 814.723.8856: Year-around, daily, varying hours. NOTES: 1]. Along the Warren-North Warren Bike Trail adjacent to PA Route 62; 2]. Ex-New York Central Railroad station built in 1874.
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__________; WARREN-NORTH WARREN BIKE TRAIL; State Avenue at PA Route 62; 3 miles, asphalt. Ex New York Central branch line servicing oil refineries, it follows Conewango Creek and parallels PA Route 62. NOTES: A former train station, about mid way, is today a restaurant.
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Strasburg (Ronks); MUSEUM OF PENNSYLVANIA; 300 Gap Road (PA Route 741); 717.687.8628: Year-around, daily and partial week by seasons, railroad buildings, equipment, displays. NOTES: One of the premier state-sponsored railroad museums in the country, it features more than 100 pieces of historic equipment, permanent and rotating interpretive exhibits, and special events throughout the year.
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__________; STRASBURG RAILROAD; 301 Gap Road (Rt. 741 East); Year around, regular and varying schedule, special events, meals on board, equipment, excursions, displays. NOTES: 1]. Operating steam excursions and dinner trains; 2]. America’s oldest operating short line railroad.
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Warren; WARREN-NORTH WARREN BIKE TRAIL; North end of East Street; SEE North Warren.
