Today we will board an N-gauge passenger train in Harrisburg and travel through Carlisle 20 miles west of Harrisburg. This trip will be illustrated by using this 3' by 7' model of 1920 Carlisle. In 1920 tracks for Cumberland Valley Railroad passenger trains ran in the center of Main Street, now called High Street. These tracks were laid in 1837 and were in continuous use until 1936. The passenger station was located on the northwest corner of Main and North Pitt Streets.
Trains leaving from Harrisburg to Carlisle and points south would cross the Susquehanna River on a concrete arch bridge that is still in use today. The train engine on the model is the US. General with four-drive wheels, which would have been similar to the steam-powered engines that made the run in the 1920's. The train made stops in Mechanicsburg, Carlisle, Shippensburg, and Chambersburg before going farther south into Virginia. In addition to boarding at regular stops, a prospective passenger could flag the train down at places like Middlesex, Plainfield or Entlerville.
The model was started in January 1993 and completed in the spring of 2000. The original purpose of the project was to show the passenger train tracks running through the center of Carlisle on Main Street in 1900. During the early stages of research at the Cumberland County Historical Society, I discovered that Carlisle in 1900 was very different from the Carlisle I remembered as a child. At that point my plan changed. I decided to show the streets of Carlisle in 1920, instead of 1900. The model covers the area from East Street west to College Street and from Louther Street south to Pomfret Street. The buildings on the model have 8317 windows, all painted with a three bristle brush. At first, in an attempt to save time, I experimented with a rubber stamp, but this method failed to produce a satisfactory window. The entire model, including research and construction, required approximately 650 man-hours over a seven-year period.
My research started at the Cumberland County Historical Society with the Sanborn city maps used by fire insurance companies to establish rates. These maps are updated at ten- year intervals. The maps used for this model were dated 1923. They indicate building size, number of stories, roof style and materials used for construction. The scale chosen for the model was one inch to 100 feet. This scale is close to the N -gauge railroad train used for the model.
Now, to get back to the reason we are gathered here today: to take the train trip to Carlisle in 1920. We will board a three-car passenger train in the Harrisburg station. I remember my first ride on the train from Carlisle to Harrisburg in 1928, when I was about six years old. My aunt, whose husband worked on the railroad, had free passes to ride. For a six-year-old in 1928, a 20-mile train ride was quite a treat. Did any of you have the chance to go by train to or from Harrisburg any time before 1930?
On the train we head west over the Susquehanna River on the concrete arch bridge. The train makes a stop in Mechanicsburg to discharge and pick up additional passengers. As we near the east end of Carlisle, the tracks run on the north side of The Frog & Switch Company, where an S-curve, first left, then right, brings us along a ramp over the site of present-day Weis grocery store building and parking lot. Between Spring Garden Street and East Street, a grade elevates the tracks approximately ten feet above East Street. In the last 150 feet before East Street, the tracks are carried on trestles of stone and wood timber. Generally trestles like this were all stone or all wood. The East Street trestles alternated: stone, then wood; stone, then wood. An underpass was provided at East Street for cars, small trucks, horse and wagons, as well as pedestrians. This underpass, with its low clearance, could be dangerous for anyone standing in the bed of a small truck. A family friend riding in a truck struck his head on the support beams and never recovered from the concussion.
John Bloom. To Show What an Indian Can Do: Sports at Native American Boarding Schools, Sports and Culture Series, vol. 2. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000) 151 pp. Illustrated. $24.95 . Hardcover.