A portion of Peters Road in Upper Leacock and Earl townships will be closed to through traffic for three days, beginning Tuesday.The road closing, at the railroad crossing south of Route 23 near Groffdale, will continue through Thursday.During that time, Norfolk Southern Railway Co.......

Baby heads, we called them back in the days when I rode rugged mountain bike trails. Smallish, skull-sized rocks that shake the living daylights out of you. The ballast stones beneath my tires Wednesday on the Enola Low-Grade Line reminded me of baby heads. They weren't quite so jarrin......

Henry "Box" Brown had himself sealed inside a crate and shipped to Philadelphia by train. Such was the determination of blacks fleeing the pre-Civil War South. Many of the fugitives filtered into southern Lancaster County, where they found a haven amidst the large Quaker populati......

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and the Keystone Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club have teamed up to spotlight the genius of industrial designer Raymond Loewy.Loewy, a car designer for Studebaker Corp. for 21 years, also plied his trade for the Pennsylvania Railroad.So when......

Work on a new Strasburg bypass is about two months and some paperwork away."We've been working on this for a very long time," borough Mayor Bruce Ryder said Thursday. "We are very much looking forward to having it done."Greg Penny, a spokesman for the state D......

Fulton Theatre opened its 156th season with interesting news Thursday night.Managing Director Aaron Young announced before an opening night crowd that the theater was officially designated by the National Park Service as a site of significance to the Underground Railroad.Before a th......

A 32-year-old man has been charged with firing a shotgun in southern York County July 21 at a train carrying Lancaster County residents.Robert Bentley Gracey, 10662 Guinston Road, Felton, allegedly shot three rounds from a shotgun in the area of Muddy Forks at 6:30 p.m. July 21, according ......

The Strasburg Rail Road is a fun, relaxing way to enjoy the beauty of Lancaster County's Amish country, while learning a great deal about the county's history. Founded in 1832, the Strasburg Rail Road is America's oldest short-line railroad. In 1958, it became an established to......

If belated breakfasting and leisurely lunching on summer weekends whet your appetite, sink your teeth into brunch. From overstuffed omelets to lush lobster, the ambrosial combo of breakfast and lunch is as much about the food as it is about the time it takes to enjoy the meal. What better ......

Step into the 18th century. Watch pack horses pull a cart to one of the local farms. Drive a locomotive from Lancaster to Harrisburg. All of these activities have become easier to do this August, thanks to a new program run by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission....

If you ask a kid in the summer to name the first president of the United States, chances are it might take him a minute or two to answer. According to a Johns Hopkins University study, children actually lose knowledge over the summer, when they are not learning. The Pennsylvania Historical......

African-American freedom marchers returned to town Saturday for the first time in decades. The "Juneteenth" commemoration of the release of the last American slaves in 1865 was the catalyst. Abolitionists Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith were the honorees. It was th......

It was on June 19, 1865, that slaves in Galveston, Texas, received word of their freedom — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863.The date is commonly known as "Juneteenth," marking the oldest known celebration to commemorate the end of slavery in ......

The Amtrak train station in Elizabethtown has seen a lot of traffic in recent years.With gas prices climbing, it could get busier.Even if use of the station doesn't increase, borough officials recognize it needs a facelift.Its platforms are badly in need of repair, its pa......

The Old Mill Stream Campground, out on Route 30 in the midst of the county's tourism strip, is taking summer reservations from folks in some unexpected places. Leola. Mount Joy. Quarryville. Ephrata. "Staying closer to home is the trend, I think," says Jim Breneman, the campg......

Pieces of Lancaster history are now incorporated into the new edifice rising downtown — all part of a complex officials hope can shape the future of the city for the next century.Friday afternoon saw the first official tour of the Lancaster County Convention Center and Marriott Lanca......

The age of steam locomotives is just a memory to older Americans, while their children don't recall it at all.But now, visitors to Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg can see the golden years of railroading through the eyes of a well-known railroad artist."Railroad......

