[3] During the American Civil War the line had strategic importance in supplying Union troops in the Shenandoah Valley.

On June 27, 1835, Thomas Grubb McCullough was elected as the first President of the road, and in August, William Milner Roberts was selected as Chief Engineer.

[2][page needed] The railroad opened for travel from White Hill, near Harrisburg to Carlisle in August, 1837, and through to Chambersburg in November, 1837.

When service began to Chambersburg, the iron was not laid for the last 3 miles (4.8 km) and the cars were run in on the wooden stringers.

[2][page needed] The first Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge across the Susquehanna was opened for travel on January 16, 1839.

The berths were upholstered boards, in three rows, one above the other, held by leather straps, and in the daytime were folded back against the walls.

[7] In 1999, the Pioneer was moved from its display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. to the as yet unopened National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

In July, 1864 Confederate raiders led by Jubal Early returned and burned the greater part of Chambersburg including most railroad property.

[3] During the 1870s feeder lines such as the Mont Alto Railroad were added in the Cumberland Valley to gain access to iron ore deposits.

In conjunction with the Norfolk and Western Railway the CVRR operated the middle link of the New York-Harrisburg-Hagerstown-Roanoke, Va. passenger trains.

Conrail also abandoned the trackage on the western portion of the CV bridge in Harrisburg, leaving a wye for Amtrak to turn power.

The Lurgan Branch name, originally used by Conrail for the ex-Reading trackage that passed through Shippensburg to a connection with the Western Maryland, was retained.

The planned CorridorOne commuter rail service between Harrisburg and Carlisle intended to use the old Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge