Peach Bottom Railway
| Locale | Southeastern Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1873–1881 |
| Successor | Peach Bottom Railroad, York and Peach Bottom Railway |
| Track gauge | 3 ft (914 mm) |
| Length | 20 miles (32 km) |
| Headquarters | Oxford, Pennsylvania |
The Peach Bottom Railway was a 19th-century 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad in Pennsylvania, designed to haul coal from the Broad Top fields in central Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, but succeeded only in establishing two local short lines.
The railway was chartered on March 24, 1868 and planned in three divisions. The Eastern Division would run from Philadelphia or some point near that city to the Susquehanna River at Peach Bottom. A crossing would need to be effected there to reach the Middle Division, which would run north to the mouth of Muddy Creek and follow that stream to Felton. From Felton, the Middle Division would proceed either to Hanover Junction or York. The Western Division, whose course was never well-defined, would run north of Gettysburg and cross the mountain ridges to the coal fields near Orbisonia.
The principal promoter was Stephen G. Boyd, a member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly from York County. When the company was organized in 1871, he became President; Samuel R. Dickey, of Oxford, was Vice-President. Local support was drawn principally from York, Lancaster and Chester Counties, representing the Middle and part of the Eastern Divisions. Surveying began on December 1, 1871, and chief engineer John Mifflin Hood recommended adoption of 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge, which was very popular at the time as a method of reducing construction costs. Ground was broken on the Eastern Division in August 1872 at Oxford, on the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad, and construction westward began. Location of the Middle Division, meanwhile, was influenced by the necessity of raising funds for the anticipated crossing of the mountains to the west. The direct route from Felton ran through a sparsely populated area, and a secret attempt to gain financial aid from the Reading by proposing a branch to Wrightsville (across the river from the Reading and Columbia Railroad) was unsuccessful. The company was approached by a group of businessmen from York offering support, and decided to build upon that point. Grading began in York, towards Red Lion and the Muddy Creek watershed.
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