In life and in death, artist Ted Rose was rather a private man. Although his passion was painting specific landscapes — mainly the industrial landscape of depots, trains and grain elevators, but also the Southwestern desert beauty that he called home — Rose was never pigeon-hole......

As a boy, Mark Whallon prowled the woods near his Farmingdale Road home, sneaking up to the railroad line and laying pennies on the tracks. "We played all around there," said Whallon. The tracks were relatively quiet, with few spare boxcars to climb. But the hike and the flattened pen......

Two Lancaster County historic railroad sites will be featured on national television Monday.The Strasburg Rail Road will be highlighted on History's "Modern Marvels" at 8 p.m., followed at 9 p.m. by The Learning Channel's "Jon and Kate + 8," in which the stars v......

Residents fighting a plan to move a rail yard to the edge of their neighborhoods hope they got their group's cause on TRAC.The Railroad Action Committee, which currently is seven homeowners in Lancaster and East Hempfield townships, held its first public meeting Tuesday to inform neighbors......

Work on the final phase of the multi-year project to restore the Manheim Railroad Station to its 1881 exterior appearance began earlier this month. The building, at 210 S. Charlotte St., serves as the headquarters of the Manheim Historical Society. The project to restore the station began in 20......

Mass mailings, neighborhood get-togethers and a large public meeting are all part of Franklin & Marshall College's plan to inform residents of its intent to relocate a railroad staging yard from Lancaster city to the suburbs.Responding to published reports about a growing resistanc......

Relocating the Dillerville rail yard, which sits between Franklin & Marshall College and the former Armstrong site in the city's northwest, is a charmed idea for many. By shifting the yard west, the college can get rid of an ugly barrier between its current campus and the tract where it......

Residents fearing the relocation of the Norfolk Southern rail yard from Lancaster city to their suburban neighborhood are gearing up for a fight.The Railroad Action Committee, or TRAC, will hold an informational meeting Tuesday that it hopes will be the opening salvo in a battle to prevent......

A $12 million renovation and upgrade of the Lancaster Amtrak station is on track to finally begin this fall. Today, Lancaster County Commissioners committed their remaining share of $400,000 pledged toward the project, a move that will trigger the release of $11.6 million in state and federal m......

Amish taxi drivers will make their case before the Public Utility Commission next week, saying assessed fees, which have risen as much as 320 percent, are much too high.•••Amish taxi drivers, faced with huge increases in the fees they p......

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission will publicly display the original 1681 Charter, granted by England's King Charles II to William Penn, from noon until 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 9, at The State Museum, 300 North St., Harrisburg. In addition, admission to the planetarium and t......

It's an industry that employs about 36,000 people in Lancaster County and one the state ranks as its second-leading industry after health care.According to Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitor's Bureau, it's not agriculture — it's tourism.And thanks to a new effort by Lan......

People driving through rural Lancaster County expect to see rolling fields, silos, cows, horses.Chances are they're not expecting a county farm to be home to an 83-foot-long, 208,000-pound rail car.However, if you drive along Parkview Heights Road in Ephrata Township, that's......

Local author Todd Mealy has written a new biography. But it's not about the life of a person, but a city."Biography of an Antislavery City: Antislavery Advocates, Abolitionists, and Underground Railroad Activists in Harrisburg, Pa." is the story of the coming of age of a city......

Jane is a young slave on a large Virginia plantation before the Civil War. While unhappy with her life of forced servitude, she is unwilling to make the dangerous flight to freedom.Then fate takes a hand.Enmeshed in a forbidden, doomed affair, Jane strikes out on a perilous journey ......

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg has twins: two 58-year-old Diesel locomotives weighing in at 255,000 pounds each.The new arrivals were brought to the museum Wednesday via the main line at Paradise and the tracks of the Strasburg Rail Road.Dubbed the 902 and the 903,......

"When I was a kid on Christmas morning, I'd see the depressing assortment of gifts the adults got — shirts, socks, ties," said Strasburg Rail Road President Linn Moedinger. "And I'd think, if that's what it's like to grow up, I don't want to." ......

With new plans in hand for renovations to its railroad station and platforms, Elizabethtown Borough needs only two more things.One is a stack of approvals from state and federal agencies that have oversight on the project.The other is about $4 million.Borough manager Pete Whi......

My New Year's resolution for 2008 is to get rich.I don't know how I'll do that, but it's my goal.It's not that I want a big house or a fancy car. And I certainly don't relish going into a higher tax bracket or having supposed "long-lost cousins" knocking on my door to tell me they n......

"When I was a kid on Christmas morning, I'd see the depressing assortment of gifts the adults got — shirts, socks, ties," said Strasburg Rail Road President Linn Moedinger. "And I'd think, if that's what it's like to grow up, I don't want to." ......

It was known as "the East Yard," or Manor Yard, and was one of Columbia's two rail centers at a time when railroad was king. Through the holiday season, a small version of "the Columbia of yesterday" is yours to see. In Ephrata, the year is 1953, and you can see a whole ......

When the Strasburg 275th Anniversary Committee began planning its New Year's Eve celebration, some thought dropping a train might be fitting — but completely impractical.True, the area is known for attractions like the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and the National Toy Train Mu......

Christmas and model trains go together like mistletoe and smooches. This year, the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg is kissing up to yuletide train enthusiasts big-time, showing "The Polar Express" at its IMAX theater and offering a collection of eight new model-train gardens in its Hars......

It's the locomotive that helped jubilant Americans honor Charles Lindbergh.In June 1927, the Pennsylvania Railroad E6 Atlantic locomotive No. 460 raced from Washington, D.C., to New York City bearing newsreel footage of Calvin Coolidge presenting the famed aviator with a presidential m......

All aboard the Peanuts Express. Next stop, the governor's residence.Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Woodstock and good ol' Charlie Brown will spend this holiday season riding the rails around Gov. Ed Rendell's Christmas tree, thanks in part to the folks at the Railroad Museum o......

Santa's Paradise Express is about to pull out of the station.The popular holiday train ride features Christmas carolers, brass horns and a personal visit with Santa during its 45-minute journey through the Amish countryside.Festivities will begin as soon as the visitor reaches t......

The glass is broken in many of the windows that aren't already boarded up.Wooden door frames at the Elizabethtown train station are warped under peeling paint, and the concrete steps leading to the railroad platform are cracked and broken.Yet the deeply rutted mud-and-gravel par......

Admission fees at Landis Valley Museum and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania will increase by $1 beginning next year to help pay for improvements at both sites.The museums have not raised rates since 2002, Barbara Franco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commi......

The history of warfare is linked indelibly to transportation.From aircraft and naval vessels to jeeps and motorbikes, the military always has had to find better ways to get where it needs to go. That's where the histories of trains and troops overlap."Railroads really were ......

The sign at a vendor's table at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania read "Stop, Look, Listen." And that's exactly what enthusiasts do at model railroad shows."I can't explain it; there's something magical about it," John V. Luppino, operations manager of......

When Clair and Joan Shearer opened their Lancaster home for a garden tour several months ago, only a couple of their 300 visitors had ever seen a garden railroad. The century-old European hobby, where model-train layouts literally run through backyard gardens, has become increasingly popular in......

Ryan Kunkle, supervisor of visitor services at the Railroad Museum of Pa., can remember lying in bed as a little boy as the not-too distant echoes of train whistles lulled him to sleep. "The trains got in my mind and they never let up," he says. He's not alone. An est......

Earl Township officials plan to meet this fall with state representatives and local businesses to secure funding for improvements on a busy stretch of Route 322.A plan to add lights at Railroad Avenue and Wanner Road was estimated at $402,000 during early planning stages. But Earl secretar......

They were asked by Norfolk Southern to let the long-controversial Low Grade rail line be passed to seven Solanco municipalities unimpeded. But county planners on Tuesday will consider an initiative to get the municipalities and the county to agree to recognize and establish guidelines for pr......

