Round Top Branch of the Gettysburg & Harrisburg Railroad

Round Top Branch of the Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railroad. . You are standing where the Round Top spur of the Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railroad (GHRR) passed by on the way to Little Round Top. The spur, shown on the map as a green line, was constructed between April and June 1884. From where you are standing, the train spur traveled straight ahead (south) across the Gettysburg Battlefield. The spur took visitors through the battlefield to the back side of Little Round Top to where the GHRR purchased land and developed "Round Top Park," an amusement area with a restaurant, games, picnic pavilions and a dance hall. A special platform on the branch was built in 1913, so veterans attending the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg could disembark directly into the Great Camp on the west side of Emmitsburg Road. The Round Top Branch was abandoned in 1942. The Gettysburg Electric Trolley line, shown as a red line on the map, operated from 1893 to 1916., The Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railroad depot in Gettysburg (photo below) was and still is located just northwest of the intersection of North Washington Street and Railroad Street. It is approximately one block west of the train depot where President Lincoln arrived to deliver The Gettysburg Address. The Reading Railroad took control of the GHRR in May 1891, and operated it as the Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railway. Reading passenger service to Gettysburg ceased in 1941. The depot below was used as part of a scenic railroad in the 1990s. Scan the QR codes below for more details about the GHRR.