It looks like a long-shot but maybe the Stewartstown is not through after all. Does anyone here have any more details?

http://www.inyork.com/local/ci_9590491

We can applaud them for trying. However, track conditions are such that the entire seven or so miles of line needs almost complete tie replacement. Their rail connection to the outside world is also abandoned and in serious need of trackwork.

The line to compare it to would be the similarly-isolated Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern. However, Stewartstown lacks steam (a bigger tourist magnet that we give it credit for), lacks vintage freight cars, has a couple coaches in not-so-great shape, has a station that critically needs a complete roof replacement, and considerably more new-neighbor NIMBYs than in 1985 (thanks to high Md. real estate taxes).

If this line could muster a "critical mass" of volunteers and a fan base similar to the Friends of the EBT/Cumbres & Toltec or the WW&F "army", I could get optimistic. Unfortunately, the circumstances appear identical in almost every way to the abandoned and soon-to-be-scrapped West Shore RR to the north: Fans and locals buy it, freight traffic dwindles far below covering the cost of insurance and ties, not enough tourists what with Strasburg/Steamtown/EBT/Baltimore nearby....

I don't want the line scrapped. But a viable alternative to a trail needs to arise. And I haven't seen one yet.

The line is in close proximity to much of megalopolis, so with some organization finding volunteers and a ridership should not be a problem. They have a lot more going for them than the WW&F that way and in regards to the track still on the ROW.

I think if you are running a limited service tourist railroad with friction bearings, you might as well be disconnected from the major railroads. The biggest thing you would be missing out on is direct rail ballast shipments.

If they want to make this line a viable freight hauler, it would need a heavier rail (90 or 100 lb I imagine). This would free up lighter rail for the various narrow gauges to re-use, but it just seems out of the scope of possibility right now.

I only see this group succeeding. There is much going for it.

Practical, level-headed answers to Brother Anderson:

In the "local train ride" department, Stewartstown has competition from Walkersville Southern, Strasburg, Middletown & Hummelstown, Gettysburg Ry, and if you push it, WK&S and EBT, and I would argue B&O Museum and Baltimore Streetcar Museum as well. Want to add West Chester RR and Wilmington & Western as competition? Western Maryland Scenic? Jim Thorpe?

In the "time capsule" department: EBT, WK&S, Strasburg (debate the merits of whether or not it's a time capsule elsewhere), and the Ma & Pa group elsewhere in York County.

Tourist operations nearby that are no longer: Indian Head RR, Maryland Midland/EnterTrainment Line, Northern Central/Liberty Limited, West Shore RR, and Brandywine Scenic. Push your boundaries a bit, and you have the Queen Anne's RR and the Chesapeake RR. Go back further: the old Everett RR, Penn View Mt., etc.

The bitter fact is that there are a limited number of potential rail tourists out there no matter how many ways a line reinvents itself (dinner trains, Thomas, Easter Bunny trains), and a smaller pool still of potential rail service volunteers, from car hosts to track layers to administrators to engine mechanics. The region the Stewartstown is in has LONG been at the saturation point for both pools, and to be honest I'm surprised there are as many survivors as there have been.

CAN the Stewartstown survive? I would like to think so. But it's probably going to take a bit of political earmarking ("pork barrel") politics to get the line saved by county/state government, along with someone interested in dumping in a load of cash and/or an operable small steamer.

Now, I'm sure that light rail would do some narrow-gauge line nicely, if it's not too old and brittle. Anyone want to find fourteen miles of 90-pound rail to offer in trade for 60-pound?

Is the Stewartstown RR connected to the outside world today? I know the old Northern Central was rebuilt south of York but I don't remember if the connection was restored. I guess my point is that with I-83 being close by I wonder if a legitimate freight customer or two could be located on the line or a plastic pellet or lumber transload or something. Might the line have a better fate if it offered an economic benefit to the area? For example I don't think Steamtown would have a line to run on beyond Moscow if it weren't for the freight customers who keep the rails polished from Moscow to the Water Gap.

The "bitter fact" of "limited number" of resources directly correlates to the concept of "poverty thinking". The only way this could be true is if the end results prove it. The end results in my mind then are a matter of how this group moves to make results (good, or not so good) happen. There is a choice here, whether to think positively - and I would think that generally the same could be said of any "friends of X" group. "Practicality" can be used as an excuse for negative realism, which if it operates at a community level, can be hard to overcome.

To elaborate the strongest aspect I see of the Stewartstown, it is that this railroad is located BEFORE a visitor from Maryland/DC/Baltimore approaches the other historic railroads of southeastern PA. Trolley lines excluded, for sake of difference. The MA and PA group is not a competitor now, at all - and if they are thinking correctly - they are actually a benefit. Even the location of the other museums and tourist railroads are a benefit. I imagine they should offer a group ticket, to see all of the museums, and promote sales from gift shop instead anyway. As for railroads that are no more - their ability to generate passengers and profit may have more to do with exposure and management than location and facility.

However, location is a big factor, especially as fuel prices increase. I think that even a simply "good enough" ride could be offered, it should be successful.

Time capsules, as cool as they are, are really best appreciated by a minority market - industrial archeologists, etc. It is a good marketing aspect, though, but the train ride will be what sells.

For this historic line to be successful, in my opinion, it will need at the very least a steam locomotive and a nice train. Also - it will need good publicity. And- of course - a strong volunteer base. I see all as possibilities if the promoters make it happen.

Brothers or not, we are friends of the same objectives.
O Anderson

The last time I was by the station not too long ago, the station roof STILL had not been repaired, exacerbating a partially collapsed ceiling in the historic "time capsule" waiting room/ticket window of the station. This has been there for years.