There's a locomotive tearing through Ken Murry's well-tended garden. And there's a passenger train barreling through Mel Pankuch's pristine backyard. That's just fine with both men. Murry, 69, of Mountville, and Pankuch, 67, of New Holland, are garden-railway enthu......

Strasburg Township supervisors Monday approved an ordinance that states fewer tracts of land can be subdivided off farms.Under the new agricultural zone ordinance, farm owners who have 50 to 99 acres could subdivide one parcel from the parent tract.The previous ordinance allowed a s......

As model-railroading gains steam, hobbyists increasingly search for trains, tracks and accessories. The Strasburg Rail Road is helping to meet that demand by expanding its model train shop, which dates to 1961. A small area of the store once contained model trains within its 300 square fee......

The Underground Railroad has cemented its place in U.S. history. Part of that story includes stops in Lancaster County. The Historical Society of Salisbury Township will feature three of those stops on its fifth annual Historic Salisbury Day Tour, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. "T......

As it prepares to turn over the abandoned Enola Low-Grade rail line Line to seven Solanco municipalities, Norfolk Southern railroad is asking county planners to skip their review of the takeover. But a local history advocate says the county vetting is possibly the last chance to insure protecti......

At the turn of the 20th century, the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad, the "standard of the world," linked all the great cities of America's East and Midwest except one: New York. Gotham-bound passengers in the Pennsy's fleet of plush Pullman cars disembarked not in the heart o......

Sen. Arlen Specter is doing his best to keep plans for the CorridorOne commuter rail line alive. Appearing at a press conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's senior senator said he is working to arrange for $11.2 million for the rail line from Lancaster to Harrisburg. The show of s......

The days are getting shorter, there is just a little nip in the air in the evening, and the garden is changing. Mums are growing, berries are popping up and pumpkins are getting fatter every day. Those changes, both subtle and obvious, are all taking place at Longwood Gardens, where Eve......

A two-alarm fire broke out in a vacant house at 11:33 p.m. Friday at South Charlotte and Railroad streets in Manheim Borough.No one was reported injured in the blaze at 246 S. Charlotte St. The fire remained out of control with flames and smoke visible for more than an hour after it was re......

It's not every day someone posts a "For Sale" sign outside a 187-year-old former house, general store, cigar factory, abolitionist meeting place, underground-railroad stop and youth hostel.On Sept. 14, though, Professional Partners Auction Services of Reading will auction the......

Because of requirements relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the cost of an Amtrak station proposed for Paradise Township has soared to $10 million."We here in Paradise have no problems with the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act," supervisor Dennis Groff said. " &he......

The circus calliope began playing at lunchtime, the sound seeming to carry across the parking lot and out to the rest of Strasburg, as Tom Persell gazed upon the small-but-special world of his circus. They were all there, and you could almost feel the excitement of a circus comi......

Keep on trucking?Not Alcoa. The local plant is spending $2.4 million to build another railroad spur, so it can begin to use railroad cars to bring in a kind of aluminum ingot. The project, part of $14 million being invested to upgrade the 1480 Manheim Pike complex, will replace 5,000 tr......

Stepping out from behind the veil of time, Pennsylvania Past Players spent Thursday mingling with modern-day visitors at two county tourist attractions.The Past Players, 18 actors and Civil War re-enactors dressed in period attire, spent Thursday afternoon in Strasburg, strolling the groun......

While the rest of Lancaster County celebrated the Fourth of July with fireworks and picnics, Strasburg Railroad engineer Steve Weaver was getting ready for a moment he had been anticipating for nearly a year: flipping the main electrical switch in the newly refurbished Reading Car No. 10.&......

Railroad enthusiast Gary Wemyss has been coming to the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg every summer for as long as he can remember. This year, however, the Rockport, Mass., resident won't make it past the front door. Starting today, the railroad museum, Ephrata Cloister an......

