Central Pennsylvania Chapter NRHS

📅 August 27th Chapter Meeting

📍 Location: White Deer Station
🕡 Meeting Time: 6:30 PM
🍽 Dinner Available: Picnic will start at 5:30 pm, and the meeting/program will start at 6:30 pm. For the Summer months, we will return to the White Deer Station at 145 Depot Road in White Deer for our meetings. We will have a Picnic Meal with the grill fired up, with the chapter providing the hot dogs and hamburgers, rolls, drinks, plates, and utensils. Members are requested to bring a side dish to share. All are welcome, please invite a friend and come out for a great program on Conrail by Fred Leer from the Harrisburg Chapter NRHS.

🎞 Evening Program: The New Park & Fawn Grove Railroad

The New Park & Fawn Grove Railroad, a 9.234-mile short line in southern Pennsylvania just north of the Mason-Dixon Line that separated the commonwealth from Maryland, is typical of the brief life cycle of so many small regional railroads that existed near the turn of the 20th century.

For generations, the farmers and businessmen of southern York County had used freight wagons to haul their produce and goods from their places of origin to the markets in nearby villages and towns. As railroads became more widely available and tracks began to reach these rather remote locations, freight cars offered a way to move higher quantities in a faster, more secure manner. Investors were often the same men who would most benefit from the development of the railroad infrastructure.

The need for these short-haul, regional railroads began to wane in the 1920s and ‘30s as gasoline-powered trucks became more prevalent. They offered lower prices, more flexibility in delivery options with the road network, and more frequent service. The officials of the railroad entity that owned and controlled the New Park & Fawn Grove Railroad Company finally made the decision to shut down its operations in 1935 and sell or repurpose the assets. 

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