My house was built well after the Civil War and even WWII (1955). It has numerous secret compartments. I have no idea what they were used for. My theory is that the house was built as a summer home and the secret compartments were used to hide valuables when the family was not using the house.
My house saw Confederate artillery flying by as they shelled the town square then drug the Burgess through the streets. However the only secret compartments I found were the ones I created. I rewired the place myself so if there are secret compartments here they are real secret.
OK digging this thread back up and this is all Kens fault!
I have used these old state drawn maps in research I have done within the area and not sure if I ever gave you these links Ken.
http://www.dot7.state.pa.us/BPR_PDF_FILES/MAPS/Type_10_GHS_Historical_Scans/Lancaster_1912.pdf
http://www.dot7.state.pa.us/BPR_PDF_FILES/MAPS/Type_10_GHS_Historical_Scans/Chester_1923.pdf
I don’t believe you did Dave. But I have seen similar maps the shows the old ROW for the LO&S. I’ve followed as much as I can see of it through Chester and Lancaster Counties. There’s also a group in So.Lanc. Co. that has done a lot of research on it and occasionally do some exploring of some of the ROW.
My dentist has an old Lamborn map of Oxford on the wall in his office that shows it very clearly and I’ve tried to identify where it ran, but loose after it leaves the Yard area in Oxford. I can pick it up again just north of US Rt 1. Very plain to see there, till it hits the Octoraro reservoir. On the other side of that it crosses a lot of private property, but if you know where to look you can still see traces of it.
I do have a book that covers the history of it pretty extensively and it’s signed by both the authors…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
OK …from the maps and what I’m seeing. I see the old T T outline behind the Sunoco (can’t see the other T T outline below it though) Then it looks like it takes it’s bend at Mt Pleasant Rd (just behind First Niagra Bank) crosses the Baltimore Pike , through (trailer court) and the grove of trees but it clearly looks like it is picked back up at the Oxford Municipal Garage. Crosses West Locust and parallels RisingHurst Ln. to what looks like a private hoarders junkyard.
Now judging by the old maps it appears to follow Tweed Creek (like a lot of old lines did) and follow the still standing tree line around the Oxford Sewer Authority retention ponds down into Hopewell Rd and then appears to head north. Possibly Lower Hopewell RD was the main? I’m also curious about Fairview Rd and where it disappears into the trees at Octoraro Creek. "There is also a suspicious looking gravel bed that leads to a house with a pool to the west of Lower Hopewell RD and Tweed Creek it connects with Calvary Rd. "
I’m curious when you found it coming out of Octoraro Lake
BTW …thanks for making me waste 2hrs today!
BTW …thanks for making me waste 2hrs today!
You’re welcome…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Then it looks like it takes it’s bend at Mt Pleasant Rd (just behind First Niagra Bank) crosses the Baltimore Pike ,
It actually went under the track before it crossed the road. You can still see the abutments along the present track. Most of the ROW as been obliterated from that point to north of Rt 1 due to development. Along Lower Hopewell Rd. is where I first noticed what looked like a RR Row paralleling Lower Hopewell when I first started working in the area back in 1976. And somewhere before it crossed the Octoraro Creek it passed a place called Lookout Point.
but it clearly looks like it is picked back up at the Oxford Municipal Garage. Crosses West Locust and parallels RisingHurst Ln. to what looks like a private hoarders junkyard.
That’s what I thought it did, too. But when I first noticed the ROW, it was on the south side of West Locust St, opposite the Oxford Sewer Authority retention ponds, on the west side of Rt 1. There was a station in that area, too, called Hopewell, and if I recall, there was what looked like a stone foundation on the south side of W. Locust. But that was a good ways down from Rt.1, so it could have followed the route you mentioned.
I’m curious when you found it coming out of Octoraro Lake
I’m not really sure where the lake ends and the creek starts again. Somewhere just north of Spruce Grove RD. There was a station at one time at Spruce Grove, but I think all that’s under water now. Somewhere north of SG Rd. at a place called White Rock it veers west, parallels Noble RD on the north side and heads west toward Fairmont Rd, crosses 222 at Robert Fulton’s Birthplace, where another freight shed still stands and houses the SoLanCo. Historical Society. and crosses Rt 272 at Eldora. Theres still an old Freight Shed in Eldora, behind a house. From there down to the river I was with a group that knew where everything was. It was from RF house back to Oxford where it was sketchy and I was guessing.
Isn’t this fun?
I guess. I’m completely lost not looking at the maps.
Daktah John said:
I guess. I’m completely lost not looking at the maps.
GoogleEarth helps a lot…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Ken for some old right of ways it does. For others, not so much.
When you have a detailed map AND GoogleEarth it helps quite a bit.
Yea, I will give you that. I can see much of the old P&CS right of way, but some of it is so long gone that there is little hope of finding any evidence that a railroad was ever there
That happens a lot too, Dave. RR gets abandoned, row reverts back to property owners who try to blend it into their existing landscape or not, municipalities realign roads over the row, buildings get sold or moved or torn down or vandalized, developments get built over it. What does remain are usually bridge abutments across creeks and/or maybe roads, stone or concrete foundations, raised portions of row that are fill, other places walking paths have been established, and sometimes pole lines that followed the row. Some of the RR’s, if their lucky get turned into tourist lines, Like Strasburg or the Wilmington & Western. Some may get bought and returned to revenue service in a local area. It’s all part of life going on after the RR’s demise. I just get a kick out trying to find out more about the local lines that ran through this area. I just like History, and the local history is especially intriguing.
Ken, I agree, the history is interesting. The main line of the P&CS became the streetcar line, and has been upgraded recently so the light rail vehicles can run on it. So I know where the main part of the P&CS was, generally. It’s the spur lines and such that have long since been lost to the sands of time. On of the spurs ran to a rather large coal mine. But over the past 100 years (give or take), even the remains of the mine are long gone.
The line that runs past my house was the old PB&W RR line, a subsidiary of the PA RR, which now belongs to SEPTA, the local commuter network and which the LO&S tied into in Oxford. The East Penn uses it now. Most of the lines that ran through here serviced the agriculture communities; the old stone mills, creameries, livestock, and a few old quarries. And of course, the passengers.
There’s another that ran from Landenburg through Avondale to Pomeroy, that I’m having a hard time finding info about, but there are still a lot of traces of it in the area.
Been working on the old maps and google a good bit. Think I have the line figured out too the Fulton house but that is as far as I have gotten. Almost 100% sure I got it figured out up the Octoroaro and taking the bend at Kings Bridge and onto Norwood. Pretty sure I got the Quarryville branch figured out as well.I think the Spruce Grove station was right where Spruce Grove rd crosses on the west side in that grassy area.
Does your book have maps in it as well?
David Russell said:
Does your book have maps in it as well?
Oh yea. Hard cover, about 500 pages. Very detailed, maps, newspaper articles, timetables, equipment rosters, pictures. It also identifies the main line in Oxford as the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central, and the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore, I’ve also read articles that referred to it as the Phila., Balt, and Washington RR.
Very detailed map of the yard in Oxford from Mt. Pleasant to Market St. into the PB&W station. There was a Yahoo Group that I had joined that provided quite a bit of info but I don’t know what happened to them since Yahoo is now Aabaco.
The dirt road in the picture above is Commerce Street in Oxford. The mill in the background is still standing. It makes a good reference point when you stand on South St and look north.
Wow! Great find Ken!
Ric Golding said:
Wow! Great find Ken!
And signed by both the authors…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