More than 24,000 state government workers are staying home today,  casualties of a partial government shutdown.Following a full day of budget negotiations Sunday, Gov. Ed Rendell announced at 11:15 p.m. that talks with state Senate leaders failed to move far enough to avert the furlou......

A decade after it was first proposed, renovation of Lancaster City's Amtrak station may be coming around the bend. Station improvements, expected to cost more than $12 million, are on track to go to bid by the end of this year. Construction could start in the spring. Under that schedule, A......

A Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in Rapho Township early Thursday, causing delays for other trains using the rail line through the morning rush hour.Four empty rail cars overturned after the engine derailed on Amtrak's Keystone Quarter line at 1:10 a.m., investigators said.......

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg will use a federal grant to protect an important part of America's railroading past.A $42,912 Conservation Project Support grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services will help the museum create new photographic image......

A tractor-trailer collided with a train Friday night at Dart Container in Upper Leacock Township, fire officials said.Upper Leacock Fire Company Chief Nelson Dagen said the tractor-trailer was crossing railroad tracks that run through Dart Container property, located along Route 23, when i......

The Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad will visit The Old Line Museum in Delta, York County, on Sunday afternoons throughout June, presenting photos, memorabilia and drawings.This will be the 32nd consecutive year the museum has honored the M&P Railroad — affectionately called th......

Strasburg Rail Road president Linn Moedinger told a crowd of about 200 people on Wednesday that the railroad, "never did anything in a normal fashion." In a re-creation of a whistle stop tour of political campaigns gone by, Moedinger spoke from the back of an observation car after it ......

Bill Grager has been working as a conductor on the Strasburg Rail Road for a third of a century. Grager, now an assistant principal of Lampeter-Strasburg High School, also served as music conductor at the district's Martin Meylin Middle School for more than 20 years. In 1986, his du......

Some Landis Homes residents are sharing their passion for model railroading by operating a garden railroad in one of the courtyards on the retirement community's campus near Lititz. Luke Bomberger, a member of the Landis Homes courtyard railroad club, said he and other model railroad en......

New Holland District Judge Rodney Hartman won't be moving to the historic former Kauffman's Hardware & Country Wares store in the borough's downtown.In the 11th hour of a deal to set up a district court in the building at East Main Street and Railroad Avenue, Leola real estate investor......

Lancaster County commissioners today are expected to vote to buy 25 acres to add to Money Rocks Park.James Hackett, director of the county Department of Parks and Recreation, told the commissioners Tuesday he has negotiated a $230,000 purchase price for 24.7 acres off Briertown Road in Eas......

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania has a new look.The museum officially dedicated its $1.4 million face-lift during a ceremony Friday.About 100 people, including some in Victorian garb, 1940s fashions and railroad conductor and train personnel outfits, crammed into the lobby for th......

Consider city streets are like stars: Only imagination limits your sense of their farthest destination and the stops at several points along the way.A small booklet issued by the City of Lancaster provides a walking tour and description of little towns of the 18th century when the city'......

The future of the Lancaster County almshouse on the grounds of Conestoga View nursing home is a lot more certain today.Complete HealthCare Resources, which owns the property at 900 E. King St., on Wednesday officially granted to Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County a "fa&cc......

To the farmers of southern Lancaster County who depended on it, the Peach Bottom and Lancaster, Oxford and Southern Railroad was lovingly dubbed the "Little, Old and Slow."But during the 50-plus years it chugged between Peach Bottom, Quarryville and Oxford in Chester County, it w......

Kids can travel along the Pennsylvania Trail of History for free today.To raise awareness of the newly expanded Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, all historic sites administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission will admit two children free with the purchase ......

When Bob Reese was about 12 years old, he and his friends walked from the southern end of Lancaster to the railroad station so often he knew the train schedules by heart.Reese liked trains so much he thought he would work for the railroad when he grew up."But Uncle Sam thought ......

On March 4, 1681, King Charles II of England granted to William Penn a charter for land in eastern North America.The specific tract was situated west of New Jersey, north of Maryland and south of New York and would be known as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.Now, 326 years later, t......

Now arriving on eastbound track No. 2, Train 48, the Broadway Limited, making stops at Coatesville, Downingtown, Paoli, 30th Street Philadelphia, Trenton, Newark and New York. All aboard!" How many times in the early years of my life did I hear those familiar words? Particular train nam......

A federal agency has rejected a $2.4 million Amtrak railroad station proposed for Paradise Township because of concerns the site would limit access for people with disabilities.Officials have hired an engineering firm to consider alternative sites in the township for the long-awaited stati......

East Hempfield residents are balking at Norfolk Southern's plan to move its rail yard to a tract just off Harrisburg Pike, saying it could increase noise and fumes and lower their property values and quality of life.•••East Hempfield Township reside......

It's the little engine that could.

Weighing in at just 12 tons, the small Vulcan switch engine, a new addition to Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania's collection, and its half-dozen or so siblings, were once the workhorses of some of the nation's largest rail yards.

In use for dec...

We waited in eager anticipation for those shows to come on. It meant that Santa would soon be here. Well, ho, ho, ho and he, he, he. Guess what? Tonight at 7, ABC Family will air "The Little Drummer Boy,'' followed by "The Little Drummer Boy Book II.'' Can St. Nick be far behind? FRIDAY: The bonf......

Alan Giagnocavo, with the help of local historians and researchers, filled in its soul.

“I don’t think I appreciated how many layers of history there are here, or how unique this area truly is,” Giagnocavo said Sunday.

“You often hear the phrase ‘only in Lancaster.’ And it’s true. Just...

Now to the column.

If you are like me, you are always looking for ways to acquire more money. We can’t help it; it’s who we are.

Who among us has not dreamed of being obscenely rich and living in a mansion the size of Luxembourg? A house that has at least seven bathrooms, none of which...

Jurors determined Norfolk Southern and Amtrak could have prevented the accident by placing warning signs alerting people to the electrified catenary wires, which power locomotives.

U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Stengel presided over the 11-day trial. Stengel is a former Lancaster County ...

Some of the money will pay for restoration of the Thaddeus Stevens house in Lancaster, and another chunk will go toward the Lauxmont Farms property on the Susquehanna River.

Gov. Ed Rendell Wednesday announced $1.5 million in grants meant to preserve Pennsylvania’s heritage and help create to...

David W. Mattern, 47, was found in a ravine around 9 p.m. by Amtrak railroad workers.

Soon after, Lancaster County Deputy Coroner Janice Ballenger pronounced the man dead at the scene.

Investigators determined the man had been dead for days, and an autopsy Tuesday showed no evidence he...

With the help of a Museums For America grant for $132,643 from the federal Institute of Museums & Library Services, every artifact, from lanterns to locomotives, plus more than 1 million paper items such as rail schedules and boarding passes, will be painstakingly cataloged and eventually made a...

Tours are included in regular Railroad Museum admission. For more information, call 687-8628, or visit www.rrmuseumpa.org. WINE RIDE Step aboard the parlor car of the Strasburg Railroad on Fridays and Saturdays through August for the Wine and Cheese train. Tickets are $25 and include wine, che......

People tend to be fascinated by unsolved mysteries.


Rick Fisher knows this because of his unique trade. When the local paranormal investigator mentions his line of work, people usually have more than their share of questions -- whether they're true believers in ''X-Files...

They also question whether the proposal by Norfolk Southern may signal the advent of faster, louder trains passing through Marietta.

A spokesman for the railroad denied Norfolk Southern has plans to run "fast freight" -- trains traveling up to 60 mph -- through the borough.

Another...

Think about this the next time you fly, and you are made to feel grateful when the attendant hands you that little bag of pretzels:


There was a time when you could cross this country — or even just go from city to city — dining on such entrees as Braised Duck Cumberland, Scall...

