Cumberland Valley Railroad - Demise

Demise

Regular passenger train service on the CVRR ended in 1952, the last New York-Roanoke train ran in 1961. The PRR's successor, the Penn Central, closed all railway facilities in Chambersburg in 1972. Its successor, Conrail, first renamed what had been known as the Cumberland Valley Branch with three names: Shippensburg Secondary Track (Harrisburg to PENNROAD, south-east of Shippensburg); Hagerstown Secondary Track (from the Reading junction north-east of Shippensburg, through PENNROAD, to TOWN and HAGER towers in Hagerstown); and Winchester Secondary Track. Conrail later (1979–1980) abandoned the southern half of the Shippensburg Secondary (from the west side of Carlisle to Shippensburg, including street-running trackage on Earl St. in the latter town), opting instead to use the Reading connection for freight trains. Instrumental in this realignment was the placement of a wye track at CAPITOL interlocking in Harrisburg. Conrail also abandoned the trackage on the western portion of the CV bridge in Harrisburg, leaving a wye for Amtrak to turn power. The Winchester Secondary was sold to a short line. The Lurgan Branch name, originally used by Conrail for the ex-Reading trackage that passed through Shippensburg to a connection with the Western Maryland, was retained. Norfolk Southern Railway operates the trackage since the 1999 breakup of Conrail.

The planned CorridorOne commuter rail service between Harrisburg and Carlisle, plans to use the old Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge