An undated photograph of a diesel engine pulling a freight train at the Elizabethville Railroad Station, Elizabethville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
The movement of freight on portions of the Lykens Valley Railroad was almost ended by 1978 when it was revived by Dale Moyer who ran a low-volume operation between Elizabethville and Millersburg. However, by March 1981, it became obvious that the line had to be abandoned.
The following story appeared in the Pottsville Republican, March 28, 1981:
Lykens Valley Railroad Scheduled to End Service
ELIZABETHVILLE — The Lykens Valley railroad, a freight service line which runs from Elizabethville to Millersburg, is one of 13 low-volume rfail lines in Pennsylvania whose existence in the near future is in doubt.
Started in 1978, the Lykens Valley Railroad is scheduled to discontinue March 31, a result of the Reagan Administration’s request to Congress to rescind rail subsidy funds for 1981 and also of the low usage of the line during 1980.
Lykens Valley Railroad operator Dale Moyer said the line is owned by Penn Central Corporation, leased to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and operated under contract to PennDOT by himself. PennDOT administers the federal and state subsidies to the railroad and a spokesman for the department said it isn’t planning to allocate funds to the rail service after March 31 when the $30,000 1980 subsidy expires.
The PennDOT spokesman said only 32 carloads were transported on the Elizabethville–Millersburg tracks between April 1980 and January 1981.
Moyer noted that PennDOT isn’t planning to renew its lease with Penn Central next year and said he was told by Penn Central Corporation representatives that the plan to file for abandonment of the tracks with the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) unless another party purchases the tracks from them.
Moyer said he felt chances that such a sale would occur ranged between “fat and slim.”
The operator said he was very upset about the seemingly unavoidable fate of the railroad. “I invested a considerable amount of my own money in the purchase of stock in the company,” he said. “I’ve operated it for two years without drawing a salary.”
Moyer believes that the railroad had the potential to become profitable within the next year. A coal-loading ramp was built near the Elizabethville station last month and the operator believes this addition could have encouraged enough business and warrant the line’s continued existence.
Moyer said two coal companies had shown interest in using the railroad since the ramp was built. One of the companies, Meadowbrook Coal Company, Lykens, even helped finance the construction of the ramp.
Only two businesses have been steadily using the Lykens Valley railroad since 1978, Moyer conceded.
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News article from Newspapers.com.
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