Sahd, proprietor of Sahd Salvage Co. in Columbia, sees many of his customers moving farther away from his operation, and rail service will allow him to continue to service them at an affordable price.

Sahd Salvage, which covers 18 acres along Route 462 on the eastern side of Columbia, collect...

The Shirks' choice of fuels has often brought looks of curiosity because, unlike oil and natural gas heating systems, a coal stove requires attention at least once a day. That need to feed the stove is a primary reason why coal long ago ceased to be a common choice for home heating.

This year...

Turkey Hill Dairy has agreed to contribute a portion of the proceeds from its new “All Natural Recipe Philadelphia Style” line of ice cream — about $50,000 a year — to the Lancaster Farmland Trust. The trust will leverage the money with other funding sources, including a dollar-for-dollar grant f......

Marti Armstrong, policy chairman for the Preservation Trust of Lancaster County, believes these signs should be identified and preserved. Last summer she suggested the Trust do something about that. “I just know there are signs out there that nobody has seen,’’ she says. “I want to find out where......

Marti Armstrong, policy chairman for the Preservation Trust of Lancaster County, believes these signs should be identified and preserved. Last summer she suggested the Trust do something about that. “I just know there are signs out there that nobody has seen,’’ she says. “I want to find out where......

Charles and Janet Leaman’s 90-acre crop farm is believed to be the first in Pennsylvania — and perhaps the nation — to be preserved partially by funds from a private business’s daily ticket sales. “The Strasburg Rail Road runs through farmland that looks very much as it has for a century or more,......

“Not one in 50 of our citizens, we venture to say, has ever stood on the highest elevation of the city, or even know where it is,’’ the reporter suggested. “The College Heights are always spoken of as the highest within the city bounds, but a far larger view of the city is obtained from Union Str......

“Not one in 50 of our citizens, we venture to say, has ever stood on the highest elevation of the city, or even know where it is,’’ the reporter suggested. “The College Heights are always spoken of as the highest within the city bounds, but a far larger view of the city is obtained from Union Str......

Joshua Addington, 20, of the 2200 block of Hershey Avenue, East Petersburg, was driving the car that overturned in the field, police said. Addington lost control as he drove the car west on State Street in East Petersburg shortly before 5 a.m. After striking the sign, the car hit an embankment wh......

This week, 14 kids from the Lancaster area are tossing aside their toys and taking on a new challenge: learning about trains and railroads at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg. The kids, ranging in age from 9 to 12, are learning about conductors, turntables, engineers, yardmasters ......

Just beyond them, steam hisses from the No. 475 locomotive. A loud whistle pierces the afternoon humidity. Passengers are boarding. A man shovels coal nine feet high atop a railcar. Beyond the train, green and gold fields of corn, alfalfa hay and soybeans spiral to the horizon, interrupted onl......

There, you’ll find the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and its newest exhibit, 1915 Street Scene. “We felt we needed an exhibit that talked about how important the railroad has been to small Pennsylvania towns,” says David W. Dunn, museum director. “A lot of Pennsylvania towns owe their existence......

“We have maps for all our utilities in the city,’’ says John Beck, a member of that crew. “We didn’t have any cavity marked in this area.’’ Beck knocked on the door of the closest building and asked if he could enter the basement to see if the auger had penetrated it. No basement under here, s......

“We have maps for all our utilities in the city,’’ says John Beck, a member of that crew. “We didn’t have any cavity marked in this area.’’ Beck knocked on the door of the closest building and asked if he could enter the basement to see if the auger had penetrated it. No basement under here, s......

Amtrak - which is rebuilding a stretch of track between Lancaster and Harrisburg as part of a $145.5 million project aimed at bringing high-speed rail service to the Keystone Corridor - unleashed its TLS (track-laying system) in Paradise Wednesday.

The orange behemoth lifted and b......