A roof costs a couple thousand dollars. Call it ten grand, max. Either the cash isn't there or there have been access/property problems related to the illness and passing of George Hart.

What do ties cost? Five grand a truckload times ten or twenty? Spikes? Are we using volunteers or pros to rehab the track? What's a carload of ballast cost? Times several?

Basic maintenance to the locos and cars to make them barely acceptable: perhaps ten grand for crisis stabilization, more like thirty to make them really presentable.

Now, to make this plan truly feasible for the long term, we have to compete not with the Ma & Pa group, but with Hersheypark, the Landis Valley Farm Museum, the Harley-Davidson plant tour, all of Pennsylvania Dutchland, and Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Review once again the various lectures about acceptable restroom facilities the wife will long remember, adequate parking, credit card usage, website reservations, and other 20th-century improvements.

Got a spare hundred grand or more for a speculative tourist attraction?

I want them to survive, I really do. But I don't think that the market is there anymore for a simple diesel-and-coaches out-and-back ride-for-the-sake-of-a-ride in a 21st-century tourist market increasingly disassociated from railroading in general. I could see York County possibly picking up the right-of-way for a historic trail (a very natural extension of the Northern Central Trail between York and Cockeysville, Md.), but who's offering to pay for rail rehab? Absent a massive grain mill or other industry down there somewhere, I don't see freight rail traffic returning down there, and besides a massive manufacturing plant or whatever on either the Northern Central or the Stewartstown would rob the line of any quaint character (unit trains on the Strasburg, anyone?). I'm surprised they haven't pulled up the rail from York to New Freedom already for scrap.

Anyone got a viable alternative? Oh, and a spare small steam locomotive and the cubic dollars THAT consumes?

Unfortunatly, the facts at issue here do not bode well for saving this rr. For reasons known only to himself, George Harts will calls for all of his real property to be sold and the entire proceeds therefrom given to the Bucks County Pa. Historical Society!

Why would someone who devoted his entire adult life to preserving/promoting rr history not provide that at least some of his considerable estate benefit some aspect of rr preservation??? No one will ever know the answer to that.

The Executor and General Counsel for the estate are in the process of beginning the steps needed to liquidate his assets (which include a dozen or so pssgr. coaches located at Jim Thorpe plus a 4-6-0 and assorted other equipment) and deliver the proceeds per the will to the BCHS.

As of George's death the Stewartstown RR Inc., owed him secured debt in excess of $600,000. It is the position of the Estate that this debt must be paid or the Estate will liquidate the property as best it can.

Anyone seriously interested in acquiring any of the assets should submit their specific offers to;

Mr. John Willever, Executor
Estate of George M. Hart
228 W. Washington Ave.
Washington, NJ 07882


A word of advice/caution. All of the rolling stock in Jim Thorpe is friction bearing equipped and thus NOT interchangeable. Therefore all sales will be strictly done on an "as-is,where is" basis. It will be the buyers total obligation to find the ways/means to remove the equipment from the property. Please communicate with Mr. Willever for any further details.

Based on these realities, the overwhelming probability is that the Stewartstown RR will be sold for its scrap and real estate value unless of course someone can raise some serious cash and pay off its debts etc.

Sad but true! Ross Rowland

Thanks for the info Ross. It does not sound like god news for the Stewartstown. I'm glad I got to have a ride on it when I did. It's amazing he did not provide for any rail preservation in his will.

Assuming Rowland's reports are accurate (and we have no reason to think they're not, unless someone is in a legal position to contest the will for whatever reason--and he had no real heirs, right?), a couple questions arise:

1) ONE steam loco? I presume this confirms the rumors that Strasburg now holds title to CP 972 (break out the "Don't Ask When!" chalk...).

2) I presume this means that the Hart estate still owns the three coaches at Stewartstown, but the railroad company still owns Mighty Mo and the 44-tonner plus whatever other assets (and what of the old Stewartstown 11, the ex-Ma & Pa SC that I think ended up at Jim Thorpe?). Plus or minus whatever debt to the estate........

Presumably the one steam loco is CP 1098, which rests next to the turntable in Jim Thorpe. (Or at least did a month ago when I was there.) Would need a lot of work to run, but maybe it could be cleaned up for dislay near the station.

The ex-Stewartstown SC #11 is there also, devoid of any lettering IIRC.

The cast-iron bridge on the railroad is one of only about 75 such iron bridges in the USA, and as far as I can determine the only one still "carrying" rail traffic. Unfortunately, other cast-iron bridges are at the RR Museum of Pa., Altoona, Baltimore Streetcar Museum, and elsewhere. Can someone suggest a good home for this span?

http://www.americanheritage.com/article ... _2_8.shtml

For the record, the roof over the waiting room in the Stewartstown station was repaired about a year ago and the ceiling replaced. The overhang around the station remains to be repaired. It is hoped this will be done this summer.

Concerning Mr. Hart's will, he did make some provisions for the Stewartstown Railroad. The recipients of his bequests are awaiting the probate process to run its course. -- Ray

If I remember right the cast iron bridge is not actually holding anything up. It is just the old cast iron sides hanging around with newer structure holding up the trains as they rumbled over.

I had the day off, so I took a trip down to Stewartstown and followed the line as best I could to New Freedom. Two words to anyone wanting to preserve the railroad: good luck. I have 100+ photos I need to go through and post the best ones somewhere.

I'll let you know when I do that. (hopefully at my away from home terminal hotel tomorrow)