Posted September 1, 200816 yr Chambersburg to Shirleysburg on PA Country Roads August 23, 2008 From my motel north of Chambersburg I avoided major highways by taking PA997 to PA533 to PA522. That worked for the trip to Orbisonia, so I used the same route to return to Chambersburg. I love these old stone arch bridges that still carry traffic on some of Pennsylvania's byways. Fannettsburg, where PA533 intersects PA75 south of Turnpike Exit 189 Probably pushing 40 years old, this handsome Diamond Reo doesn't look bad for a working dump truck. This old Reo Gold Comet needs a bit of work I stopped here on the return trip for some refreshment. I don't think we can get Hershey's Ice Cream at home; now that I've tasted it, I'll lament that Hoosier shortcoming for a while. I overshot my turn in Orbisonia and followed the East Broad Top tracks about six miles north to the Borough of Shirleysburg, which stands where Fort Shirley was built c. 1755 during the French and Indian War to provide refuge for settlers against Indian scalping parties that roamed the area. Old schoolhouse. East Broad Top Railroad East Broad Top Railroad was founded in 1856 to haul coal from company mines and freight and passengers to and from local communities. The narrow-gauge railroad operated for a hundred years before shutting down due to falling demand for coal and increased competition from trucks and automobiles. The Kovalchick Salvage Company of Indiana, PA, purchased the line and chose to preserve it. The first tourist train on the line ran in 1960, and since then, with the aid of many volunteers it has survived as the most intact historic railroad property in North America. Motor Car M-3 was built in the East Broad Top shops using a Maxwell automobile engine. In 1926 it was rebuilt using a Nash automobile drive train. These cars, built by Fairmont and known variously as speeders, railcars and motorcars, were used on many railroads for inspection and maintenance at least into the 1970s. They came in various configurations including some with enclosed cabs on the northern railroads. Now, most have been replaced with trucks of various sizes equipped with hi-rail kits, or flanged wheels that can be lowered to drive on the tracks. Collectors and restorers of motorcars gather annually on various railroads for organized tours lasting one or two days. I'm not sure I'd want to see this: East Broad Top is able to turn trains on a wye at each end of the run, eliminating backups and runarounds. A worker riding a Fairmont aligns the switches for the turnaround movement. Rockhill Trolley Museum Rockhill Trolley Museum is adjacent to East Broad Top Railroad and operates over the former Shade Gap branch of the EBT, converted to standard gauge track. St. Louis Car Company built city car 355 in 1926 for Johnstown Traction Company. It has been restored with meticulous attention to authenticity, including rattan seating and reproduction vintage light bulbs. Car 1875, built in 1912 by Brill for Rio de Janeiro Tramways in Brazil, is the only open trolley operating in Pennsylvania. Brill shipped the running gear, hardware and other mechanical components to Brazil, and the carbodies were built there with local tropical hardwoods. They're very beautiful. Places with names including "Furnace" grew up around early iron blast furnaces. Rockhill Furnace produced iron using local ore, charcoal from local forests and lime from nearby quarries. As local forests were cut over and no longer able to provide charcoal, the process evolved to use coke made from locally-mined coal. The small furnaces were inefficient and often produced lower-quality iron compared with the larger iron-making complexes that grew up nearer sources of high-quality raw materials, and the implementation of the Bessemer and Open-Hearth processes enabled efficent production of large quantities of steel and brought an end to most small local iron furnaces early in the 20th century. The partial brick walls of what was once the powerhouse are all that remains of Rockhill Furnace; as often happened with abandoned properties, the site was scavenged for bricks an other building materials that were reused for homes and factories in the area. The East Broad Top roundhouse is thought to have been built with bricks salvaged from Rockhill Furnace. I returned to Chambersburg following the same route I had taken to Orbisonia. On the way up I had seen this fixer-upper, but waited until the return trip for better light to take photos. Narrow bridge coming up. Back at my motel north of Chambersburg; from one end of the motel hallway I had this view: From the other end, I-81 and a PennDOT facility. To see the rest of the East Broad Top Railroad and trolley photos, visit the post on my web site by clicking HERE.
September 1, 200816 yr Absolutely fantastic Rob! What a great set of rural architecture (and that beautiful open trolley!).
September 2, 200816 yr Beautiful photos! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
September 5, 200816 yr See, this is why I love Pennsylvania. The back roads and byways will take you to places that a lot of people would just miss and overlook. One road will take you to one amazing place, then as you stay on the road many more interesting places are discovered. I loved this thread Rob!! During your trip, did you go through Harrisburg? It seems kinda of close to where you were and I am about an hour and a half north of Harrisburg.
September 5, 200816 yr You made me glee in delight. I know where I am going to on my next trip to NYC!!
September 9, 200816 yr See, this is why I love Pennsylvania. The back roads and byways will take you to places that a lot of people would just miss and overlook. One road will take you to one amazing place, then as you stay on the road many more interesting places are discovered. I loved this thread Rob!! During your trip, did you go through Harrisburg? It seems kinda of close to where you were and I am about an hour and a half north of Harrisburg. I had hoped to make it to Harrisburg and a bunch of other places, but the trip sort of fell apart (or maybe I did) at Lancaster, about halfway through. I need to make another trip or three with less ambitious, more realistic itineraries, at cooler times of year. May and October are the best times to visit Pennsylvania, as I recall; May for orchards in bloom, and October for fall foliage. Summer is for heat and some of the most splendid thunderstorms I've ever seen. Winter is for skiers. For me its "Ohmygodno!"
September 14, 200816 yr Rob, you've just convinced me that I'm going to take a few days off from work for a drive through the hills of Pennsylvania in October. Who knows, I might even look for a job at a small rural newspaper, buy a small cabin and just settle in with my two cats... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
September 14, 200816 yr Rob, you've just convinced me that I'm going to take a few days off from work for a drive through the hills of Pennsylvania in October. Who knows, I might even look for a job at a small rural newspaper, buy a small cabin and just settle in with my two cats... I recommend you take a look at Lancaster. It's a city that values its history and yet looks to its future, and it has frequent passenger trains to the East. I haven't posted the pics yet, but when you see them you might want to see the city. Nice, dense historic downtown with a working opera house, a city market, row houses, coffee houses and restaurants, and a local investor group working to build a downtown streetcar. The people are relaxed and friendly except when they get behind a steering wheel. Who knows? You might find true romance there.
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