Since 2001, when he stumbled into it, Haley has tracked down abandoned railroad tunnels in Pennsylvania. He’s found 48 so far, mostly in what turn out to be special places off the beaten path. And he’s met a lot of neat people in his offbeat quest. “You’re about to learn the first thing about rai......

Since 2001, when he stumbled into it, Haley has tracked down abandoned railroad tunnels in Pennsylvania. He’s found 48 so far, mostly in what turn out to be special places off the beaten path. And he’s met a lot of neat people in his offbeat quest. “You’re about to learn the first thing about rai......

Conveying the tract of land that is now Pennsylvania to William Penn, the original charter for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was signed by King Charles II in March 1681 in recognition of the loyalty of Penn’s deceased father to the English monarchy.

Visitors of all ages are invited to view...

OK, so it's not the signature of our nation's 16th president, whose birthday is noted Saturday, Feb. 12.

But, Lincolnphiles, don't be discouraged: It is the inscription of his great-grandfather, reportedly for whom "Honest Abe'' was named.

And the property just might have a connection ...

The rails stretching away beyond the windshield. A coffee-colored, no frills engineer’s seat. A throttle. A brake. “You won’t find many examples of a more practical piece of machinery,” said Norfolk Southern Corp. public relations director Rudy Husband.


But the simplicity of this burly......

Lancaster County took that step last week when it asked the federal Surface Transportation Board to let it document the historic resources along the Enola Low-Grade Line in Solanco.


Norfolk Southern Corp. had been carrying out the documentation under the National Historic Preservation Act...

This weekend, Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania will recognize the tie that connects the railroad to the military during its fifth annual Troops and Trains event. "(Troops and Trains) is the Railroad Museum's tribute to the U.S. Armed Forces, American railroads and all those who served, ......

And Havard wondered where the Italian immigrants got all the stone they cut for a bridge to carry Orchard Buck Road over the new rail line they were completing through southern Lancaster County in the summer of 1905. "He would sit there for hours and watch the workers building the stone fou......

The hiring of attorney Richard Wilson is contingent upon his acceptance of the county's standard rate of $210 per hour for special counsel.

"He is an expert in railroad litigation," said Dee Dee McGuire, the county's project manager for the rail trail.

The commissioners in June u.....

At least that's what Lancaster officials are hoping after accompanying the Amtrak president and CEO on a tour of the city train station.

For several years, Amtrak has been saying it would help fund improvements to the Keystone Corridor rail line, which runs from Philadelphia to Harri......

Right there in the third-class county code it is: “the right-of-way of a railroad company shall not be acquired or occupied without the consent of the company owning or operating or in possession of said railroad.”

Norfolk Southern is saying that the county did not have the railroad’s consent...

Norfolk Southern railroad and six southern Lancaster County townships have announced they will appeal the county commissioners’ seizure last month of the 23-mile Enola Low-Grade Line property. “We plan to file preliminary objections to the condemnation filed by the county,” Norfolk Southern spoke......

The railroad on Monday filed a letter with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, arguing that the commissioners' petition has nothing to do with the "narrow scope" of the historical-significance study being conducted on the 23-mile Enola rail line.

By filing the petition, the ......

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, claims the accident could have been prevented had there been signs warning the teens of the electricity surging through the catenary wires stretched above the railroad car. The wires power locomotives.
Jeffrey K......

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Got some interesting feedback to last week’s bit about Route 23, and I think I threw some people for a loop, because they think, hey, he’s supposed to be relatively ... progressive, and don’t progressive types generally support farmland preservation and that sort of thing?

And, of cour......

It was a pretty big deal at the time.

That day at the National Institutes of Health, Kaseman showcased a device with "the possibility of being used for all sorts of probes into the body, because it was so flexible.''

Fast-forward to the Internet age, when an ailing Kaseman heard fr...

To commemorate Strasburg Rail Road's more than 150 years of service, the museum -- the railroad's across-the-street neighbor -- will present an exhibit titled "On the Road to Paradise: A History of the Strasburg Rail Road."

The display, which opens today and runs through Dec. 7......