Men of Steam, Shadows of Steel: Gretna’s Railway Heatwave

by Michael Long

[Photo credit: Michael Long.] Summer flora obscures the remains of a railroad water tank at the Mount Gretna spur of the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail.

Not even the natural heat shield of Mount Gretna's blessed shade can protect against the swelter of summer.

Yes, it's hot, but let’s be grateful for the times we live in, when excursions to Lebanon County’s charming Chautauqua come courtesy of air-conditioned vehicles. During Gretna’s heyday at the turn of the 20th century, when the lifeblood of this wilderness playground flowed through its rail lines, the steam-powered locomotives that drove traffic here were heat missiles on wheels. Temperatures inside an engine’s firebox exceeded 1,000 degrees, and on a hot summer day, radiant heat from the firebox and boiler could push temperatures inside the locomotive’s cab well over 100 degrees. Pity the poor engineers and firemen (the stokers of coal) encased in their work shirts, overalls, gauntlet gloves, and hog head caps; these were true men of steel. Imagine the strength of spirit required to spend one's days mopping a perpetually sweat-stained brow while shuttling merrymakers back and forth from an amusement park near the Mount Gretna train station up to the 60-foot observation tower on the Governor Dick mountain ridge — each time passing along the northern and western shores of Lake Conewago, where bathers bared their arms and legs in the cool mountain waters. The only aquatic relief for a railway man was taking a moment to refill the train's tender at the water tank.

Gretna’s pleasure rail line, the Mount Gretna Narrow Gauge Railway, was abandoned more than a century ago, but its residue remains, hidden now behind the lush greenery of summer. Next spring, before the trees have pushed out their leaves, Mount Gretna Magazine will take you on a walk through the woods around town and retrace the pathways of its rich rail history, traversing miles of old rail beds and resurrecting the spirit of the Gilded Age.

Michael Long is an editor and staff writer at LNP Media Group (formerly Lancaster Newspapers), where he has worked for nearly 30 years, and a contributing writer for Mount Gretna Magazine. He is a lifelong resident of Lancaster County who grew up near Mount Gretna.