The 38 mile (61 km) main line ran from Orrtanna to Hanover Junction, where it connected with the Northern Central Railway (a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad).

The Hanover Junction Company was chartered in 1874 and took over train operations of (merged) the railway lines of the Hanover Branch Railroad and Susquehanna, Gettysburg & Potomac Railway.

The railroad was extended from Gettysburg west to Marsh Creek in 1884 and to Orrtanna in 1885.

In 1886 the company merged with the Baltimore and Hanover Railroad and the Bachman Valley Railroad to form the Baltimore and Harrisburg Railway.

The Hanover Branch portion of track between Hanover Junction and Valley Junction was abandoned and removed c. 1930.