South Pennsylvania Railroad

[1] Its intended route began in Duncannon, passed through Landisburg and Burnt Cabins and ended on the Juniata River via the Broad Top Mountain coalfields.

On March 31, 1859, it was given the grandiose name of Pennsylvania Pacific Railway Company, with the rights to extend into Maryland and Virginia.

[1] Despite feverish promotion, including plans for 200 miles (322 km) of line from Marysville to West Newton (on the Youghiogheny River), no further work was completed.

It connected Harrisburg with the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad,[3] a Vanderbilt subsidiary, at Port Perry.

[4][5] The so-called "southern route" of the South Pennsylvania was a treacherous one, as it crossed six mountain ridges, required nine tunnels and involved numerous curves and steep grades.

Maps, letters and other documents including tunnel designs are open to the public in the state archives in Harrisburg.

In 1937, the new Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission bought the old line from the two railroads and, in 1938, construction began between Carlisle and Irwin.

Two of the workers from the South Pennsylvania Railroad project (one contractor and one laborer) also worked on the Turnpike despite the 54-year time difference in construction.