The Switchback Gravity Railroad, built in 1827, was only the second railroad built in America. It ran nine miles, hauling coal from Summit Hill down to the town of Mauch Chunk and the Lehigh Canal in east central Pennsylvania.
This year on November 19 we commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Lincoln's brief - just over 270 words - Gettysburg Address. It is thought by many to be the greatest speech ever delivered on American soil. You can retrace much of Lincoln's route to Gettysburg, and stand on the spot he occupied at Hanover Junction, using either of two rail-trails that mark the route of the former Northern Central Railway.
The seven-mile long Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail lets you retrace the path taken by this army of workers and metropolis of machinery. It was once known as the U. S. Government Construction Railroad, and was built in just over six months to connect a Union Pacific Railroad branch in Boulder City, Nevada, with the dam construction site.
