Departures

I find it very appropriate that today, New Year's Eve, marks the 65th anniversary of the departure of the last passenger train from the train station in Gettysburg. I would give you the details myself, but I think Jerry Bennett does a much better job:

At 4:00 p.m., Thursday, December 31, 1942 conductor George Hardesty called, "All Aboard," and waved a "highball," the traditional hand signal that the train was clear to move, to the engine crew. Ahead in the cab of locomotive #202, engineer George Kelly pulled twice on the whistle and eased out the throttle starting train #44 on its journey to Baltimore. As the large drive wheels gained traction the train slowly gained momentum and then quickly pulled away from the passenger platform and the old brick station for the last time. In less than two minutes it had crossed Stratton Street and passed out of sight. Left behind at the station was a sad sense of finality, for after eighty-three years and 15 days, railroad passenger service to and from Gettysburg on its oldest and most historic line was a thing of the past.

When the train reached Baltimore and the last passengers departed, its cars were turned over to the U.S. War Department to help meet the growing requirement for rail transportation of service men. The curtain had close on the last act.

(From The Gettysburg Railroad Station by Gerald Bennett, available at the train station for a $5 donation.)