Mount Gretna Narrow Gauge Railway

One of the Template:RailGauge gauge Template:Whyte locomotives of the Mount Gretna Narrow Gauge Railway.

The Mount Gretna Narrow Gauge Railway was a Template:RailGauge narrow-gauge line of the Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad in the state of Pennsylvania that operated between 1889 and 1915 under the parent Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad Company. The C&L Railroad earlier had established a station and picnic ground at Mount Gretna.

History

The Gilded Age iron industrialist and railroad president Robert Habersham Coleman decided that a Template:Convert narrow-gauge railroad to the top of nearby Governor Dick Mountain would provide an additional tourist draw, and a Template:Convert spur at milepost 0.75 could service the Pennsylvania National Guard rifle ranges nearby.<ref name="crittenden">Crittenden</ref> The line was built to the rare (in North America) and very narrow gauge of Template:Convert. Locomotives, apart from an early and unsuccessful H. K. Porter, Inc<ref name="Shaw 1958 p.183">Shaw 1958 p. 183</ref> Template:Whyte Forney locomotive numbered 11 (first 11), were three Template:Whyte "American" types (#12, #11 (second 11), and #15 built in that order)<ref name="Abdill 1965 p.98">Abdill 1965 p. 98</ref> built by Baldwin Locomotive Works. Baldwin locomotive #11 was ordered on 22 June 1889 and built in only 8 days to be ready for anticipated Independence Day crowds after the Porter Forney wheelbase proved too rigid for reliable service on small-radius curves. The Baldwin locomotives featured lagged smokeboxes<ref name="Abdill 1965 p.98"/> and were the only Template:RailGauge gauge Template:Whytes ever operated in North America (discounting Crown Metal Products locomotives); although Baldwin built a Template:RailGauge gauge Template:Whyte for the Ferrocarril de Tacubaya of Mexico City in 1897.<ref>Moody 1959 p. 211</ref><ref>Best 1968 p. 168</ref>

Map of the Mt Gretna Narrow Gauge Railway

Rails weighing Template:Convert were spiked onto the Template:Convert face of ties Template:Convert long. A turntable, engine-house, water tank, and storage tracks were near the junction with the Cornwall & Lebanon at Mount Gretna. Return loops were built near the rifle range and around Governor Dick peak. During the summer of 1889 passengers were carried in one conventional coach and 7 open-sided observation cars boarded from long foot-boards running along the length of either side of the car, though typically trains consisted of only one to three coaches. These eight passenger cars were built by the Jackson & Sharp Company. Two more observation cars were added when locomotive #15 was purchased for the summer of 1890.<ref name="crittenden"/> At first the railroad was popular, but the tourist trade declined after the novelty had died down. The loop around Governor Dick was dismantled after the summer of 1896,<ref>Schaumburg 1981 p. 54</ref> but the railroad continued operation for the National Guard rifle range. A serious accident on the 11th of July, 1915 killed off that traffic. One of the observation cars overturned on a sharp curve when a large number of guardsmen attempted to board simultaneously from one side of the car.<ref name="Shaw 1958 p.183"/> There were some serious injuries, and the tiny railroad ceased operation in the summer of 1916, shortly after its parent company's purchase by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Most sources state that the narrow-gauge equipment was loaded aboard standard gauge cars on 14 September 1916.<ref name="crittenden"/> However, a newspaper clipping dating from the 24th of December, 1920 mentions the departure of "two miniature steam locomotives"<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with reference to the narrow gauge railroad. This clipping is backed up by numerous other reports from around that same time.

Locomotives

Number	Builder	Type	Built	Retired	Disposition
11	H.K.Porter Company	0-4-4t Forney	1889	Mid 1890s	Converted to standard gauge for use on the Cornwall & Lebanon and later scrapped after operations at the associated Cornwall Anthracite Furnaces ceased.
12	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1889	1916	Scrapped
11	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1889	1916	Scrapped
15	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1890	1916	Scrapped

Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad

The standard-gauge Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad continued operations as a branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and later Penn Central Transportation Company until 1972. Hurricane Agnes caused flood damage, preventing operation of trains on the branch, and the damage was not repaired. The branch was converted to the 21st-century Lebanon Valley Rail Trail after the rails were removed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

References

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