Gettysburg Railroad Station - History

History

After an uncompleted 1830s plan for a railroad through Gettysburg, on December 1, 1858, the Gettysburg Railroad line was completed from the east to Gettysburg. On December 16 at 3 p.m., a reception for railroad dignitaries was held at "a large and recently furnished building near the depot" (the depot was being built on 0.4 acres (0.16 ha) purchased from George W McClellan in the summer). The Gettysburg Railroad Company had contracted for Passenger Depot construction on September 18, 1858 for "the Corner of Carlisle and Railroad street"; and on January 10, 1859, the stockholders resolved to hold their future meetings "in the office their Passenger Depot" (the depot opened in May 1859 after its last coat of paint on April 25.)

Depot configuration and reversing the train

The completed depot had two 1st floor waiting rooms (for men and for women & children) and, via a spiral staircase on the eastern side, a large open room on the 2nd floor. The ticket booth/office was a small structure attached to the southeast part of the station. After an 1886 expansion, the original 2-room headhouse became the men's waiting room and was separated from the women's room in the new space by a long hallway.
Until the tracks were extended west of Gettysburg, trains reversed near the station to return eastward:

  1. Arriving westbound on the main line, an engine with passenger car switched onto a siding and stopped along a long loading platform behind the depot where passengers detrained.
  2. The engine backed the car from the 1st siding onto a 2nd siding where the car was disconnected.
  3. The engine then switched back onto the main line (the engine was reversed).
  4. The passenger car was rolled back onto the 1st siding along the platform for loading.
  5. The engine backed onto the 1st siding, connected to the loaded car's opposite end, and headed east.

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