Took a little business trip to Chambersburg, Pa. and was startled to discover what I hadn't known was up there.

No fewer than four surviving rail stations, plus a surviving six-stall roundhouse. The latter is used as a farmers' market, but was not open when I was there.

What almost made me run off the road and wreck the car, however, was the unexpected sight of a rather new public park, Norlo Park, along Rt. 30 in Fayetteville, a couple miles to the east of Chambersburg, with a stretch of track with two cabooses, a flat car, and--lo and behold--a wooden tank car with reporting marks and a "color bar code" ACI label sign on it! The signage indicated only two pertinent facts: The tank car was originally a 1929 flat car upon which the wooden tank had been added in 1939; and the one handsome PRR portholed-window N5C caboose, PRR 477951, was a Cumberland Valley Chapter NRHS project (the caboose sign had more information on the history of the one caboose). Apparently the better caboose is/was occasionally opened to the public, and is restored inside; the other caboose is sound and in a nice coat of red primer(?) but awaits interior restoration. The flat car was a flat red with nice deck but no identification; an online roster (at the Phillipsburg RR Historians website, of all places) indicates this is 477045, an N5 built in 1916. Sadly, the silver tank car, NFPX 22, had a wooden tank way beyond hope, held together with little more than its silver paint. Parts were literally falling off of this car.

The one caboose, as I recall, had been displayed by the CV-NRHS at a regional tourist information office adjacent to I-81 in what had been a replica of yet another rail station.

A bit of further online, map/atlas, and book research revealed that the park was partially built upon what had been, to me at least, possibly one of the very few stretches of rail line to escape my attention in the region: the Mount Alto Railroad, between Waynesboro and a junction with the former Cumberland Valley RR near Scotland, later swept up into the PRR. Amazingly, this line was built around 1879 and survived until the Penn Central era, surviving one attempt by the PC to abandon it around 1972 and finally not being included in Conrail.

Sadly but unfortunately not untypically, I was unable to find any online representation of either this exhibit or the Cumberland Valley Chapter NRHS aside from a directory listing at the NRHS site and photos from an Audobon Society chapter website. Well, birds were fluttering from the ruins of the tank car..........

The wooden 'tank' car is one of the vinegar cars, I think in this case from Standard Brands (Fleischman's). Was this the one avialable in the Phiadelphia area four or five years ago, along with some additional steel tank cars? It was not terrific at that time and we juged it was probably too fragile to move it, although we would have loved to acquire it. One of these type cars has been preserved in a museum setting - at North Freedom or Green Bay?

The frame of the car appears sound - maybe they should contact DIRTY JOBS at the Discovery Channel to repair it. It would be a 'dirty job"!!

Bob Kutella

My great aunt lived adjacent to the Mount Alto ROW in Woodstock. For a time, she owned the Woodstock depot! She sold it about 30 years ago for use as a shed, so somewhere in the area that depot may still exist.

Ragged Edge Road is home to the Angelic Inn. This Frank Furness designed mansion was built by Col. Moorhead C. Kennedy, Pres. Cumberland Valley Railroad and VP of the PRR.

http://www.gettysburginns.com/history.html

The Mount Alto ROW runs behind the house. Prior owners told me that you can still spot the siding Moorhead used for his private car.

I know of two CVRR depots in Chambersburg (the third, and newest is no longer there). What are the other two you found?

The CVRR freight house is still in town near the roundhouse, as is the CVRR office building.

Rob Davis

At Mid-Continent:

http://www.midcontinent.org/collectn/woodfrt/richter11.html

I know that Mid-Continents website says that Richter Vinegar #11 is awaiting funds for restoration, but it looks as if just purchasing a couple of gallons of boxcar red paint, might go a long way to helping preserve the car.

Les

Actually, in common with most wooden tanks, keeping it full will help considerably.

dave

Dave -

Interesting! But full of what? Vinegar?

Les

Vinegar would be historically appropriate. Even water would keep the wood staves swollen and tight in their hoops.

dave

I know from maritime preservation that salt water is a preservative for wood so just pour some salt in there if the tank is still in good denough to hold water.

Ted Miles

Bringing this back from the dead years later--no update on the display, but I have come across a black-and-white photo of the wooden tank car, National Fruit Products Tank car 22, taken in the summer of 1982, when it was apparently owned by the Winchester Chapter NRHS and was parked in Strasburg, Va.

http://www.pbase.com/sirterp/image/136532956

Here's one I grabbed last summer.

In regards Richter tank car at Mid-Continent, The Paul Swanson photo posted is years old. The car is currently tarped, but the wood is considerably worse and will require total replacement - or near to it.

Can't believe I missed this thread the first time around. There is quite a bit of railroad history still hanging around Chambersburg. I regards to the Cumberland Valley roundhouse and shops, I actually a have a funny story. A few years ago 2 friends and I decided to ride up to Chambersburg and take photos of the shop complex. We had no idea the roundhouse was a farmers market and were happy to be able to get in and take photos. We were walking around taking photos of where the pits used to be, and different pieces of hardware still hanging from the ceiling when we noticed the vendors ducking behind counters and hiding behind displays. Then it struck us......Amish. We each bought moon pies and left in a hurry.

-Alex Haines

Apparently the car in Norlo Park had a partial metal sheathing/cover over the top half, like the car in this image. Anyone know if this was something installed when constructed or a later addition, and what type of metal used? From what I can gather, one of the reasons wood was used in the tank construction to reduce heating of the vinegar. Some were also painted silver, so was the metal sheathing to help this also?

Here's a picture of one in service in Columbia, PA in the late 1970s. Photo by Grant Lowry