Thievery on the East Broad Top

For those of you who have been paying attention, you are aware of my particular fondness for a little railroad in south-central Pennsylvania.

For those of you who have not been paying attention, I have a particular fondness for a little railroad in south-central Pennsylvania.

The short story; the East Broad Top is a narrow gauge railroad 33 miles in length that mostly made a living hauling coal from the east side of the Broad Top mountain (there was a standard gauge railroad that took care of the west side, called the Huntingdon and Broad Top).

The railroad closed down in 1956 but the new owners didn't scrap it. In 1960 they brought 5 of the 33 miles back on-line as a tourist attraction. The rest of the road has sunk into 60 years of decay and negligence - but lest you think I'm saying something against the present owners, nothing could be further from the truth.

The railroad is still there, all of it (that hasn't fallen or been torn down), against all odds, and at great personal cost to the family. They are to be commended for their sacrifice, and my undying thanks go to them.

Apparently last week some sub-human miscreants made off with a quarter mile of the hundred year old rail, likely to cut it up for scrap.

This was no casual in-and-out lift a few rails into the back of a truck common thievery. Oh no, this was carefully planned and executed, complete with official looking fake contracts complete with forged signatures.

Several locals checked on the work in progress to see what was going on, and were convinced by the falsified paperwork that all was in order. The thieves made a clean getaway.

Since the East Broad Top is a National Historic Landmark the act of thievery may itself be a felony, added with the fraud and forgery charges.

One can hope that this slime is apprehended and has a lot of time to regret what they have done.

If, by rare chance, anyone stumbles upon this story and has anything to add please contact the Huntingdon County PA authorities and/or the East Broad Top Railroad.

UPDATE: The thieves have been caught and the rail recovered. Unfortunately the rail has been cut up into 3 foot lengths and cannot be reinstalled.

Photo by Larry

New Bloomfield

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The events that brought not just one, but two, railroads into Perry County were mostly political.

New Bloomfield was - and is - the county seat in Perry County, but Newport was - and is - larger and busier. Newport had an advantage over sleepy little New Bloomfield because the Pennsylvania Railroad ran through the center of it.

Because of this disparity in size and vigor, political pressure was being raised to move the county seat to Newport. If the seat were to remain in New Bloomfield, a connection must be made to the outside world.

A charter had been granted to the Duncannon, Bloomfield and Loysville railroad in 1872, but nothing had been done with it. This charter was resurrected in 1887 as the Perry County Railroad, and the line was completed from Duncannon to New Bloomfield in September of 1889.

David Gring, a logger from next-door Huntingdon County, had recently lost his lease on the tracts of land he was currently operating on and was casting about for a new location. Meanwhile in Newport, so as not to be outdone by the Perry County Railroad, businessmen and farmers were clamoring for a route to market. David Gring saw an opportunity to harvest timber from the Sherman's Valley, a deal was quickly struck and a charter for the Newport and Sherman's Valley Railroad was granted on July 30, 1890.

The road was narrow gauge because the equipment that David Gring brought with him from the Diamond Valley railroad was 3 foot gauge. It was completed to Loysville in 1891, but missed New Bloomfield by about two miles.

Trouble erupted when the standard gauge Perry County attempted to complete their own line to Loysville and then to Landisburg, because to do so they would have to cross the narrow gauge at two points.

A crossing was built without permission one night, and the court battles immediately began. The narrow gauge eventually emerged victorious and the Perry County Railroad was forced to make it's crossings via trestle instead of diamonds.

David Gring purchased the Perry County on September 14, 1903 and it's operations were soon cut back to it's original terminus in New Bloomfield. The narrow gauge built a spur to New Bloomfield to make a connection, and in 1921 the rails to Newport were removed. The narrow gauge's shops and offices were relocated to New Bloomfield, and that borough became the terminus of both railroads.

