The Mont Alto Rail Road was a railroad in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, originally built to connect the

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

s of the Mont Alto Iron Company to the Cumberland Valley Railroad. It was later extended south to reach Waynesboro.

History

Incorporated as the Scotland and Mont Alto Railroad on May 3, 1864, it was proposed to run from the Cumberland Valley Railroad near

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

to the iron company's furnaces near Mont Alto. Renamed the Mont Alto Rail Road on November 22, 1871, it opened from

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 ...

to Mont Alto in October 1872. In 1875, the iron company opened Mont Alto Park on its property, and the railroad began carrying picnickers to the park. In May 1878, the company began extending a new line south from Ledy, near Mont Alto, to Waynesboro. This was done in part to interfere with the Harrisburg and Potomac Railroad. The new line was completed in April 1879, and the Mont Alto Rail Road was leased to the Cumberland Valley Railroad. However, it continued to operate its own

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s until 1894. In 1891, the short-lived Chambersburg and Gettysburg Railroad opened from a connection with the Mont Alto RR at Conococheague Junction, near Fayetteville. The

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

and

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

it hauled proved insufficient to sustain it, and it ended operations in 1893. On April 27, 1901, the Mont Alto Rail Road was sold at foreclosure, and reorganized on June 7, 1901 as the Cumberland Valley and Waynesboro Railroad. Mont Alto Park was turned over to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1902. The new company was sold to the Cumberland Valley Rail Road on June 30, 1906. The Cumberland Valley was itself merged into the

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 ...

on 1919; the bulk of the Cumberland Valley & Waynesboro became the Waynesboro Branch, and the spur from Ledy to Mont Alto Park the Mont Alto Park Track. The PRR List of Stations and Sidings (CT 1000) from 1923 reveals a mostly rural branch, with little industry online except for sand mining at Pond Bank and manufacturing in the town of Waynesboro.C. T. 1000 E ''Pennsylvania Railroad System List of Stations and Sidings and Instructions for Making Reports to the Superintendent Car Services'' (1923) Passenger service on the Waynesboro and the Mont Alto Park Track ended June 28, 1933. The 1945 CT 1000 shows a picture not dissimilar to that of 1923. The sand companies at Pond Bank had disappeared and an

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

company opened in East Fayetteville, but the branch was still essentially rural, except for the industries it served at Waynesboro.C. T. 1000 E ''Pennsylvania Railroad System List of Stations and Sidings and Instructions for Making Reports to the Superintendent Car Services'' (1945) The Mont Alto Park spur was the first part to be dismantled; then in 1972, the entire railroad from Chambersburg to Waynesboro was abandoned by

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania Railroad ...

. After a brief revival of service in 1975, it was permanently abandoned in 1976 on the formation of

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 ...

Stations

Waynesboro Branch Mont Alto Park Track

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mont Alto Railroad Defunct Pennsylvania railroads Predecessors of the Pennsylvania Railroad Transportation in Franklin County, Pennsylvania Railway companies established in 1871 Railway companies disestablished in 1901