The Midland Pennsylvania Railroad, begun in 1910, with plans to connect Millersburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, with Ashland, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, turned out to be a colossal failure. In addition to the two terminal points of the railroad, stations were planned in Killinger, Berrysburg, Gratz, Springville, Valley View, Weishample and Mable. Great plans were formulated for the growth of commerce and farming. Much of the hype was presented in a Harrisburg Telegraph article in 1911. That article is transcribed here in several parts, with part two presented today.
From the article that appeared in the Harrisburg Telegraph, 16 March 1911:
Midland Pennsylvania Railroad Company
by Robert F. Gorman
The Midland Pennsylvania Railroad Company, which will help to develop one of the best sections of country in Pennsylvania, will run through the entire Lykens Valley from Millersburg to Ashland, a distance of forty-four miles and will touch all of the important towns en-route.
The territory from Millersburg to Ashland lies between two beautiful ranges of the Blue Ridge Mountains which extend from east to west; through a fertile farming country where before many years some of the best fruits and vegetables and cereals in the United States will be raised, and along the border of the anthracite coal mining district the new road will pass. At Millersburg it will connect with the Pennsylvania Railroad lines and at Ashland it will meet the Philadelphia and reading and the Lehigh Valley companies’ lines.
After leaving Ashland the road will pass through Gordon, Taylorsville, Mabel, Weishample, Hegins, Valley View, Sacramento, Gratz, Berrysburg and Killinger, thence to Millersburg, the western terminal of the road. At this latter point, there will be a big freight station built and a number of railroad sidings, paralleling the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks, will be laid. At each of the towns where the road will pass handsome stations will be erected both for freight and passenger service. Although no plans have yet been drawn for the stations, it is known that all of the buildings will be uniform. They will likely be built of lumber taken from the woodlands through the valley, but there is a possibility of their being built of brick. Deposits of unusually fine clay in the valley will no doubt result in the early establishment of a brick-making plant.
There is another building, also, which the company will build and this will be known as the company’s railroad shop. The exact location of the shop has not yet been determined upon, but by public opinion and centralization it is believed that it will be erected near Gratz. At this shop all of the company’s cars will be repaired and all other work done. It will mean the employing of quite a number of men.
Since the time work was started on the railroad there has been considerable progress made. for a distance of about six miles the road is graded. At Millersburg at the present time a large seam shovel is being used in making the excavations. On the roadbed for the entire distance where will be a grade of only 1.2% to the mile. The road is made out in the more level parts of the valley and in only a few places will there be any trouble experienced to getting the line through. With the aid of the steam shovel, however, the work will be made comparatively easy.
The railroad will follow nearly the course of the main wagon road which begins at Millersburg and leads through the valley. At Millersburg the railroad will be on the north side of the road, but just east of Berrysburg, it will cross to the south side. It will continue on that side until a point near Gratz is reached, when it will again cross the main thoroughfare in a line to a point west of Springfield. Here another crossing will be established. The tracks will then be laid on the south side to a place just West of Valley View. With the tracks on the north side of the wagon road the railroad will be laid to Ashland.
The ties for the road will be made in the Lykens Valley. Lumbermen in various sections will be given contacts to furnish the lumber for certain distances, The ties will be hewn from the trees which now go to make the section a valuable lumber country. For a distance of about six or seven miles the contract for ties has been given to H. L. Lark, of Millersburg.
At points along the line where it will be necessary to build culverts reinforce concrete will be used, so that they may last for years to come. In several places, culverts will be built, but it is believed that at only one point a bridge will have to be constructed.
Steam and Gasoline
On the new road both steam engines and gasoline cars will be used to furnish the power of transportation. The steam engines will be used to haul the freight cars from one point on the road to another an also to pull the regular passenger trains which will run the entire length of the valley at intervals during the day. The freight traffic, within a very short time, will be heavy because of the manufacturing concerns which will locate in the various towns. The farmers throughout the valley will also have heavy shipments within the near future when their farms are cultivated under the direction of the Lykens Valley Development Company and produce is raised for the markets.
Passenger travel will receive much of the the railroad company’s attention. The valley trains will make connections with the main line trains at their terminals. From points north and east of Ashland along the Philadelphia and reading and the Lehigh Valley railroads the distance to Harrisburg will be lessened thirty-five miles by a ride through the valley. Because of this fact it is believed that travel on the road will be heavy with the people from points along those railroads.
The gasoline cars as a means of travel are something entirely new to the majority of people in this section of Pennsylvania. The engines in the cars are modeled somewhat after the types of engines used in automobiles, although their power is much greater. The design of the car is practically the same as that of the ordinary street railway. The cars are driven by four wheels through durable traction discs and will run to a speed of thirty-five miles an hour. There is no jerk to gasoline cars as there is on the electric cars when the controller is advanced a notch. The car is not built directly on the axles and this eliminates the pounding at the track joints. A quart of gasoline will carry a thirty-five passenger car with baggage compartment a distance of one mile. All of the cars used by the Midland Pennsylvania Railroad will be equipped with baggage compartments.
It is the intention of the company to have an hourly service between various towns in the valley besides the steam trains. It will be for this purpose that the gasoline cars will be used.
The Midland Pennsylvania Railroad is being built by the Pinkerton Construction Company, of Philadelphia. For the purpoe of financing the project of a railroad through the valley the Lykens Valley Construction Company, which owns the Williams Valley Electric Railray, was organized. It is this company which is securing the rights of way through the valley, and to this company, also, the Pinkerton Company looks for its contract money. In securing the rights of way through the many farms very little trouble is being experienced as the people feel that a railroad through the community will be a big benefit.
From the opening of the railroad it is generally believed by the people that there will be a big business in coal. The mountains on the south side of the valley, which are now being worked only on the southern side, will undoubtedly be opened on the northern side, probably near Valley View and hauling the coal over the Midland Pennsylvania Railroad will be the only means of getting it on the commercial market except by hauling it in carts for long trips over the rough mountains. This would be so expensive that there would be little profit for the shippers.
400,000 Tons Mined
At the present time there are 400,000 tons of coal lying in the valley near Valley View waiting to be transported. This was taken from the northern side of the mountain, but there was no available means of getting it to a shipping point. It is thought that when the first news of the new railroad was heard the Philadelphia and reading Coal and Iron Company, to whom the coal belongs, decided to let the coal in the valley until it could be shipped on the new railroad.
The new railroad will encourage the development of a section of country which has heretofore been unheard of except for its scenic beauty. With the building of the railroad will come the development of new farms, the building of houses, cottages and factories and the increasing of the population of the entire valley. For the whole length of the valley the place will seem like one town.
There is much competition among the different towns of the valley and each town is trying to outdo the other in the way of getting new enterprises. The boards of trade in some of the towns have been working hard for industries and in an endeavor to advertise for what they want they have placed their wants on the official envelopes of their respective boards. Among the things wanted are facilities of all kinds, planing mills, brick, tile and terra cotta plants, water works, fruit preserving establishments and newspapers.
The next part of this series will be entitled “Lykens Valley Development Company, 1911,” and will tell of specific industries that were planned for the Lykens Valley as a result of the coming of the Midland Pennsylvania Railroad.
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News article is from Newspapers.com.
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