Lewistown & Eastern Railroad

Let me begin with a little history. In 1846 the Pennsylvania Railroad had been incorporated to construct from Harrisburg, PA to Pittsburgh, PA. In 1849 Lewistown became its first western terminus and industry quickly developed due to the proximity of the Juniata iron ores. The Freedom Forge at Burnham/Yeagertown had been producing pig iron from these ores since 1795. The Mifflin & Centre County Railroad (M&CC RR) was projected to build northward through this iron belt, from Lewistown to Milesburg. By 1865 the line only extended 12 miles to Milroy with there being no favorable route northward over the Seven Mountains to Milesburg. In May of 1865, the PRR leased the M&CC RR and for years handled enormous traffic to and from Burnham Steel Company, successor of the Freedom Forge. Entrepreneurs also projected a line eastward from Lewistown to the Susquehanna River at Selinsgrove, PA incorporating the Middle Creek Railroad in 1865. Despite having constructed some roadbed, the line was waning by 1870 when it was reincorporated as the Sunbury & Lewistown Railroad. The 43.5 mile line from Lewistown to Selinsgrove opened on December 1, 1871 and was immediately leased by the PRR. Under PRR control, the line served as an important shortcut for moving Wilkes-Barre anthracite westward, avoiding Harrisburg, and for moving perishables to New York markets via an interchange with the Lehigh Valley Railroad at Mt. Carmel, avoiding both Harrisburg and Philadelphia. With the industrial decline of the 1950’s, the middle of the line was taken up beginning in 1957. Conrail operated the line from 1976 until the Juniata Valley Railroad (JVRR) became the operator August 19, 1996. Today the Juniata Valley Railroad is an 18.5 mile short line that interchanges with Norfolk Southern in Lewistown and delivers commodities that vary from scrape and finished metals to plastics, fertilizer and pulp. The JVRR was incorporated in 1996 to assume from Conrail the operation of three branch lines radiating out of Lewistown. These lines include remnants of the former railroads extending to Selinsgrove, PA, Milroy, PA and a branch to an industrial park west ofLewistown.

That brings me to my Lewistown & Eastern Railroad (L&E RR) which began as the Lewistown & Erie, an HO scale model railroad using L-girder benchwork following three walls of my basement. The original name was given due to my liking of the Erie Lackawanna Railroads late paint scheme and my being to lazy to design my own logo, therefore using the EL as LE. The benchwork began long ago and was dismantled before any significant amount of track was laid do to necessary water proofing of the basement and my lose of interest thereafter. After more than several years, I decided that I needed to do something with the pile of wood I had standing in the corner. Hating to waste it, I began assembling five foot sections of L-girder benchwork that could eventually be joined together forming a modular railroad. Work commenced for a few more years leading to a two layer, continuous run, whatever you want to call it. Once again I lost interest after laying enough track to get from one end to the other on the lower level and no chance of operations. Then one day I was invited to attend an operating session with a group of Gentlemen that belong to a group called HARM. I would like to take this time to thank Fred for inviting me and to thank all the members of HARM for having me. This encounter sparked a renewed interest in the hobby like no other. Construction commenced once again with the help of a close friend and model railroader Vince as I was allowed to continue to attend the weekly operating sessions with HARM. Not to long thereafter, I became a member and realized that I had to get the trains rolling so that I could host my own session. I greatly appreciate the support and ideas offered by my fellow members which leads me back to the name, Lewistown & Erie. The name and the line had no rhyme or reason. The suggestion of changing the name to Lewistown & Eastern by Rich made a lot of sense, since Lewistown is a long way from Erie for a short line railroad. He also suggested having the line connect to a body of water east of Lewistown, perhaps the Susquehanna River, due to the fact that I now have a port, Bayport, which has been so kindly given to me by its builder Dave, Master Model Railroader #35. Dave has also been kind enough to allow me to display many of his scratch built and kitbashed structures such as Rohm and Haas, Locktite Concrete Pipe Inc., W.E. Donnelly & Company, Moms Café, Consolidated Anthracite Coal Co. and rolling stock from his Sylvania Central Railroad. Back to the L&E, a fictional railroad that had been built with no story behind it and no destination before it. But with the suggestions of others and a little research on the Juniata Valley RR website (www.nshr.com/JVRR.html), the Lewistown & Eastern has a purpose. The L&E supposedly operated from 1957, after PRR control, until the present. This allows the owner, myself, to operate during numerous time periods and to interchange with a variety of Fallen Flags as well as a current Class 1 railroad, Norfolk Southern. This also presents the possibility of seeing a number of foreign road’s modern motive power traveling under trackage rights across the L&E from Lewistown to the Buffalo Line at Sunbury, PA. I think you can see where I’m going with this as I am fond of both past and present railroad equipment. The L&E is also know for keeping the railfans happy with a large number of restored, antiquated locomotives of all makes and models adorning their original road’s paint schemes. Heritage Units? So that is the story behind the Lewistown & Eastern Railroad, and I’m sticking to it! At least until someone comes up with a better one.

~Ken Lewis

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