Steam & Excursion > NC RR excursion

Train exiting tunnel on Northern Central RR, ex PRR line.
Heading back to New Freedom, PA.   May 12, 2022

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For those of you who are not aware, the former Northern Central Railroad is a very scenic ride through Pennsylvania from New Freedom north, and eventually, with additional donations plus the revenue earned from train excursions, they will be going once again into York, Pennsylvania.  There is so much history on this line as President Abraham Lincoln rode this line back in November of 1863 to the battlefield of Gettysburg, to deliver his famous "Gettysburg Address" on November 19, 1863.  This line was eventually purchased by the Pennsylvania R.R. and became a Penn Central route after the merger of the Pennsylvania R.R. and the New York Central.  In July of 1972, tropical storm Agnes hit the Maryland and Pennsylvania area with tremendous rains, so much so that many places in the two states were severely flooded and the former Northern Central line was washed out in many places.  Unfortunately, Penn Central was bankrupt and did not have the needed money to restore the line.  The State of Maryland did not wish to restore the line in Maryland, but Penn Central continued to serve the industries along the line from Baltimore (above Penn Station) up to Cockeysville, Maryland.  The State of Pennsylvania decided to rebuild the washed out track from just below New Freedom, at the Mason-Dixon Line, north.  Basically, this line has seen very little traffic over the years.  A dinner train operated on the line for several years back from 1996 until 2001 when it closed down.  Then the line lay dormant over the next 12 years before the group known as "Steam Into History" began operating historic steam train rides featuring a brand new replica 1860's steam engine.  Along with the steam engine, the railroad owns and operates a 1959 built GP-9 diesel engine originally built for the Pennsylvania Railroad.  For the steam engine to operate on the line, much additional track maintenance had to be accomplished, with many new ties and ballast.  I encourage all of you who appreciate both history and steam engines to take a scenic ride on the Northern Central Railroad.  Contact them at info@northerncentralrailway.com or phone them at 717-942-2370.  This is a non-profit organization so all donations are welcome.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

Definitely like your photo.  Thanks for your interesting posting.
ALLEN

I have nothing but kind things to say about the Northern Central operation, which seems to be thriving. They do many special theme operations and their faux 1860s locomotive and rolling stock are appealing to railfans and the general public, as well as to Civil War-era historians.  If I could change anything about the operation, it would be to add some diesel-era, post-WWII rolling stock.  Plenty is available, as evidenced by Andy Mueller's recently mega-purchase of former Iowa Pacific equipment (and Alan Maples's example--who picked up a couple of cars as well).
Not only would a few such cars increase passenger capacity, but they would look historically appropriate when used behind diesel power, increasing the Northern Central's already significant appeal.

I also have to hand it to their social media people. Facebook and other platforms are flooded with promotional material for their special theme runs as well as their regularly scheduled excursions.

Art House

That GP9 went to Conrail and then to Champion Paper in Deferiet, NY in a sort of ugly (to my taste) purple and silver scheme, and then to Dave Link who leased it to the Adirondack Scenic RR. I have run this locomotive numerous times in the ADKS and it was a good runner. I heard it left New York State, but had not followed where it ended up. Indeed as mentioned above, the Northern Central is just steeped in history and is very scenic.