An undated view of Market Street in Elizabethville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The railroad station is at far right and the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Lykens Valley Branch cross Market Street just behind the station. The station was one of the stops of the Lykens Valley Accommodation, the train that left Lykens in the morning, terminating at Harrisburg and returned to Lykens in the early evening. The “Accommodation” was the Lykens Valley’s commuter train. The train stopped along the route to pick up and discharge passengers.
This post presents some of the printed stories about this notable train during the period 1929-1934.
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From the Elizabethville Echo, January 17, 1929:
On Monday morning when the gasoline engine of the Lykens Valley Accommodation failed, passengers were transferred to another train to Harrisburg. The extreme cold temperature is said to have caused the breakdown, and the transfer was made at Clarks Ferry.
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The Pennsylvania Railroad was always getting feedback from passengers who used the Accommodation about the train’s schedule. An attempt to get the schedule changed in 1929 was rejected by the railroad. From the Elizabethville Echo, March 5, 1931:
DISAPPROVE ACCOMMODATION TIME CHANGE
Although a number of commuters on the Lykens Valley Accommodation have asked for it, Pennsylvania Railroad Officials have declined the suggestion of a change in schedule.
The train carries county and state employees to Harrisburg, as well as employees of the Bethlehem Steel Company to Steelton and other points in the lower end of the county.
Government employees in Harrisburg finish their working day at five o’clock and they lead the movement for a change of leaving time from Harrisburg. The train now leaves at 5:45 and the proposed schedule would have the Accommodation leave at 5:15. Other commuters opposed the change because a later hour of quitting work would not give them an opportunity to return until the next train north at 7:40 o’clock. Officials therefore disapproved the change.
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Train conductors were were well known on regular railroad routes. This included the conductor on the Lykens Valley Accommodation. When the long-time conductor decided to take a European vacation, the Elizabethville Echo reported on it on June 26, 1930:
CONDUCTOR ON EUROPEAN TRIP
Mr. and Mrs. John H. Boechler of Millersburg sailed on the S. S. Berengaria from New York, Saturday, for a trip which will take them on a two month tour of Europe.
The Boechlers will visit nine countries of central and western Europe and expect to witness the Passion Play at Oberammeragau. On their return, Mr. and Mrs. Boechler will sail from Glasgow, Scotland and will disembark at Montreal, Canada. From that point they will tour Canada and re-enter the United States to return home through the New England states.
Mr. Boechler has been a passenger conductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad for many years, most of which time he has been assigned to the Lykens Valley Accommodation.
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And, when this same popular conductor retired in 1932, the Elizabethville Echo noted that he had served on the run since 1914. From the newspaper of March 8, 1932:
BRANCH CONDUCTOR ON RAILROAD HONOR ROLL
Mr. J. H. Beachler, Pennsylvania Railroad conductor of Millersburg, has been placed on the honor roll of the company after forty-nine years of service.
Mr. Beachler attained the age of seventy years February 17th and made his last run as conductor on the Lykens Valley Accommodation Friday evening, February 23rd. He had been conductor on the branch run between Harrisburg and Lykens since 1914.
Robert J. Day, also of Millersburg, baggage master on the same train and an extra conductor is acting in Mr. Beachler’s capacity until a regular conductor is assigned to the run.
Mr. Beachler entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad as a freight clerk in the old Sunbury yards and later removed to Northumberland. In 1887 he was assigned to passenger service.
At present, Mr. and Mrs. Beachler are enjoying a motor trip through southern states and will visit Florida before their return north.
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The Elizabethville Echo, March 18, 1932, told a story of a boy who saved the Lykens Valley Accommodation from a derailment:
BROKEN RAIL FOUND BY BOY AVERTS WRECK
Discovery of a broken rail by Walter Spicher Jr., averted a probable wreck of the Lykens Valley Accommodation train on the Summit Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad here, last Friday evening.
The boy was returning to the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Spicher, who reside near the Borough Park, when he discovered the broken rail. He notified H. E. Rush, local Agent about five o’clock and Mr. Rush advised the Supervisor’s office at Millersburg.
The track crew was sent to this place and made repairs before arrival of the Accommodation at 7:15 P. M.
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Trains striking vehicles at crossings were common. The Accommodation struct a wagon near the Millersburg Station and it was reported in the August 18, 1932 edition of the Elizabethville Echo:
A two-horse wagon, driven by W. P. Shaffer, storekeeper at Curtin was struck by the Lykens Valley Accommodation on a crossing near the Millersburg station last Wednesday evening. The wagon was demolished but the horses and Mr. Shaffer escaped with slight cuts.
