Cumberland Valley Railroad
Encyclopedia
The Cumberland Valley Railroad was an early railroad
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...

 in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, USA, originally chartered in 1831 to connect with Pennsylvania’s Main Line of Public Works
Main Line of Public Works
The Main Line of Public Works was a railroad and canal system built by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the 19th century. It ran from Philadelphia west through Harrisburg and across the state to Pittsburgh and connected with other divisions of the Pennsylvania Canal...

. Freight and passenger service in the Cumberland Valley
Cumberland Valley
The Cumberland Valley is a constituent valley of the Great Appalachian Valley and a North American agricultural region within the Atlantic Seaboard watershed in Pennsylvania and Maryland....

 in south central Pennsylvania from near Harrisburg
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...

 to Chambersburg
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg is a borough in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is miles north of Maryland and the Mason-Dixon line and southwest of Harrisburg in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley. Chambersburg is the county seat of Franklin County...

 began in 1837, with service later extended to Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown is a city in northwestern Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Washington County, and, by many definitions, the largest city in a region known as Western Maryland. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2010 census was 39,662, and the population of the...

 and then extending into the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...

 to Winchester, Virginia
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...

. It employed up to 1,800 workers.

During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 the line had strategic importance in supplying Union troops in the Shenandoah Valley. It also ran the first passenger sleeping car
Sleeping car
The sleeping car or sleeper is a railway/railroad passenger car that can accommodate all its passengers in beds of one kind or another, primarily for the purpose of making nighttime travel more restful. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American railroads in the 1830s and could be configured...

 in the U.S. on the Chambersburg-Harrisburg route in 1839.

The Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

 (PRR) gained control of the CVRR as early as 1859, and officially purchased it on June 2, 1919. The PRR’s successor, the Penn Central, closed all railway facilities in Chambersburg in 1972 and its successor, Conrail, abandoned major pieces of the line in 1976.

Early history

The Cumberland Valley Railroad Company was chartered by the Pennsylvania Legislature on April 2, 1831, to construct a railroad from Carlisle
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...

 to a point on the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...

 at or near Harrisburg. This charter expired, but it was renewed on April 15, 1835, allowing the road to be built from the Susquehanna River to Chambersburg. On June 27, 1835, Thomas Grubb McCullough
Thomas Grubb McCullough
Thomas Grubb McCullough was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Thomas Grubb McCullough was born in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, the son of Robert and Prudence McCullough. He studied law and was admitted to the Franklin County, Pennsylvania, bar on April 8, 1806...

 was elected as the first President of the road, and in August, William Milner Roberts was selected as Chief Engineer.

The initial cost of building the road, including a bridge across the Susquehanna, was estimated before construction at $564,064, and the average annual receipts of the road at $284,617.50, calculated at 100 passengers each way per day at 3 cents per mile, and 35,000 tons of through freight and 51,950 tons of local freight, at 4½ cents per ton per mile. $642,000 was raised by local stock subscription and construction began in the Spring of 1836.

The railroad opened for travel from White Hill, near Harrisburg to Carlisle in August, 1837, and through to Chambersburg in November, 1837. The first locomotive, built by William Norris
William Norris (locomotive builder)
William Norris was an American steam locomotive builder. He founded the Norris Locomotive Works and through this company pioneered the use of the 4-2-0 locomotive type in America during the 1840s....

 in Philadelphia, had two driving wheels, wooden spokes, and was named "Cumberland Valley,"

The passenger cars carried 14 passengers each and were bought used from the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, according to the 1887 “History of Franklin County Pennsylvania.” The railroad track was constructed of cross ties laid 4.5 feet (1.4 m)apart without ballast, with 5x9 in (127x229 mm) oak stringers serving as rails. Iron bar, 0.625 inches (15.9 mm) thick by 2.25 inches (57.2 mm) wide, was spiked to the top of the stringers. When service began to Chambersburg, the iron was not laid for the last 3 miles (4.8 km) and the cars were run in on the wooden stringers.

