The 51st Penna. left their wooden winter quarters behind as they embarked on trains after being reassigned from Virginia to duty in Ohio. The soldiers were herded into wooden boxcars with rude benches to sit on for the long ride to the West.
Scores of Civil War regiments passed through York on the Northern Central Railway, particularly early in the war as they were being shuttled from training sites to the South to their designated assignments. Some trains steamed through town without stopping, making the run from Harrisburg to Baltimore as an express route. Others paused in York, but the men had to stay in the railcars. In other cases, the soldiers were allowed off the train to stretch their legs, use the depot's facilities, and perhaps grab quick bite to eat.
Some took the opportunity to tour the prosperous and attractive town of some 8,600 people. For a few soldiers, that sojourn made them AWOL.
