By M.T. Burkhart
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Stone Gables Estate, home to a 4-4-0 replica steam locomotive, will offer regular trips on most Saturdays this summer and fall.
The Harrisburg, Lincoln & Lancaster Railroad is being built on the Stone Gables Estate near Elizabethtown and follows part of the original Pennsylvania Railroad right-of-way where President Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train ran 156 years ago.
A few years ago, the estate purchased 4-4-0 “Leviathan,” an operating replica of an 1868 locomotive, which has been renumbered “Pennsylvania Railroad 331” to represent the original that pulled Lincoln’s funeral train from Harrisburg to Philadelphia. The procession made a stop in Elizabethtown on April 22, 1865.
To go along with the locomotive, Stone Gables purchased a replica Lincoln funeral car, “United States” built by Dave Kloke (who also constructed the locomotive) in 2015. Lincoln was scheduled to inspect the new car on April 15, 1865, the day after he and his wife were to attend a show at Ford’s Theatre, but he never saw the car. Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, issued orders for the car to be used to carry Lincoln’s body and that of his son, Willie, who died in 1862. Both were carried back to Springfield, Ill. There is also a pair of replica coaches at the railroad.
Pennsylvania Railroad 4-4-0 331 leads the Lincoln Funeral Train on April 22, 2021. Photo by M.T. Burkhart.
The railroad is still under construction on the 275-acre property in the heart of Lancaster County, with future plans including a timber trestle and turntable. The current roughly half-mile of track follows the right-of-way of the Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mt. Joy & Lancaster Railroad, passing an original hand-cut and stacked stone wall through stands of 250 to 350-year-old “witness” trees.
The original rail line was completed in 1838 and sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1860. The tracks were removed in 1903 when the new main line opened through Elizabethtown (the electrified Amtrak line running between Harrisburg and Philadelphia).
Trips depart Saturdays May through October (except July 3) at 11 a.m., and 1 and 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and must be purchased in advance. The property is also home to the restored 1877 Star Barn and 1844 Herr’s Mill covered bridge. For more, visit stonegablesestate.com.
