|
 Mount Gretna Narrow Gauge
Text and Map from "Little Railways
of the World"
by Fredeic Shaw
Only one 2-foot-gauge railroad in American history ever possessed
American type 4-4-0 locomotives and that was the Mount Gretna
Narrow Gauge in Pennsylvania. The little line was essentially
a project for a recreational area, an amusement park on a grander
scale, and was not precisely a common carrier as were its sister
two-footers in the Maine woods. The Mount Gretna was, in fact,
an offshoot of the standard-gauge Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad
which opened a picnic ground at Mount Gretna, Lebanon County.
The opening of the ground was almost immediately followed by the
designation of the territory west of Mount Gretna as a military
reservation for the summer camps of the Pennsylvania National
Guard. With Lake, Conewago and the impressive peak of Governor
Dick, it became a paradise for hikers; and early in the spring
of 1889 Robert H. Coleman, who controlled the Cornwall and Lebanon,
authorized the survey and construction of the road.
When built, the road was approximately four miles long from
Mount Gretna to Governor Dick, with a branch to the National Guard
Rifle Range. The motive power of the little road was quite outstanding.
Two locomotives were ordered, one from the H. K. Porter Company
and one from the Baldwin Locomotive Works. The Porter engine was
a 0-4-4 Forney type hallowed by George Mansfield, the builder
of the "two-foot empire". The Baldwin engine, a 4-4-0,
carried the road number 12 and was a miniature version of the
Cornwall and Lebanon engines, even to the bright green paintwork
and gleaming red driving wheels. The Forney's wheel base was too
rigid for the sharp curves of the Mount Gretna line and it was
retired. Baldwin turned out triplets in the 4-4-0 type locomotives;
and the little system, after a busy five years of operation, went
down in history as having owned and operated the only 2-foot-gauge,
American type, live steamers in the United States.
Although abandoned as a recreational railroad, the Mount Gretna
did operate to the Rifle Range (see map) at the behest of the
Pennsylvania National Guard until 1915 when a curious accident
finally gave it the quietus. A large number of guardsmen had climbed
on to the footboard of the little cars which overturned on a sharp
curve and resulted in some serious injuries. The line never recovered
from an undeserved stigma. It was abandoned by all traffic from
that time.
But long will the vacationers remember the Mount Gretna Railroad
and the haul up the 2-foot-gauge track to the slopes of Governor
Dick!
Oddities | Contents
Page
|
