South Mountain Railroad (Cumberland)

For the 1854 RR between Harrisburg & Jonestown, see South Mountain Railroad (Dauphin & Lebanon counties).
South Mountain Railroad
Overview
LocaleCumberland County, Pennsylvania
History
Commenced1869 (1869)
Completed1870 (1870)[1]
Chartered1865 (SM Iron Co)
Acquired1877 (SM Railway & Mining Co.)[2]
Merged1891 (Gett. & Harr. Railway)
Technical
Line length17.78 mi (28.61 km)

The South Mountain Railroad was a southcentral Pennsylvania railway line for "connecting the Pine Grove works to the Cumberland Valley R. R."[3] and which provided mining and passenger services via a southwest section from Hunter's Run, Pennsylvania, and a northern section from Hunter's Run to the CVRR junction northeast of Carlisle. The northern section merged with the Gettysburg & Harrisburg Railroad line south from Hunter's Run to the Gettysburg Battlefield in 1891 to create the Gettysburg & Harrisburg Railway line, while the branch southwest from Hunter's Run became the Hunter's Run and Slate Belt Railroad line.[4]

Modernized sections of the South Mountain Railroad remain north of Hunter's Run; while parts of the railbed are available for hiking and biking such as near Carlisle (Letort Spring Run Nature Trail)[5] and the Pine Grove Furnace State Park (Cumberland County Biker/Hiker Trail with section of the Appalachian Trail.)

1885 map with SMRR (top) depicts the Hunter's Run junction with the Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railroad, the Gettysburg Junction with the Cumberland Valley Railroad, and the "H. & P. Juntn." with the Harrisburg and Philadelphia Railroad.
Not shown: east-west Hanover Junction, Hanover and Gettysburg Railroad through Gettysburg
1872 (top)[6] & 1889 maps[7]: 16a  of the terminus at the Pine Grove Iron Works.
  1. ^ Beers, Warner (2009) [1886]. "Chapter XXXV, Part II". South Middleton Township and Borough of Mount Holly Springs. USGenWeb Archives. Retrieved 2011-05-17. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Labelle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Keefer, Horace Andrew (October 1934) [written after January 29, 1927]. Recollections, Historical and Otherwise, Relating To Old Pine Grove Furnace (Report). Potomac Appalachian Trail Club Bulletin. Retrieved 2011-05-14. (Keefer also authored Early Iron Industries of Dauphin County)
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference court was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2011-05-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Pine Grove, Penn Township" (Map). Atlas of Cumberland County. Beers, F. W. 1972. Retrieved 2011-05-16.
  7. ^ Way, John H (1986). Your Guide to the Geology of the Kings Gap Area … (PDF) (Report). Pennsylvania Geological Survey. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2012. Retrieved 2011-05-18. (Way includes the 1889 Lehman map)