Steaming through a rich history. Steam Into History's brand new excursion train follows 10 miles of county-owned and essentially abandoned ROW that was originally built in the late 1830s as part of the York & Maryland Line Railroad. Later, it became part of the Northern Central Railroad, which ran all the way from Baltimore to Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Ultimately, the Northern Central became a subsidiary of the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad.
A lot of history traveled over these rails, much of which was related to the US Civil War. At least twice, NCRY facilities were attacked and captured by Confederate forces. After the battle of Gettysburg in July of 1863, the railway carried many wounded soldiers to hospitals at York and Baltimore. President Abraham Lincoln used this line on his journey to Gettysburg in November of that year to attend the dedication of the National Cemetery, where he delivered his legendary two-minute address. Just a year and a half later, the line carried the body of the slain President on his final journey home to Illinois. Yes, there is a reason why Steam Into History selected this set of tracks for their recently inaugurated Civil War-themed excursions. Their goal is to tell the rich story of this historic region, and this line in particular. Re-enactors, role-players and musicians will ride these excursions, bringing the history of the line to life and entertaining the passengers during their 20-mile journey.
