Gettysburg Railroad Excursion

On June 30, 1990 the Chesapeake Division of the Railroad Enthusiasts (RRE) sponsored an excursion on the Gettysburg Railroad in Pennsylvania. This video is a recording of the excursion.

[@greggmc2]

I went on one of their first excursions in 1977. They had to run their Baldwin S12 diesel and the 2 passenger cars on this video. Steam excursions came later that year if I remember correctly.

[@nicholasmedovich6729]

I believe that auto rack open car was scrapped around 2014ish. Everything else was sold off.

[@creatorwho7089]

Nope, its still visible in the old railyard west of gettysburg on google earth, if you follow the train tracks.

[@drewclemens8739]

Where is the location of Gettysburg yard

[@winkelmannchannel971]

Cool video

[@adventuresofamtrakcascades301]

43:40 did they just left 76 behind?? WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT?!?!?

[@brianfalzon6739]

Where is 76 now? What happened to her?

[@mylesspear]

It was owned by SRI for a while, but now is on display in Maryland somewhere dressed up as a B&O engine.

[@robkrasinski6217]

WHY did they hook up a dismal for the return trip and leave #76 behind? I hated when an excursion was advertised as steam, but it turned out to be steam only one way and diesel the other way. And now Gettysburg is freight only and hasn't had steam since 1995. Sloan sold it in 1996. Knox and Kane most tracks are ripped up and equipment was sold, like #38 that was on the Gettysburg until 1986 or 1987 is now at Everett RR, the Chinese 2-8-2 is now at Essex Steam Train in CT and modified into New Haven 3025. #76 is now a static display in MD and modified to look like a B&O 2-8-0 and it's tender was Arcade and Attica 18's, and A&A 18 now has #76's tender. A&A 18 is in the middle of a teardown. There's only a handful of steam locomotives running in PA now. But, RBMN #2102 is returning soon, maybe even this fall. Last time it ran was October 1991.

[@nssteampunk4865]

Agreed, the railroad should have exhanged their tenders back to bring back their originality. As a volunteer of the Ohio Railway Museum I am all about that preservation, and as a Hocking Valley Scenic Railway volunteer I am all about steam!

[@winkelmannchannel971]

Just saying 76 is at the steam railroading institute in Michigan

[@steamandsmoke97]

Frankly the Gettysburg nor any other railroad that idiot Sloan Cornell ran should have ever existed, and his moronic son should have never had any hand in the way the locomotives were maintained or operated. They did a lot of Damage to the Steam Preservation Movement and badly damaged one of the most Historically Significant Locomotives to Mainline Steam Excursions. It was Park Service Steamtown's idiocy in the first place to trade off Nelson's Favorite Engine (and the First Engine Ross Rowland ever used on the High Iron Company) to Sloan in exchange for 3254 which was already a pretty much a beat horse when they got it, then his son goes ahead and willfully disregards and falsifies FRA Standards and Records for Locomotive Maintenance. Well, he got what was coming to him because he was in the cab when 127's crownsheet failed. I do not feel one bit sorry for Sloan Cornell's son or Sloan himself. He deserved every burn he got for never cleaning the sight glass valve bodies or the glass itself, never washing the boiler properly, not maintaining the feed pump and heater properly nor replacing the blown flange gasket on the boiler check-valve from the pump, not using the correct starting washer when attempting to rebuild the injector, and of course letting the rest of the engine fall apart like the air pump and dynamo. All the equipment that once had the misfortune of being owned by that family have all now gone to much better, more responsible homes. More proof of the Cornell Family's sheer disregard for proper maintenance and general safety is Spang, Chalfant & Co. #8 at Steamtown today, more commonly known as "The Cutaway Engine". One look inside that boiler is enough to make any real Steam Man cringe, and the Cornells used that engine regularly on their "Penn View Mountain" operation. Even seeing and listening to 76 here would tell you that engine is suffering, the Valve Events are awful, no where near square, the valve rings are shot since you can hear the fireman's side valve whistling with blowby when it reaches a certain spot in the valve cage and the packing gland is almost continuously blowing steam even though it's an inside admission engine, and the air pump sounds rough and clattery. Only a Redneck operation like the Gettysburg would use a modified Auto-Rack as an open-air car.

[@scottderail9759]

@@steamandsmoke97 For the record, the trade with 3254 happened before the park service or the government had any involvement with steamtown.

[@steamandsmoke97]

​@@scottderail9759 Not true, 1278 was in Scranton for a few years after the move.

[@evanf1293]

So how long did this tourist line last til the late 90s after the incident with CP 1278?

[@danielcraig2573]

The 1278 explosion on June 16th 1995 marked the end of steam on the Gettysburg railroad. Excursion trains continued to operate until sometime around 2009 and 2010.

[@northernohiorailfanningpro8899]

@@danielcraig2573 I think CSX now owns the line thru Gettysburg

[@evanf1293]

@@northernohiorailfanningpro8899 No its now owned by the Gettysburg and Northern a line that trades freight with NS and CSX.

[@northernohiorailfanningpro8899]

@@evanf1293 Cool! I’ve caught one train in the downtown area by the depot/museum a few years ago. I did some research after that and multiple sources showed that it was the CSX Hanover Subdivision.

[@evanf1293]

@@northernohiorailfanningpro8899 I see thx

[@ITrooper089Productions]

Where's the Gettysburg Station located at?

[@greggmc2]

The station at the beginning of video is gone. The only station left in Gettysburg is on North Washington st. It is the original Reading RR station. There is also an original Reading station in Biglerville 7 miles north of Gettysburg. Not sure if any more stations are left besides these.

[@robkrasinski6217]

@@greggmc2 That station was moved from Sloan's operation in central PA I believe. It must have been razed at some point. I rode a 40 or so mile round trip in April 2001 pulled by a red GP high hood diesel. The only time I rode the line. The ride though was rough. Especially in the double deck open sided car. We moved to the coach on the return trip. We were at my male cousin's wedding in Carlisle and Harrisburg (he was born in Allentown, moved to Hockessin, Delaware and Newtown, PA mid-late 70's and he went to West Chester U and wound up living in West Chester) and afterwards we went to Gettysburg and stayed at the Eisenhower hotel on Rt. 15 with an indoor atrium pool. I would rather ride behind steam. But steam operations outside of Strasburg are a hit or miss in PA, NJ, and DE. And basically outside of UP once in a blue moon, mainline steam excursions on class 1 freight railroads are done. And Amtrak hosted excursions unless the new head has a different attitude. A bunch of private car operators threw in the towel and stored or sold their cars once Amtrak under Delta Dick severely restricted how private car moves could be made.

[@greggmc2]

@@robkrasinski6217 Yes the station was moved to Gettysburg in pieces and rebuilt. I guess it was razed when G-burg college took over the property. I rode on the 40 mile round trip one time when they double-headed 38 and 76. We stood in the baggage part of the last car which was the first car on the return trip. Had an up front view of the smoke box on 38.

[@thatd59ladlarry]

Gettysburg Change my mind

[@T128Productions]

@@thatd59ladlarry *Civil War flashbacks intensify* I’m not changing your mind btw