#TBT in the Archives 4/27/17: Rail Trail

Throughout this academic year, a lot of construction has happened on the south end of campus. However, in contrast to other recent campus construction, this earth-moving hasn't involved new buildings. Instead, crews are blazing new trails - by extending the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail.


The Cumberland Valley Rail Trail stretches 11 miles from Shippensburg to Newville along a right-of-way previously used by the Cumberland Valley Railroad. It's a multi-use trail open to all ages, and accommodates pedestrians, cyclists, and horses on a route that traverses beautiful rural Cumberland County. Volunteer organization Cumberland Valley Rails-to-Trails has been working for 20 years to establish, maintain and expand the trail, which is free to use.

A CVRR train passes south of Old Main. The steam plant is pictured at left.

On the Shippensburg University campus, recent construction on the trail includes extending the route from Fogelsanger Road to North Earl Street, as well as a new pedestrian bridge stretching over Fogelsanger Road connecting campus to Britton Park. But why has the university gotten involved in this project?

This image from the 1900-1901 CVSNS catalog shows the Cumberland Valley Railroad crossing what is now Prince Street.

When Cumberland Valley State Normal School opened in 1873, Shippensburg was served by three railroads - the Cumberland Valley Railroad, the Western Maryland Railroad, and Philadelphia & Reading Railroad. Chartered in 1837, the Cumberland Valley Railroad ran from Harrisburg to Chambersburg, passing through Shippensburg. Tracks ran adjacent to campus - following the route traced by the new rail trail extension - before continuing south on Earl Street to a station that was located in the area of what is now the Shippensburg Beverage Center.


Western Maryland Railroad and the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad had an agreement to share a station located in the vicinity of the 7-11 on West King Street, as well as tracks. Western Maryland ran south to Chambersburg and Maryland, while P&R traveled north towards Harrisburg.


Passengers wishing to ride CVRR and transfer to another line had to walk several blocks between stations to switch trains. But Shippensburg students riding CVRR at the beginning and end of each term had the benefit of being dropped off on campus because the line ran along the south edge of school property. A stone kiosk stood in front of Old Main near what is now Prince Street to handle students and their baggage.

This kiosk stood on the CVRR at Cumberland Valley State Normal School for use by students at the beginning and end of each term.

Look closely at this image of campus and you'll see the kiosk in front of Old Main, roughly in the middle of the frame.

The special station must have been invaluable to students in an era where cars did not exist and it would have been foolish and expensive to take a horse away from family to keep on campus for months at a time. It was so important to student life that railroad information was featured in the CVSNS catalog from the 1880s until the first decade of the 1900s.

CVSNS Catalog, 1899-1900, page 8.

SU Archives & Special Collections has a variety of photos that show the railroad on campus, including photos in historic catalogs and images on display. To check out those images, make an appointment at specialcollections@ship.edu.


Sources:
Charles Pague, Burkhart Collection, Shippensburg Historical Society, Shippensburg, PA.
Cumberland Valley Rails-to-Trails homepage, http://www.cvrtc.org/index.php (Accessed April 24, 2017).
Cumberland Valley State Normal School Catalog, 1899-1900, 8.
Cumberland Valley State Normal School Catalog, 1900-1901, 25.
Cumberland Valley State Normal School Catalog, 1901-1902, 16.
Cumberland Valley State Normal School Catalog, 1902-1903, 1.
Cumberland Valley State Normal School Catalog, 1903-1904, 1.