The first Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge
Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge
The Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge is a currently unused railroad bridge, but it will serve as a central connection in the proposed CorridorOne regional commuter rail system....

 across the Susquehanna was opened for travel on January 16, 1839. The first regular passenger service to Philadelphia, via the Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mount Joy and Lancaster Railroad, began on February 1, 1839 with the following schedule:

Innovation

The Cumberland Valley Railroad pioneered the use of sleeping cars in the spring of 1839, a first on any American railroad, with a car named "Chambersburg." The berths were upholstered boards, in three rows, one above the other, held by leather straps, and in the daytime were folded back against the walls. A couple of years later a second car, the "Carlisle," was introduced into service.

Passengers traveling from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia traveled by horse drawn stage for 36 hours to get to Chambersburg, arriving about midnight, then left by rail about 1 am, arriving at Harrisburg about 5 am, in time to catch a HPMt.J&L train to Philadelphia.

“The History of Franklin County Pennsylvania” also claims that the first locomotive cab was constructed in the CVRR shops in Chambersburg in 1841 for a Franklin Railroad locomotive, named "Washington."

Growth

In 1839 the CVRR bought three locomotives for $21,250, and two passenger cars for $4,175; and ran two passenger trains and one freight train each day between Chambersburg and Harrisburg. They boasted that no passenger had been injured in the 2½ years that the road had been operated.

Frederick Watts
Frederick Watts
Frederick Watts , is called the “Father of Penn State University” and was a prominent agricultural reformer, lawyer and businessman who headed the U.S. Department of Agriculture as Commissioner of Agriculture from 1871-1877 under President Ulysses S...

 was elected the third President of the CVRR in 1841 and served in the post for 32 years. He reported that total annual earnings were $70,116.82 for 1842. By 1849, annual earnings were $101,084.77, and tonnage hauled was reported for the first time, totaling 37,439 tons, including 7,818 tons of flour, 5,126 of iron ore, 4,247 of coal, 2,123 of grain, and 2,237 of lumber. In that year plans were made to reconstruct the track with heavy iron rails.
In March, 1832, the Franklin Railroad was chartered by the Pennsylvania Legislature, and on January 16, 1837 by the Legislature of Maryland. The road was built from Chambersburg to Greencastle, Pennsylvania
Greencastle, Pennsylvania
Greencastle is a borough in Franklin County in south-central Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,722 at the 2000 census.-History:...

 in 1837, and to Hagerstown, Maryland in 1841. It owned its own steam locomotives, but these were sold about 1841, when the CVRR began operating the road. Horse power, rather than steam power, was used during the 1840s and 1850s. Ownership and operating rights changed hands several times, until 1860 when the track was rebuilt with heavy rails and the CVRR contracted to operate the track. In 1865 the two railroads were merged.

Daniel Tyler
Daniel Tyler
Daniel Tyler was an iron manufacturer, railroad president, and one of the first generals of the American Civil War.-Biography:...

 was hired in 1850 to supervise the line's rebuilding. He hired Alba Smith as Superintendent of the machinery shop in 1850. Smith served as Superintendent of the railway from 1851-1856, and helped introduced lighter weight "single-wheel" locomotives on the line. These locomotives included the Pioneer and the Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...

, bought in 1851, and the Boston and Enterprise bought in 1853-54.
In 1999, the Pioneer was moved from its display at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

 to the as yet unopened National Museum of Industrial History.
In October, 1862, the Confederate forces destroyed railway buildings in Chambersburg, and on June 15, 1863, during the Gettysburg campaign
Gettysburg Campaign
The Gettysburg Campaign was a series of battles fought in June and July 1863, during the American Civil War. After his victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia moved north for offensive operations in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The...

, they destroyed all company property in the town, and tore up five miles (8 km) of Franklin Railroad. In July, 1864 Confederate raiders led by Jubal Early returned and burned the greater part of Chambersburg including most railroad property.

