That makes sense. The track behind those 3 buildings on 741 is still there, I just couldn’t figure out if it crossed 896 at one time and went further into town.
The Choo Choo barn and Strasburg Train shop sits where those 3 buildings were located.
Joe Loll said:
Ric, someone in a FaceBook group I’m a member in posted a track plan of the end of the line in Strasburg before it hauled tourists and railfans.
I’ve also found a video from the early 60’s of an interchange operation between Strasburg and the PRR. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=saved&v=780675636169670
You will need a FaceBook account to see the video.
Joe Loll,
Actually that is the town “Paradise” bordering townships back in the day in the hood !
Joe Rusz,
Sam Posey was awesome …didn’t realize he was a model railroader !
Ken Brunt said:
That makes sense. The track behind those 3 buildings on 741 is still there, I just couldn’t figure out if it crossed 896 at one time and went further into town.
The Choo Choo barn and Strasburg Train shop sits where those 3 buildings were located.
Joel is on the other end of the line …Thought you were a coffee drinker so you should be on the edge!
RT 741 should be RT 30 or the Philadelphia / Pittsburgh Pike for cars or wagons …
**Another useless post by:**Rooster
I think you need the coffee Roos! If I am reading that right, it’s two diagrams. The bottom is the junction with the old PRR main, the top being industry in E. Strassburg.
It doesn’t help that they are both not oriented to North , nor to each other!
Rooster, It’s both Strasburg and Paradise (although merged together on the same page). Strasburg is technically “Ronks”, at least according to their address.
Ronks is north of rte30 Joe and Strasburg is south at least 2-3 miles between the two. Leaman place junction is the end of Strasburgs run
Jon Radder said:
I think you need the coffee Roos! If I am reading that right, it’s two diagrams. The bottom is the junction with the old PRR main, the top being industry in E. Strassburg.
It doesn’t help that they are both not oriented to North , nor to each other!
Ok…having coffee now !!!(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)
Way back in the day …http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/14331/Ephrata+1++Strasburg+2++Akron/Lancaster+County+1875/Pennsylvania/
http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/14347/Paradise/Lancaster+County+1875/Pennsylvania/
https://andysantiqueatlases.com/images/PA/1899-Lancaster-JPG/Stasburg-Paradise.jpg
Ric Golding said:
Could not find a physical connection between the Strasburg Railroad and the Interurban Railroad of Lancaster. Nor a trolley connecting the two. Still feel there may have been one.
It says that it went into Strasburg Dec.18-1901. The map on he above link shows it.
Ken Brunt said:
Wikipedia has a short history of the line.
History
By the 1820s, the canal system had replaced the Conestoga wagon as the primary method of overland transportation. When the Susquehanna Canal opened, the majority of goods were directed through Baltimore, Maryland, rather than Philadelphia.[5][6] The small amount of goods that were destined for Philadelphia traveled via a wagon road through Strasburg.[6] Philadelphia attempted to reclaim its position as a major port city by constructing the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in 1831. A railroad was easier and more cost effective to build than a canal. Because the new railroad would bypass Strasburg and cause Strasburg to lose its livelihood, a group of businessmen petitioned the state government for the right to build their own railroad to connect Strasburg to the Philadelphia and Columbia.[7] A charter was issued by the Pennsylvania Legislature with the signature of Governor George Wolf on June 9, 1832 to “incorporate the Strasburg rail road [sic]”.[8]
Strasburg Rail Road ex-PRR 4-4-0 number 929 in Strasburg around 1894.Although the pre-1852 history of the Strasburg Rail Road is sketchy, it is believed that the line was graded in 1835 and was operational by 1837.[7][9] The railroad operated as a horse-drawn railroad until it purchased a second-hand Norris-built, 4-2-0 steam locomotive named the William Penn in 1851.[9] Controlling interest in the railroad was purchased by John F. and Cyrus N. Herr in 1863. The rails were replaced around the same time with heavier ones to accommodate the locomotive.[10] In 1866, the Herrs were granted a charter to extend the Strasburg Rail Road to Quarryville; surveys were carried out, but the extension was eventually canceled because of an economic depression in 1867.[11] Isaac Groff managed The Strasburg Rail Road for about 20 years until the fire of January 16, 1871, which destroyed the depot, grist, and merchant-mill, planing-mill and machine-shop — in all, more than $50,000 worth of property. In 1878, the Strasburg Rail Road and the shops were sold.[12] The railroad was eventually again sold in 1888 to the Edward Musselman, with the Musselmans retaining control of it until 1918 when it was purchased by State Senator John Homsher. By this time, the number of passengers had dropped off due to tracks for the Conestoga Traction Company’s streetcars reaching Strasburg in 1908, which offered a more direct route between Lancaster and Strasburg.[13]
