Middletown and Hummelstown Railroad

The Middletown and Hummelstown Railroad (reporting mark MIDH) is a shortline railroad which operates freight and passenger excursion trains in Middletown, Pennsylvania to Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, just outside Hershey, PA and Harrisburg, PA.

Passenger excursion trains

The company uses both steam and diesel locomotives for passenger excursions. Coaches are 1920s-vintage Delaware, Lackawanna & Western High-Roof MU Trailers. Passengers board at the 1891-era freight station in Middletown for an 11-mile (18 km) round-trip excursion along the Swatara Creek and Union Canal; a narrator relates history of the canal and various sites along the trip.

There is also a collection of heritage railway rolling stock displayed in the Middletown Yard. A relatively modern 1969 engine is used to transport freight trains. Freight service has been provided since 1976 and passenger excursion service has been provided since 1986.

Fleet

Locomotives^[1]

Number	Original Owner	Original Number	Manufacturer	Type	Year Built	Notes
1	US Army	7272	GE	60 Tonner	1941	Used For Passenger Service
2	Standard Slag and Stone Co.	46	GE	65 Tonner	1955	Used For Passenger Service
66	Kansas City Public Service	Unknown	GE	Steeplecab	1948	Non Operational
91	Canadian National Railway	1013	CLC	2-6-0	1910	Non Operational
151	Western Maryland Railway	151	ALCO	S-6	1956	MIDH #151 in Middletown Restored to original Western Maryland Speed Lettering Livery in 2009; Used for Freight Service[2]
1016	Newburgh and South Shore Railroad	1016	ALCO	T-6	1969	Used for Freight Service

Trolleys^[1]

Coaches

All but #9269 and #726 are used in tourist Passenger Service.

Cabins

Freight Cars

U.S. Route 322 restriction

Though the railway owns the trackage between its two namesake towns, it until 2011 only regularly operated as far north as Indian Echo Caverns. U.S. Route 322, a four-lane limited-access highway, lies between Indian Echo Caverns and Hummelstown proper, where the railway connects with Norfolk Southern's (NS) Harrisburg Line. PennDOT restricted the M&H to 12 crossings per year. However, the M&H had requested additional crossing allowances and was willing to install additional crossing hardware (gates, additional flashers).

Freight business is minimal on the M&H, partly due to the restricted access to NS on the north end. The railroad has stated that this restriction greatly hampers growing freight potential. PennDOT said it believes more discussion regarding warning devices for the crossing is needed given the volume and type of traffic on Route 322. In addition, the Hummelstown Borough Council has expressed "not in my backyard" concerns with having additional freight trains passing through town.^[3]

2011 flood damage

Historic flooding in September 2011 from Tropical Storm Lee damaged significant parts of the railway along the Swatara Creek, including completely washing out one approach to the bridge crossing the creek. Repairs have been estimated to cost between $250,000 and $300,000, and thus the route stops short and no longer reaches Indian Echo Caverns or Hummelstown.^[4]

2014 Transformer Delivery

On Friday, January 24, a leased Norfolk Southern locomotive operated by a M&H crew delivered a transformer, using the M&H line, to the PPL sub station on Fiddlers Elbow Road. Following extensive track repairs to the line, north of the 322 crossing over the summer, the transformer was delivered by Norfolk Southern Engine GP38-2 #5046. The transformer was brought in from the Norfolk Southern line, crossed U.S. Route 322 and then used the spur line to deliver the transformer to the sub station. It would be the first time since 1994 that a transformer was delivered to the substation via the M&H line.^[5]

External links

• Railroad's website

References

Railroads of Pennsylvania
Common carriers	ALLN AOR AVR BDRV BLE (CN) BPRR BVRY CP CHR CNYK CORY CSXT DL EBGR EEC ESPN EV GET JVRR KRL KJR LRWY LS LVR LVRB LVRR MIDH MKC MMID MSUB NBER NCIR NDCR NHRR NS NSHR NYSW OCTL PAM PN POHC PSCC PSWR RBMN RJCN RJCP SBR SH SLRS SRC SVRR SWP TCKR TMSS TYBR UCIR UMP URR WCOR WE WNYP YRC YSRR
Passenger carriers	ALLN AMTK DI EBT ECTM FCR JIP KJR LGSR MI NHRR NJTR OCTT PAT PATC PREX PTM RMP RTM SPAX SRC TIOC WCRL WKS
Private carriers	CSAO CUMB EASO PBL
Former carriers	ALY APRR BO CNJ CR DH DLW DV ERIE EL GBRY GETY KKRR LNE LV MCLR MCRR MGA MPA MTR NCR NKP NYC OCTR OHPA OW NW PLE PC PRR PSN PSR PWV RDG SBRR WM YKR Y&PB
See also: List of United States railroads by political division