Hanover Branch Railroad

[1]: 614–15  The railroad was commonly referred to as the "Old Branch" and began construction in March 1851 and started operation in October 1852.

The Hanover Branch was used to ship a significant volume of iron ore from local mines.

The "21st Annual Report (1873) of the Hanover Branch Railroad" states that about 12,000 tons of iron ore were received from the Bachman Valley during a four-month period.

[4] During the Gettysburg Campaign of the Civil War, Confederate cavalry disrupted the telegraph line and destroyed the railroad's facilities at Hanover Junction, except for the hotel.

[5] After public viewing of the President's remains in Baltimore, the train departed on the Northern Central at 3 p.m. and passed Hanover Junction at 5:55 p.m., arriving in Harrisburg at 8:20 p.m., after a brief stop at York.

It continued on its trip to Springfield, Illinois, for the burial, via the cities of New York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, and Indianapolis.

Hanover Junction station in 1863
Lincoln's funeral train carried his remains, as well as 300 mourners and the casket of his son William, on the Northern Central Railway through Hanover Junction in April, 1865