CLICK TO HEAR TRAIN MUSIC
CLICK TO HEAR TRAIN SOUNDS
This trail is named in memory of Jonathan Eshenour, a young and
vibrant member of Derry Township who was fatally injured in a
biking accident.
This portion of the
trail is along the old railroad bed of the
Brownstone-Middletown Railroad Company. May of 1885 marked the
completion of the branch of the railroad going to the quarry
which is about a half mile past the upper trailhead, and the
shipment of the first carloads of stone to the stone cutting
sawmill in Hummelstown. The volume of stone shipped increased
greatly, until the company shipped as many as forty carloads a
day in 1887. With the decline of the use of Brownstone as a
building material, the railroad was officially dissolved on
July 10, 1939.
The brownstone building
blocks from the quarry were used to build churches, office
buildings and homes throughout the United States. Several old
Brownstone buildings still exist in the Harrisburg area. Givin
Public Library in Mt. Holly Springs, PA and Alfred’s Victorian
restaurant in Middletown, PA are examples of the Brownstone
architecture.
On February 2, 2003 the quarry was placed on the National
Register of Historical Places, and a monument was erected at the
upper trailhead which is across the street from Brownstone Ghost
Train Car No. 5. If you like, you can drive or walk to N40 14.517
W76 41.601 and N40 14.505 W76 41.635 to get a view of the old
quarry. If someone can find a better view, let me know and I will
post the location.
When the railroad was abandoned they stranded an engine and 5
railroad cars loaded with various pieces of brownstone that was
destined to the sawmill to be cut and then delivered to various
locations. This train is now known as the Brownstone Ghost Train.
If you listen closely on a quiet day, you can here the faint sounds
of the train. Your job as the railroad historian trainmaster is to
find the five cars and using the clues provided by the conductor to
answer the engineers questions, you can determine why the train was
unable to deliver its cargo to the sawmill before the track was
abandoned. Once the mystery is solved, it is said that the engine
will be able to start and complete its journey. The coordinates
were off by 30 feet from the time I started placing the 6 parts
until I returned. If you find that the posted coordinates are off,
post your coordinates and I will change if needed.