In 1926, the Strasburg Rail Road purchased a 20-short-ton (17.9-long-ton; 18.1 t), gasoline-powered, Plymouth switcher—the only locomotive that was ever built specifically for the Strasburg Rail Road.[13] By 1958, the railroad fell on hard-times from cumulative effect of years of declining freight business and infrequent runs, damage caused by Hurricane Hazel and inspectors from the Interstate Commerce Commission’s lack of approval for operation of the Plymouth locomotive.[13][14] Upon the death of Bryson Homsher, the Homsher estate filed for abandonment with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.[15] Hearing of the potential abandonment, an effort to purchase and save the railroad was organized by Henry K. Long and Donald E. L. Hallock, both railfans from Lancaster. They organized a small, non-profit group to purchase the railroad. After the better part of a year of hard work, the purchase was completed on November 1, 1958. The following week, on November 8, the first carload of revenue freight was hauled to what was then the only customer, a mill in Strasburg.
Tourist excursion service began on January 4, 1959 and their first steam locomotive arrived the following year.
I guess this is where the “Cafe1832” came from:
A charter was issued by the Pennsylvania Legislature with the signature of Governor George Wolf on June 9, 1832 to "incorporate the Strasburg rail road
Found this interesting old newspaper article from December 1959. It can be zoomed in on.
Page 1 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1959-12-27/ed-1/seq-115/
Page 2 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1959-12-27/ed-1/seq-116/
A railroad was easier and more cost effective to build than a canal.
Well, that neatly bypasses the fact that canals freeze in winter which makes them useless for carrying freight.
Joe Loll said:
The 1899 map concurs with the drawing 60 yrs later with a few changes I suppose. But note the RR name and what does (n.G ) mean ?
Time for,fore,4,four more coffee ?
Edit …because the tobacco warehouse was across the street. I don’t even like or model steam but I love history!
Hey Rooster,
.
Did you ever search the Interurban or Trolley System from Mechanicsburg to Lancaster? Did the tracks go past your house down main Street?
Ric Golding said:
Hey Rooster,
.
Did you ever search the Interurban or Trolley System from Mechanicsburg to Lancaster? Did the tracks go past your house down main Street?
Ric,
I already answered that on page 1. Valley Traction did run past my house (out front and paralleled the CVRR in the rear of the house) it ran from Carlisle area to Harrisburg and crossed the old washed out Market street steel bridge into Harrisburg (3/4 still standing). I’m sure it easily interconnected with other traction companies once in Harrisburg. Thought I left you with plenty of information to search out in the past 2 pages?
From fall 1965 to spring 1967, I was a college student at Millersville State College. (They had only taken “Teachers’” out of their name a few years before then, and were not a university yet!) I was very grateful for the Conestoga Transit company. I could get almost anywhere in Lancaster County by bus. The reason for the good service was that the Amish community made heavy use of the buses. I made several trips to the Strasburg Railroad using the bus while I studied at Millersville State College. Usually the bus was the first leg of my trips home. I would take a bus from Millersville to Lancaster, King Street transfer point. There I would buy a transfer pass to the PRR train station in Lancaster. At the PRR station, I would buy a ticket to Harrisburg. Once in Harrisburg, I would purchase yet another bus ticket to Palmyra (home). This whole trip still cost less than $5.00!
Ah, memories!
Have fun, David Meashey
David Meashey said:
From fall 1965 to spring 1967, I was a college student at Millersville State College. (They had only taken “Teachers’” out of their name a few years before then, and were not a university yet!)
Mom earned her masters in elementary education there. Then married dad a few years later in 1964.
Back in the day in the hood.