Recently in Pennsylvania Railroad Category

Dr. William Bigler stars in one of my favorite examples of how easy it was to get just about anywhere from here with the public transportation of over a century ago. At 2:30 p.m. February 5, 1890, Dr. Bigler simply stepped on the train near his home in Springvale (Windsor Township). A few days later he arrived at his son’s residence in Orlando, Florida. Simple, huh?

(See below for my previous Sunday News column on the multi-talented Bigler family.)

The “RAILROAD TIME TABLE” below from the November 20, 1877 Gazette shows how often trains left and arrived at York on the several railroads that connected here. That doesn’t even begin to address the multitude of stops made at every little hamlet along the way.

What is historical mitigation? A simplified example is that when a structure that might have some historical value is demolished, something is done to compensate for that loss.

When the Sovereign Bank Stadium in York, bounded by George, North, Queen, and Arch streets, quite a few structures were torn down. Some of these were railroad-related, so the York County Industrial Development Authority, with the research assistance of Justine Landis, put together a walking tour History of Rail in York, Pennsylvania. The free brochure, which is available at several sites, including York County Heritage Trust, points out ten sites in the area of historical significance, some of which are no longer standing.

The above images from the 1985 York Daily Record story were supplied to the newspaper by Gary L. Klinedinst.

A few older folks might still remember the spectacular train wreck at Centerville, just outside of Glen Rock that Friday afternoon of April 2, 1920. A February 1985 York Daily Record article captured Rev. Millard R. Kroh’s vivid memory of the day.