The Peach Bottom Railway was a 19th-century

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railroad in Pennsylvania, designed to haul

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

from the

Broad Top Broad Top is a plateau located in south-central Pennsylvania. It extends into Huntingdon County to the north, Fulton County to the southeast, and Bedford County to the southwest. It is bounded to the west by Saxton Mountain and Terrace Mountai ...

fields in central

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, ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, but succeeded only in establishing two local short lines.

History

Charter and plan

The railway was

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

ed on March 24, 1868 and planned in three divisions. The Eastern Division would run from Philadelphia or some point near that city to the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

at Peach Bottom. A crossing would need to be effected there to reach the Middle Division, which would run north to the mouth of Muddy Creek and follow that stream to Felton. From Felton, the Middle Division would proceed either to Hanover Junction or

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. The Western Division, whose course was never well-defined, would run north of Gettysburg and cross the mountain ridges to the coal fields near

Orbisonia Orbisonia is a borough in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 428 at the 2010 census. __TOC__ Geography Orbisonia is located in southeastern Huntingdon County at (40.243345, -77.893362), on the northeastern side ...

Construction and fundraising

The principal promoter was Stephen G. Boyd, a member of the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...

from York County. When the company was organized in 1871, he became President; Samuel R. Dickey, of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, was Vice-President. Local support was drawn principally from York, Lancaster and Chester Counties, representing the Middle and part of the Eastern Divisions. Surveying began on December 1, 1871, and chief engineer

John Mifflin Hood John Mifflin Hood (1843–1906) was an American railroad and electric streetcar system executive. Hood was President of the Western Maryland Railway from 1874 to 1901. In 1901-1902, he became President of United Railways and Electric Company, ...

recommended adoption of

, which was very popular at the time as a method of reducing construction costs. Ground was broken on the Eastern Division in August 1872 at Oxford, on the

Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad The Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad (P&BC) was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It operated a main line between West Philadelphia and Octoraro Junction, Maryland (near Port Dep ...

, and construction westward began. Location of the Middle Division, meanwhile, was influenced by the necessity of raising funds for the anticipated crossing of the mountains to the west. The direct route from Felton ran through a sparsely populated area, and a secret attempt to gain financial aid from the Reading by proposing a branch to Wrightsville (across the river from the

Reading and Columbia Railroad Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spellin ...

) was unsuccessful. The company was approached by a group of businessmen from York offering support, and decided to build upon that point. Grading began in York, towards Red Lion and the Muddy Creek watershed. Funds from the company's stock subscriptions and loans from local banks kept the company afloat during the

Panic of 1873 The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "Lon ...

. Hood surveyed a route for the Western Division via

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

, Biglerville and Arendtsville, following Conewago Creek through the Narrows and the Chambersburg-Gettysburg road through a gap in South Mountain. However, the financial contraction of the Panic made it impossible to raise funds for the line west. Construction continued on the other two divisions, however, with the Eastern Division opening from Oxford to Hopewell on November 10, 1873, and to Goshen on November 25, 1874. On July 4, 1874, the Middle Division was opened from York to Red Lion. The railroad was now pressed for money, and additional fundraising was necessary in 1875. By the end of the year, the Middle Division had reached Bridgeton, and the Eastern Division to Eldora (3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Peach Bottom). The Middle Division reached

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

and the prospect of abundant

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

traffic in 1876, while the Eastern Division pushed on to Dorsey (1 mile (1.6 km) north of Peach Bottom). A contretemps occurred when President Boyd opposed extension of the Middle Division to Peach Bottom, on the grounds that it would generate no local traffic and there was no prospect of bridging the Susquehanna in the near future. In 1877, he was replaced by Charles McConkey, a resident of Peach Bottom, but finances did not allow for construction on the extension to continue, although the Eastern Division finally reached the Susquehanna in 1878.

Disposition

The two

lines would never be united. Heavy bonded indebtedness resulted in

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

for both divisions in 1881, and the Eastern Division was reorganized as the Peach Bottom Railroad, while the Middle Division became the York and Peach Bottom Railway. Although the York and Peach Bottom did reach the latter point in 1883, cars were never ferried between the two railroads, and they were never again under the same management. In 1889 the York and Peach Bottom was purchased by the Maryland Central Railway, and a new consolidated company was formed, the

Baltimore and Lehigh Railroad The Baltimore and Lehigh Railroad (B&L) was a 19th-century, narrow gauge railroad in Maryland and Pennsylvania. It operated freight and passenger trains on its main line between Baltimore and York, Pennsylvania. History The Baltimore and Lehig ...

, in 1891. In 1890 the Peach Bottom was sold to a group of Lancaster businessmen and reorganized as the Lancaster, Oxford and Southern Railroad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peach Bottom Railway Defunct Pennsylvania railroads 3 ft gauge railways in the United States Narrow gauge railroads in Pennsylvania Transportation in Chester County, Pennsylvania Transportation in York County, Pennsylvania Transportation in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Railway companies established in 1868 Railway companies disestablished in 1881

History

Charter and plan

Construction and fundraising

Disposition

See also

References