Little evidence of either railroad remains in what was once the central focus point of both. The dual gauged yards started just south of the ball diamond and crossed Carlisle Street just south of Barnett Street, about where Gusler Alley is now. It ended in the large parking lot just south and west of where the National Bank of Mifflintown now resides.

A small path extending eastward from Barnett Woods Road, called Train Lane, is the only reminder of the twin roads' existence, and at the end of Train Lane is a cluster of buildings that may or may not be all that remains of the railroads shops and engine house. Evidence of the standard gauge roadbed can be seen running eastward past this point, but is soon lost in the fields and farmlands.

New construction has obliterated the remains of the yard, and the only structure that is referenced on the maps in "Narrow Gauge in the Sherman's Valley" is a big red barn east of Carlisle Street. There is one on or near that spot now (on the east side of Gusler Alley just before it makes its turn westward), but it is impossible to tell from just the satellite map if it is the same structure.

Newport

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Although the borough of Newport has not seen a narrow gauge train in the better part of a century (the last one left in 1921 and pulled up the rails behind it) the satellite imagery shows that quite a bit of the railroad remains to the careful eye.

If one were to zoom in on the above map to the area just to the left of Keystone Way as it leaves Newport heading south (marked as highways 849 and 34) and just below the South 4th street label, one would find the area once occupied by the Newport and Sherman's Valley Railroad shops. It is little more than a widening in a dirt path now, but this is where the sheds, shops, sidings and scales were.

In Newport itself, the station was located in the northwest corner of the parking lot at the intersection of Walnut and Third (zoom in on the map using the buttons provided). The Pennsylvania Railroad tracks once ran down third street until the early 1900s when they undertook a large grade-reduction project. A part of the mainline is still evident to the northwest, and appears to have railcars parked on it.

Peach Street is between Third and Fourth Streets, and is little more than an alleyway. This was once the roadbed for the N&SVRR as it made it's way from the station house to it's shops complex. The tracks crossed Mulberry street and turned south southwest before crossing 4th street just to the north of the Little Buffalo Creek bridge. They continued past the shops complex and crossed Little Buffalo Road not far from the Keystone Way intersection. A dirt path follows the right of way.

The section of railroad from Newport to Loysville was the first to open, and the section from Newport to New Bloomfield Junction was the first to be taken up. All together the narrow gauge served the borough for which it was named for only thirty years. By the time the rails were removed the Newport and Sherman's Valley had been incorporated into the Susquehanna River and Western, although the narrow gauge locomotives would wear the N&SVRR logo until the very end.

Actual Timeline and History

The following time line and history is based on the actual events as they transpired for the railroads located in Perry County, Pennsylvania as recorded in the book "Narrow Gauge in the Sherman's Valley" by Gary Kohler and James D. Weinshencker. The Pennsylvania Railroad is obviously not considered a Perry County road, even though it's mainline ran along the edge of Perry County.

1887 – The standard-gauge Perry County Railroad is chartered.

1889 – The PCRR mainline is completed from a connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad in Duncannon to a temporary terminus in New Bloomfield.

July 30, 1890 – The narrow gauge Newport and Sherman’s Valley Railroad is chartered by David Gring, a logger, with the intentions of harvesting timber in the Sherman’s Valley.

1891 – The N&SVRR mainline is completed from a connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad in Newport to the village of Loysville. The N&SVRR mainline misses New Bloomfield by about two miles.

1892 – The N&SVRR is completed to Blain and the PCRR is completed to Elliotsburg via a forced crossing with the N&SVRR at Tressler’s farm. The N&SVRR gets an injunction against the PCRR regarding the crossing; it is taken up in October and replaced with a trestle at the same location. This is one of the few times in American history where a standard-gauge railroad has had to bow to the wishes of a narrow gauge one.

1893 – The N&SVRR completes it’s line to New Germantown. The PCRR crosses the N&SVRR again by way of a trestle at Greenpark and is completed to Landisburg with a branch to Loysville. The N&SVRR contemplates a Path Valley extension.