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From the Shamokin Daily News of June 2, 1933, came a story confirming the rural character of the Lykens Valley Branch Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Cows were on the tracks blocking the path of the Accommodation.
“Royal Scot” Is Blocked by Cows In Lykens Valley
“Accommodation” Train Compelled to Stop Because of Animals on Railroad Track.
It was milking time in the Lykens Valley, so the Pennsy train crew had to shoo the cattle off the track.
It happened Wednesday night, but the “Lykens Accommodation” rolled in on time just the same, and the engineer’s conscience was clear.
Twice a day the “Lykens Accommodation” makes its run, once from Lykens to Harrisburg at 7:15 a.m. and again from Harrisburg to Lykens at 5:45 in the evening.
A gasoline car was the “train” for the last few years of curtailed service on the Pennsylvania line. During the last few weeks the “Accommodation” dignity has been raised by a regular steam locomotive and two coaches.
On Wednesday night the Harrisburg-Lykens trip began as usual. Between Elizabethville and Lykens, the engineer sighted trouble. He blew his whistle and rang his bell, and finally threw on the brakes.
Window went up and passenger heads popped out.
The train crew got out, shooed the cows into the field from whence they had com, put up the bars on the fence beside the track, and went back to their posts.
“All aboard!”
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The main method of moving units of the Pennsylvania National Guard to their camps was the railroad. In August 1933, a Cavalry Band from Elizabethville was transported to Harrisburg by the Accommodation and from Harrisburg got connecting service to Colebrook and eventually to the then new Indiantown Gap Military Reservation.
The Elizabethville Echo reported on August 3, 1933:
Local Guardsmen Prepare for Camp
Thirty members of the 104th Cavalry Band of this place are preparing to leave Saturday for their two weeks training period with units of the Pennsylvania National Guard at Colebrook [Lebanon County, Pennsylvania]. Part of their training is expected to take them to the site of the new military reservation between Manada and Indiantown Gap. The guardsmen will return August 19th.
They will entrain at 7:19 Saturday morning on a special baggage and passenger car of the Lykens Valley Accommodation which will take them into Harrisburg where they will join other companies of the 104th Cavalry Troop.
The band roster includes: Perry A. Swab, Warrant Officer and leader; Charles H. Snyder; Warren Fl Swab; J. Kent Hassinger; Harold L. Romberger; George W. Lenker; Eldred E. Swab; Clair A. Daniels; Roy Batdorf; Ralph Zeigler; Allen Wise; Ray Moyer; Charles Link; John D. Gelencser; Marlin Fetterhoff; Melvin Dunleavy; Stephen Snyder; Harry Schellenberger; Walter Lenker; herman Whitcom; Wilbur Warfel; Levan Schriver; Norman Warfel; Albert Messersmith; Russell Lenker; Nevin Koppenheffer; Clair F. Klinger; Harry Hawk; Ralph Erdman; Paul Dunleavy.
Attorney James Snyder of town, also a member of the guard, will attend camp during the same period.
Another report from the Echo appeared the following week, August 10, 1933:
CAVALRY BAND ENTERS 2 WEEK TRAINING CAMP
Members of Elizabethville‘s 104th Cavalry Band are rounding out their first week of camp with other units of the Pennsylvania National Guard at Colebrook.
The band entrained on the Lykens Valley Accommodation last Saturday morning and at Harrisburg joined other contingents moving into camp.
The first week was given over to routine training, but it is expected next week will take them to the new military reservation at Indiantown Gap for bivouac and field maneuvers including mimic battles. They will remain here Saturday August 19th.
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Religious groups also used the Accommodation to get to meetings. The Elizabethville Echo of October 5, 1933 reported on the extra cars that were added to the Accommodation to get young people to the Christian Endeavor Convention in Harrisburg:
Two extra cars are attached to the Valley Accommodation train because of the C. E. Convention in Harrisburg this week.
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The Civilian Conservation Corps Camp (CCC) that was to be set up in the Armstrong Valley was in the process of being established in October 1933 and the Accommodation did its part in transporting the first contingent of men to the site. The Elizabethville Echo reported the following in its October 12, 1933 edition:
First Contingent Expected Tomorrow
The first contingent assigned to the camp in Armstrong Valley is expected to arrive tomorrow evening in special coaches attached to the Lykens Valley Accommodation.
Twenty-one men who are to form a nucleus for the camp will be accompanied by equipment necessary to to establish temporary shelter and quarters. It is expected they will remain in their cars for the night and start for the camp site Saturday morning.
