In 1875, a proposal was made to build a railroad from Herndon, Northumberland County, to Good Spring, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The railroad was never built, but the rationale for it was spelled out in newspaper briefs of the time.
Additional information is sought about this 1875 project.
On April 6, 1899, the Lykens Register reprinted a story that appeared in a 1875 edition of the newspaper. That story told of the proposed railroad which would start at Herndon and terminate at Good Spring.
An effort is being made to build a railroad from Herndon, through Uniontown [Pillow] and Gratz, to connect with the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad at Good Spring. Meetings are being held at the various towns on the route and stock is being sold. Fifty shares were taken at Uniontown.
In searching the available newspapers on Newspapers.com, only three additional articles have been located and are presented here below, but very little was added to what was said in the Lykens Register reporting.
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From the Sunbury Gazette and Northumberland County Republican, January 1, 1875:
A NEW RAILROAD – An effort, we are informed, will be made to build a railroad from Herndon in this county, via Uniontown and Gratz, to Roush Gap [Rausch] in Schuylkill County. The road is to intersect with the Northern Central, and will give an outlet to a large amount of produce from a rich valley in our sister county of Dauphin. The coal beds at Roush’s Gap are very productive, and a road to that place will bring to market not only a large quantity of coal, but a quality which has heretofore been unknown on account of the want of facilities to carry it to market. Should the parties engaged in the enterprise be successful, Herndon will become a prominent town for the shipping of coal.
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From the Public Press, Northumberland, January 8, 1875:
— An effort is being made to construct a railroad from Herndon, Northumberland County, to the Roush Gap, in western end of Schuylkill County, via Uniontown and Gratz, Dauphin County.
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From the Harrisburg Telegraph, January 25, 1875:
It is proposed to build a railroad to intersect the Northern Central at Herndon and to run via Uniontown and Gratz, in this county, to Roush Gap. This would give an outlet to a large amount of produce in the upper end and bring into market large quantities of coal of the finest quality.
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If this railroad had been built, coal mining would have increased significantly on the northern side of Short Mountain at Gratz. Since no railroad was built through Gratz at the time (1875), coal mining was primarily confined to the southern side of Short Mountain, where it was served by the Lykens Valley Railroad, the Summit Branch Railroad, the Williams Valley Railroad, and the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.
In the first quarter of the 20th Century, the Midland Pennsylvania Railroad was partly constructed and then dismantled. That railroad, if completed, would have connected the Pennsylvania Railroad at Millersburg, with the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad at Ashland and Gordon, Schuylkill County.
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