During the 1870s feeder lines such as the Mont Alto Railroad were added in the Cumberland Valley to gain access to iron ore deposits. In 1873 the railroad extended south from Hagerstown to the Potomac River. In 1889, it reached Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg is a city in the Eastern Panhandle region of West Virginia, United States. The city's population was 14,972 at the 2000 census; according to a 2009 Census Bureau estimate, Martinsburg's population was 17,117, making it the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle and the eighth largest...

 and Winchester, Virginia
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...

, at the head of the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...

. The Cumberland Valley was to have a junction with the South Pennsylvania Railroad
South Pennsylvania Railroad
The South Pennsylvania Railroad is the name given to two proposed but never completed Pennsylvania railroads in the nineteenth-century. Parts of the right of way for the second South Pennsylvania Railroad were reused for the Pennsylvania Turnpike....

 in Newville, but the ambitious South Penn ran into financial difficulties during its construction and was never completed.

In June, 1882, the Shenandoah Valley Railroad
Shenandoah Valley Railroad (N&W)
Shenandoah Valley Railroad was a line completed on June 19, 1882 extending down the Shenandoah Valley from Hagerstown, Maryland USA through the West Virginia panhandle into Virginia to reach Roanoke, Virginia and to connect with the Norfolk and Western Railway . The development of this railroad had...

 was opened from Hagerstown to Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...

. In conjunction with the Norfolk and Western Railway
Norfolk and Western Railway
The Norfolk and Western Railway , a US class I railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It had headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia for most of its 150 year existence....

 the CVRR operated the middle link of the New York-Harrisburg-Hagerstown-Roanoke, Va. passenger trains. Trains reportedly traveled at over 90 mph on parts of this route.

South Penn Branch Line

The South Penn Branch was a line that connected the CVRR main line to an iron furnace near Cowans Gap. It left the line near Marion and went to Richmond Furnace, a distance of 26 miles (41.8 km).

Demise

Regular passenger train service on the CVRR ended in 1952, the last New York-Roanoke train ran in 1961. The PRR's successor, the Penn Central, closed all railway facilities in Chambersburg in 1972 and its successor, Conrail, abandoned major pieces of the line in 1976 and combined some of the remaining track with track from the competing Reading Company
Reading Company
The Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...

. The combined track is known as the Lurgan Branch
Lurgan Branch
The Lurgan Branch is a railroad line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania and Maryland. The line runs from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania southwest to Hagerstown, Maryland along former Reading Company and Pennsylvania Railroad lines...

, and has been operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...

 since the 1999 breakup of Conrail.

The planned CorridorOne
CorridorOne
Capital Red Rose Corridor, formerly known as Corridor One , is a commuter rail system proposed in South Central Pennsylvania, United States which will link Harrisburg and Lancaster. Future corridors are being planned to extend commuter rail service to Carlisle, Hershey, Lebanon, York, and...

 commuter rail service between Harrisburg and Carlisle, plans to use the old Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge
Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge
The Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge is a currently unused railroad bridge, but it will serve as a central connection in the proposed CorridorOne regional commuter rail system....


Sources


See also

  • CorridorOne
    CorridorOne
    Capital Red Rose Corridor, formerly known as Corridor One , is a commuter rail system proposed in South Central Pennsylvania, United States which will link Harrisburg and Lancaster. Future corridors are being planned to extend commuter rail service to Carlisle, Hershey, Lebanon, York, and...

  • Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge
    Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge
    The Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge is a currently unused railroad bridge, but it will serve as a central connection in the proposed CorridorOne regional commuter rail system....

  • Harrisburg Transportation Center
    Harrisburg Transportation Center
    The Harrisburg Transportation Center is a large railway station and transportation hub in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is located on the eastern edge of Downtown Harrisburg between the intersections of Aberdeen and Market Streets and 4th and Chestnut Streets...

  • Lurgan Branch
    Lurgan Branch
    The Lurgan Branch is a railroad line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania and Maryland. The line runs from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania southwest to Hagerstown, Maryland along former Reading Company and Pennsylvania Railroad lines...

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