The Lurgan Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

s of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, and West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

. The line runs from Chambersburg

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

Chambersburg is a borough in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is miles north of Maryland and the Mason-Dixon line and southwest of Harrisburg in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley. Chambersburg is the county seat of Franklin County...

, Pennsylvania, south to Hagerstown

Hagerstown, Maryland

Hagerstown is a city in northwestern Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Washington County, and, by many definitions, the largest city in a region known as Western Maryland. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2010 census was 39,662, and the population of the...

, Maryland, and west to Cherry Run

Cherry Run, West Virginia

Cherry Run is a small unincorporated hamlet located along the CSX Transportation mainline on the Potomac River in Morgan County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The community is named for the stream, Cherry Run, that meets the Potomac in its vicinity...

, West Virginia, along a former Western Maryland Railway

Western Maryland Railway

The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation. The WM became part of the Chessie System in 1973 and ceased operating its lines...

 line. It meets the Hanover Subdivision

Hanover Subdivision

The Hanover Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. The line runs from Baltimore, Maryland west to Hagerstown, Maryland along several former Western Maryland Railway lines...

 at Hagerstown and the Cumberland Subdivision

Cumberland Subdivision

The Cumberland Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Maryland and West Virginia. The line runs from Weverton, Maryland west to near Cumberland, Maryland along the old Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road main line...

 at Cherry Run. The line is named after its former northern end in Lurgan Township, Franklin County

Franklin County, Pennsylvania

As of the census of 2000, there were 129,313 people, 50,633 households, and 36,405 families residing in the county. The population density was 168 people per square mile . There were 53,803 housing units at an average density of 70 per square mile...

, Pennsylvania, where the Western Maryland once connected to the Reading Company

Reading Company

The Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...

 along the Alphabet Route

Alphabet Route

The Alphabet Route was a coalition of railroads connecting the Midwest United States with the Northeast, as a freight alternate to the four major systems - the Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Central Railroad, Erie Railroad and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad...

.

History

The Western Maryland Railway

Western Maryland Railway

The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation. The WM became part of the Chessie System in 1973 and ceased operating its lines...

, which had a main line from Baltimore to Williamsport, Maryland

Williamsport, Maryland

Williamsport is a town in Washington County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,868 at the 2000 census and 2,278 as of July 2008.-Geography: Williamsport is located at ....

, made its first expansion into Pennsylvania in 1881. The WM leased a line from the Baltimore and Cumberland Valley Rail Road and the Baltimore & Cumberland Valley Rail Road Extension Company, connecting Edgemont, Maryland to Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

Shippensburg is a borough in Cumberland and Franklin counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Settled in 1730, Shippensburg lies in the Cumberland Valley, 41 miles west-southwest of Harrisburg, and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1900, 3,228 people...

. In 1886 the line was connected in Shippensburg to the Harrisburg and Potomac Railroad, which was absorbed into the Reading system in 1891.

In 1899 the WM shortened the route between Chambersburg and Hagerstown with the construction of the Altenwald Cutoff. This shortcut between Hagerstown and Quinsonia, Pennsylvania, reduced the steep grade for heavy coal trains, as well as the overall distance on the branch. A portion of the cutoff was double track

Double track

A double track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single track railway where trains in both directions share the same track.- Overview :...

ed, which also improved the line's efficiency. The remaining line between Quinsonia and Edgemont continued to operate with a lower level of traffic. The section between Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Waynesboro is a borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, located northwest of Baltimore, Maryland, 67 miles southwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and north of the Mason-Dixon Line. The population within the borough limits was 9,614 at the 2000 census. When combined with the surrounding...

, and Edgemont was removed in the late 1950s.

In the late 1920s the Reading built a new connection to the WM at Lurgan.