Oct 23, 1893 – The Path Valley Railroad charter is approved. The PVRR unveils an ambitious plan to run from the end of the N&SVRR mainline in New Germantown, through a tunnel in the Conococheague Mountain, to Fannettsburg PA and eventually to a connection with the B&O at Hancock MD.

Jan 1894 – Work begins on the Conococheague Mountain tunnel. On the Sherman’s Valley side the bore only extends about 100 feet before it hits hard rock and the work is halted. On the Path Valley side the rock is found to be too soft and unstable to permit a portal to be established, the rock just crumbles into the excavation. By April 1894 the money runs out and work on both sides is abandoned.

1901 – The Perry County Lumber Company builds a logging railroad on part of the Path Valley roadbed from New Germantown to the Conococheague Mountain. This is the only part of the Path Valley extension that ever sees rail.

September 14, 1903 – The Perry County Railroad goes broke and is bought by David Gring, representing the Susquehanna River and Western Railroad. The standard gauge road west of the Tressler’s Farm trestle (later renamed New Bloomfield Junction) is abandoned and taken up. The N&SVRR builds a spur from New Bloomfield Junction to a connection with the SR&WRR in New Bloomfield.

1905 - The Perry County Lumber Company harvests all the available timber and it's rails are removed.

1907 – Major renovations are performed on the N&SVRR.

1910 – Another attempt at the Path Valley extension is made and again it fails at the Conococheague Tunnel. The SR&WRR operates at a loss this year and never again regains profitability.

Dec 28, 1917 – The United States Railroad Administration takes control of the Gring railroads during WW1.

Mar/Apr 1918 – The N&SVRR spur from New Bloomfield to New Bloomfield Junction is dual-gauged.

Jun 29, 1918 – The USRA relinquishes control of the Gring railroads.

Jan 14, 1920 – Notices are posted for public sale of the N&SVRR and SR&WRR.

March 1920 – David Gring dies at the age of 63.

Mar 31, 1920 – The N&SVRR and SR&WRR are both sold to Rodney Gring (son of David) and George H. Ross for scrap prices. The Newport & Sherman's Valley Railroad is absorbed by the Susquehanna River & Western Railroad and officially ceases to exist.

April 20, 1920 - Train service is suspended on the narrow gauge between Newport and New Bloomfield Junction. A complaint is soon filed with the Pennsylvania Public Services Commission by the borough of Newport because of the suspension of services.

November 9, 1920 - The Pennsylvania Public Services Commission rules that since the N&SVRR no longer officially exists, the complaint against it must be dismissed. It further rules that the SR&WRR is not obligated to continue service to Newport since they did not take advantage of the opportunity to assume that obligation when the company was reorganized. The company quickly moves to scrap that portion of the line.

1921 – The narrow gauge mainline from Newport to New Bloomfield Junction is abandoned and taken up. The former N&SVRR offices and shops are dismantled and moved from Newport to New Bloomfield.

1933 – The narrow gauge mainline from New Germantown to Blain is abandoned; the rails are taken up in June.

1933/1934 – The narrow gauge mainline from Blain to Loysville is abandoned; the rails are taken up in March 1934.

April 1934 – The remainder of the narrow gauge mainline from Loysville to New Bloomfield is abandoned; the last of the rails are taken up in April 1935. The scrapping is done in steam; the railroad's own #5 pulls the train that takes up the last of the rails. The remainder of the railroad’s assets are sold or scrapped and the Newport & Sherman's Valley Railroad is no more, in fact as well as in name.

May 17, 1939 – The SR&WRR, who had only survived this long by eating itself, finally runs out of options when the Perry County commissioners refuse to pave a short stretch of public highway leading to the proposed site of a Tuscarora Oil Company pumping station that would have been served by the railroad. The station is built across the Juniata River in Inglenook instead, and the Susquehanna River & Western Railroad is abandoned and sold for scrap. The only railroad left operating in Perry County from this point onward is the mighty Pennsylvania.

An alternate timeline will be established when I can cook one up.