The Lurgan Branch is a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line owned and operated by the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

s of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The line is part of the NS

Harrisburg Division Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

and runs from

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

southwest to

Hagerstown, Maryland Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland, United States and the county seat of Washington County. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2020 census was 43,527, and the population of the Hagerstown metropolitan area (exten ...

along former

Reading Company The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called ...

and

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

lines. Its northeast end is at a junction with the

Harrisburg Line The Harrisburg Line is a rail line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Philadelphia west to Harrisburg. The Harrisburg Line was formed the day Conrail began operations, A ...

Pittsburgh Line The Pittsburgh Line is the Norfolk Southern Railway's primary east–west artery in its Pittsburgh Division and Harrisburg Division across the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and is part of the Keystone Corridor, Amtrak-Norfolk Southern's combine ...

, Royalton Branch, and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Keystone Corridor The Keystone Corridor is a 349-mile (562 km) railroad corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that consists of two rail lines: Amtrak and SEPTA's Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg main line, which hosts SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale ...

(

Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line The Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line is a rail line owned and operated by Amtrak in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. This is the only electrified Amtrak line in the United States outside of the main line of the Northeast Corridor. The line r ...

); its southwest end is at the beginning of the

Hagerstown District Hagerstown is the name of several places in the United States of America: *Hagerstown, Indiana *Hagerstown, Maryland **Hagerstown Metropolitan Area The Hagerstown–Martinsburg Metropolitan Area, officially designated by the United States Offic ...

. At Lemoyne it intersects the

Enola Branch The Enola Branch is a railroad segment of the Port Road Branch and was a rail line. The Enola Branch railroad segment and the rest of the Port Road Branch is owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The ...

History

In 1837, the

Cumberland Valley Railroad The Cumberland Valley Railroad was an early railroad in Pennsylvania, United States, originally chartered in 1831 to connect with Pennsylvania's Main Line of Public Works. Freight and passenger service in the Cumberland Valley in south central Pe ...

opened the line from Lemoyne to

Chambersburg Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the Mas ...

, including the Lurgan Branch southwest of Shippensburg. The

Franklin Railroad Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral di ...

extended the line from Chambersburg to Greencastle in 1839 and Greencastle to Hagerstown in 1841. This part of the line became part of the

through leases and mergers. The

Harrisburg and Potomac Railroad Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

was built in the 1870s from Lemoyne to Shippensburg. It was later linked to Harrisburg via the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Bridge, and became part of the

via leases and mergers. At Lurgan tower, just southwest of Shippensburg, Reading ownership ended and the

Western Maryland Railway The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation. The WM beca ...

Lurgan Subdivision The Lurgan Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. The line runs from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, south to Hagerstown, Maryland, and west to Cherry R ...

began, continuing the rail connection to that railroad's Hagerstown

classification yard A classification yard (American and Canadian English ( Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English ( Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway ...

. A connection was subsequently built in Shippensburg between the PRR line and the RDG line to allow for interchange coal traffic.

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

took over both companies in 1976. The PRR line was abandoned from Shippensburg to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

, a portion that saw much street-running and -crossing, as this was the segment that was never significantly improved by the Cumberland Valley Railroad. The existing Cumbo connection was used to create the new hybrid line. The branch was assigned to Norfolk Southern in the 1999 breakup of Conrail. For similar reasons, the WM line south of Shippensburg, to Chambersburg, has been downgraded.

Expansion plans

NS is preparing for expanded traffic on the Lurgan Branch as part of its

Crescent Corridor The Crescent Corridor is a railroad corridor operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). The project, first proposed in 2007, and scheduled for completion by 2020, spans 13 states from New York (state), New York to Louisiana. It is a private ...

project. A new intermodal terminal is planned for

Greencastle, Pennsylvania Greencastle is a borough in Franklin County in south-central Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,996 at the 2010 census. Greencastle lies within the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania. History James Patton, who came to America at ag ...

Norfolk Southern (2009)
"Norfolk Southern Selects Greencastle Site for New Franklin County Regional Intermodal Facility, Supporting Crescent Corridor Initiative."
Press release. 2009-08-12. and the existing terminal at Harrisburg will be upgraded. Work was scheduled to be completed by 2013.Norfolk Southern (2009)
"Crescent Corridor project aims to increase capacity for intermodal growth, reduce carbon footprint."
''BizNS'' (magazine). January/February 2009. pp. 6-7.

References

{{Susquehanna Valley Railroads Norfolk Southern Railway lines Reading Company lines Pennsylvania Railroad lines Rail infrastructure in Pennsylvania Rail infrastructure in Maryland

History

Expansion plans

See also

References