Round Top Branch

The Round Top Branch was an extension of the Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railroad from the Gettysburg borough across the Gettysburg Battlefield to Round Top, Pennsylvania. The branch ran southward from the terminus of the railroad's mainline (junction with the Hanover Junction, Hanover and Gettysburg Railroad north of Meade School), west of the school & the Catholic cemetery, across the field of Pickett's Charge & south Cemetery Ridge, east of Weikert Hill & Munshower Knoll, and through Round Top to between Little Round Top's east base and the Taneytown Rd. In addition to battlefield tourists, the line carried stone monoliths and statues for constructing new monuments during the battlefield's memorial association & commemorative eras, as well as equipment, supplies, and participants for Gettysburg Battlefield camps after the American Civil War (e.g., 1884 Camp Gettysburg, 1913 Gettysburg reunion, 1918 Camp Colt, & 1938 Gettysburg reunion).^[3]

History

After completion of a 22 mi (35 km) initial survey into Gettysburg along Rock Creek on January 12, 1882;[1] the G. & H. R. R.^[4] mainline was instead completed into the borough along Oak Ridge and had 9 stations from Hunter's Run.[2] By July 14, 1882, Professor Ambrose E Lehman of the State Geological Survey had completed the G. & H. R. R. survey for the branch to Round Top,^[5] and the H. J., H. & G. R. R.^[1] survey was subsequently commenced by Engineer Joseph S. Gitt [3]^[5] for a competing Round-Top Railroad Company^[6] route to Round Top (the latter was never built).

Tracklaying workers under foreman Coulson were placing rails of 80 lb (36 kg) per yard for the branch in May 1884^[7] (worker "Blind Davy" Weikert was totally blinded by a premature dynamite blast).[4]^[8] The Round Top Station's warehouse was completed June 21, 1884.^[9] After being surveyed in May;[5] the branch's connection to the H. J., H. & G. R. R. was being completed on July 22, 1884 "just beyond the Cashman limestone kilns"; and a siding along the Fairfield Road had been completed as well as a switch at the PA National Guard commissary^[10] (the 1913 siding held 8 carloads of ice).^[11] The "dummy" Baldwin steam engine had begun excursions "to the hill" in June 1884^[9] and could carry about 40 passengers^[12] (the branch's "dinky" could carrying about 10.)^[13] The G. & H. R. R. also published a Gettysburg Battlefield guidebook with 1884 images by "the great landscape photographer, Mr. Bell, of Philadelphia" (cf. William Bell).[6]

By 1888, the branch's Hancock Station on the battlefield was south of The Angle near the Vermont [7] and Tammany monuments;^[14] and on a c. 1900 map, a wye with crossing double spurs was depicted at Round Top Station along with a benchmark at 545 ft (166 m) elevation [8] (by 1904 the wye was no longer depicted).^[15] In 1902, Camp Lawton was headquartered at The Angle with its telegraph and telephone office at the Emmitsburg Rd "junction of the steam and electric roads near the Codori buildings".^[16] Through October 1914, a combination arsenal/commissary along the Round Top Branch was used for Pennsylvania National Guard camps at Gettysburg.^[17] A special platform on the branch was built for 1913 Gettysburg reunion veterans to disembark directly into their camp^[11] on the west side of the Emmitsburg Rd; and after addressing the veterans, President Woodrow Wilson departed the Great Camp in his private rail car via the branch.^[18]

The branch's junction was visible on a June 25 aerial photo of the 1938 Gettysburg reunion camp;^[19] and on May 7, 1939, a Reading Railroad train from Philadelphia carried 400 excursionists over the branch to Round Top.[9] Except for special occasions, e.g., Bethlehem students in 1958;[10] Reading passenger service to Gettysburg ceased in 1941,[11] and an application to abandon the Round Top Branch was made in 1942^[2] (the rails were removed and a few artifacts remain in place.) The mainline junction is now located at Seminary Ridge west of the original 19th century junction and was used by the Gettysburg Railroad (1976–1996) and the 1996-2001 Gettysburg Railway.

References