As this area grew in the early 1800's so did the number of towns and roads. Produce and products, as well as people and raw materials all relied on horses, mules, wagons and stagecoaches for transportation. Using a combination of railroads and canals the state of Pennsylvania had a good bulk transport system that could carry goods, but the locals had to get the goods to the river or railroad in Harrisburg or York in order to ship them. In the 1830's a group of businessmen won a charter from the state to build a feeder line to serve the Cumberland Valley. In August of 1837 the first seventeen mile link opened, connecting Carlisle to Bridgeport (now known as Lemoyne) and the Cumberland Valley Rail Road was born. Hundreds of people rode the train named "Cumberland Valley" on August 12, 1837 for the inaugural run. Later that year another 33 mile segment was completed to Chambersburg, and by January 1839 the railway bridge across the Susquehanna River was completed, allowing the CVRR to connect with major railroads in Harrisburg, where travel to Philadelphia and beyond was possible. People and goods could now leave Carlisle at 9 AM and arrive in Philadelphia by 6 PM. Travelers from Pittsburgh would ride the stagecoach over the mountains at Bedford to arrive in Chambersburg, then take the train the rest of the way to Philadelphia.
As you can imagine, the railroads ruled the valley. Everybody and everything that moved went by rail. Every town along the way either had a station or at least some pickup locations that looked like modern day school bus shelters.
Mechanicsburg was designated as a water station where the steam locomotives were refueled with wood and water. In all the towns along the route factories, graineries, lumber yards and businesses located along the railroad. As many as 25 trains per day traveled the line carrying passengers and freight, newspapers and mail. There was a stationmaster house and passenger station built in Mechanicsburg.
The railroad was a dominant monopoly in the area, employing nearly 2000 people and controlling the movement of everything in the valley. It's lines eventually reached Greencastle, then Hagarstown and on to Winchester, Virginia. The Pennsylvania Rail Road owned a controlling share of the stock since 1859 and finally incorporated the CVRR into the PRR in 1919.
The iron ore that was being mined still had to be brought to the rail stations via mule drawn wagons. Various railroad spurs were built to reach out to the iron producing areas like Pine Grove Furnace, Boiling Springs, Mount Holly and Dillsburg. The 8 mile long Dillsburg connection was completed in 1872 and service began in February 1873. There was a station built to service the Dillsburg branch along Trindle Road, which still stands today. There was also a station built at Williams Grove, a popular picnic and fairground. The largest number of passengers carried in one day on the Dillsburg spur was 32,750 people on 110 trains (754 cars) to the Grangers Picnic at Williams Grove in 1892. This line was upgraded to an electric train in 1906. Passenger service to Dillsburg was discontinued in 1928.
The CVRR tracks ran right down the center of High Street in Carlisle. The last train to traveled through the town on October 17, 1936. The railroad built bypasses around Carlisle and other towns to avoid the slow speeds and crossings in town.
The PRR shut down all passenger service on the line in 1952. The last New York to Roanoke train ran in 1961. The PRR was succeeded by The Penn Central Railroad, which closed all the train repair facilities at Chambersburg in 1972. Conrail took over in 1976 and severed the line between Carlisle and Shippensburg. They combined some tracks with the Reading Company and the resulting line is known as the Lurgan Branch and has been operated by Norfolk Southern since 1999. Conrail abandoned most of the spurs in the area in 1976. The Dillsburg branch operated until about 1976, carrying freight to the lumber yards and grain mill. The tracks crossed Route 15 just south of Route 74, next to 84 Lumber. Blinking lights used to stop traffic on the highway as the train crossed. The track at Dillsburg and many of the other local spurs was removed in approximately 1980.
The CVRR was the first railroad to offer a sleeper car, which was just a converted passenger car that had upholstered board beds that folded up to the wall and had shades on the windows.
One of the locomotives that served the CVRR is on display at the National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, PA.
