Old Train Station, New Oxford, Pennsylvania

U.S. Route 30, nicknamed the ‘Lincoln Highway’ to honor Abraham Lincoln, is the third longest route in the United States of America (behind U.S. Route 20 and U.S. Route 6) and runs from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast.  It passes through numerous states of which Pennsylvania is one of them.  It mainly runs along the southern tier of the state passing through the major cities of Philadelphia, home of where the Declaration of Independence was drafted and signed, and Pittsburgh, the home of steel manufacturing and other major companies, and through Lancaster, the most famous Amish community in the nation, York, home of the Weightlifting Hall of Fame and a Harley Davidson factory, and Gettysburg, the place where the turning point and one of the greatest battles of the American Civil War took place.  It passes through many small towns.  One of these small towns is New Oxford.

Some of you are saying, “Wow!  This is amazing.  U.S. Route 30 passes through the town of New Oxford, Pennsylvania.  What is so special about New Oxford, Pennsylvania?”

It is a town that had no famous historical events.  It is a town that has nice and fancy houses, and it is also a manufacturing town being home to companies like Pilgrim’s Pride and Aero Energy who works with containers for Blue Rhino.  It, as mentioned, is a stop on U.S. Route 30, and it was once a place where the Western Maryland Railway stopped.  Where?  New Oxford, like many small towns in America, had a train station.  Passenger trains no longer stop in New Oxford, but you can visit the train station where the trains once stopped.

Today, this old train station is a museum.  On the outside, you see Caboose Number 476582 of the Pennsylvania Railroad, an old Railway Post Office Car, and a few luggage carts.  On the inside, you have model train displays with model trains displayed on the walls and in cases.  You have a corner of whistles and lanterns.  You can step into the old ticket office and get the view that the ticket man once had.  You can see the old switchers that once switched the tracks around the station.  You can see an old semaphore that was used to signal trains.  (A semaphore was a traffic light for trains. Regular light signals are used today.)  If you are fortunate enough, you may even see a passing CSX train.

The New Oxford Train Station is run by volunteers.  There is no paid staff.  It is at 206 Lincoln Highway West (U.S. Route 30) about a quarter mile west of the town square and ten miles east of Gettysburg and U.S. Route 15.  It is easy to find because it is on the north side of U.S. Route 30 at the railroad crossing.  It is open every first and third Sunday of the month from 1:00pm to 4:00pm.  Parking is on site.  Admission is free, but they do accept donations to help keep the museum running for many generations to come.  Although the museum is wheelchair accessible, there may be a few tight spaces to maneuver through.

U.S. Route 30 passes by many great sites as it makes its way across the country.  The old train station in New Oxford, Pennsylvania is one of them.