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, ...
to
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
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 ...
, 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
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 ...
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.
See also
*
List of defunct Pennsylvania railroads
The following railroads operate in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
Common freight carriers
*Aliquippa and Ohio River Railroad (AOR) Genesee & Wyoming
*Allegheny Valley Railroad (AVR)
*Allentown & Auburn Railroad (ALLN)
*BD Highspire Holdings (BD ...
*
Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad
The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad , familiarly known as the "Ma and Pa", was an American short-line railroad between York and Hanover, Pennsylvania, formerly operating passenger and freight trains on its original line between York and Baltim ...
(successor railroad)
*
Transportation in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Transportation in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has a long and variegated history. An early-settled part of the United States, and lying on the route between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, it has been the site of early experiments in canals, railroa ...
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