The Northern Central Railroad route runs from Washington, DC to Baltimore, MD and on through York, PA to Lake Ontario in upstate New York. The Northern Central was constructed in 1838 and opened in 1840. This railroad and telegraph line played a key role during the Civil War. On November 18 and November 19 1863 President Lincoln traveled to Hanover Junction, PA and transfered to the Westward line to Gettysburg where he gave the historic Gettysburg address.

Currently, the Northern Central RR line is the York Rail Trail (1992) in Pennsylvania and the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail (1999) in Maryland. There are 41 miles of rail trail - 21 miles in PA and 20 miles in MD. In the Fall or Spring, it is spectacular to walk or bike the rail trail. My favorite features are the changing geology of the area and the historic Howard Tunnel up near Hanover Junction. If interested, "google" York Co. rail trail parks for the web site.

Again, the best way to view this map is to download and expand it on your desktop.

Note: I will also post a picture - circa 1950's - of a train on the Northern Central line. [id=609427931]