Between six and eight carloads of lumber are expected within the next three weeks to be used in construction of several barracks, mess hall and other accommodations. A compliment of 206 men is expected when the camp’s full roster is filled out.
And a week later, the Echo gave a progress report on the C. C. C. Camp and again cited the role of the Lykens Valley Accommodation.
C. C. C. CAMP ESTABLISHED HERE DURING WEEK END
A tented village that sprang up during the week end in Upper Armstrong Valley about three miles northeast of Elizabethville in housing Uncle Sam’s advance unit of a Civilian Conservation Corps winter camp. Its tenants are eighteen young men in command of Captain Tisdale, Sergeant Lanigan and Corporal Culley.
The contingent arrived here in special cars, a Pullman and express car which carried their equipment and were attached to the Lykens Valley Accommodation last Friday evening. It includes men enlisted for forestry work from the Third Army Corps Area with headquarters at Baltimore, Maryland. Most of the young men of the unit are residents of the Elmira, New York area.
Saturday was consumed in unloading the supplies and trucking them to the camp site. By nightfall four tents provided shelter for supplies and sleeping quarters for the boys and officers. The following day, additional tents were erected for storage of implements and other supplies which will be used in their forestry work.
The group had been stationed at Cascade, Idaho, and re-enlisted upon expiration of the first six month period. Approval of additional camp items for the winter months in the milder climates of Virginia and Pennsylvania, brought their transfer to this section. When they left Idaho last Tuesday they reported snowfalls of three to six inches in the mountainous sections of that state.
This advanced contingent will prepare the camp for arrival of new enlistments which are expected to fill the camp to its complement of about two hundred men. Tents erected this week will only be temporary and will be replaced by wooden barracks to be covered with tar paper and lined with wall board. Other buildings will house a dispensary, a recreation building and bath house with hot and cold showers. The replacements are expected by the end of this month….
The camp has been established in the Haldeman State Forest district which has a fair growth of timber. The work of the men to be assigned here will include construction of road and trails in the 4500 acre tract which includes a game refuge on Broad Mountain….
The site has been designated as Camp S-123 and is located in what is known locally as “Muckle Rats Hole” between Broad Mountain and Berries Mountain. It is reached from the Elizabethville–Fisherville Highway by turning south at the Mountain House and proceeding thus to the first dirt road eastward. The camp is located on this road, about two miles east of the improved Mountain House-Carsonville Road.
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Fires in buildings along the tracks were also a cause of trains being delayed in their runs. In December 14, 1933, the Elizabethville Echo reported on a fire at the M. E. Byerly Wagon Works in that town:
The main building of the M. E. Byerly Wagon Works was destroyed by fire early last evening. The blaze was discovered by an employee residing near the plant and he sounded the alarm by means of the whistle in the engine room.
Owing to a defective plug at the Phillip Hawk residence, a line had to be run from the plug at the Romberger Hide House, 500 to 800 feet from the fire….
Sparks were carried over to Main Street and set fire to the roof of M. R. Keiper’s home but those flames were soon extinguished. The wood work for more than 60 wagons had recently been sawed and prepared, was entirely burned and the total has been estimated at between $5000 and $7000 said to be mostly covered by insurance. It is believed the fire originated in a hot shaft box.
Because hose lines were stretched over tracks of the branch railroad, the Lykens Valley Accommodation was held almost half an hour at the J. A. Romberger warehouse.
Between twelve and fifteen men have been thrown out of employment by the fire.
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Changes in personnel on the Accommodation were reported as in this case from the Elizabethville Echo, May 24, 1934:
Harry J. Miller, brakeman on the Lykens Valley Accommodation, has been transferred to Lykens, where he is conducting the “hill train” between that point and Williamstown. George F. Evitts, of Lykens, has been assigned Mr. Miller’s place on the branch.
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This derailment was reported by the Elizabethville Echo of July 19, 1934:
Derailment Blocked Branch Line Thursday
A coal train derailment blocked tracks of the Lykens Valley Branch more than six hours last Thursday evening delaying movement of Lykens Valley Accommodation until early Friday morning.
The delay was occasioned when the truck of a coal car on a west-bound freight train jumped the tracks near Good’s Curve, east of the Woodside Station. No other cars were derailed nor were the tracks badly damaged by the accident. The Northeumberland wreck crew and train were called to the scene and had the tracks cleared shortly after midnight.
The Lykens Valley Accommodation here from Harrisburg at 6:20 P. M. was held up at Millersburg where passengers were transferred to a bus to complete their trip to Upper Dauphin destinations. The Accommodation proceeded to Lykens about one o’clock the following morning.
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News article from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.