Martic Forge Trestle, Lancaster County, PA. November 2020.
The Great Wall of China can be seen from space - so can the gouge across Lancaster County known as the Enola Low Grade Line. These days it is a rail trail that is nearly finished, but in its time, it was a colossal infrastructure project of a magnitude that would make national headlines today.
By the late 1800s the "Main Line" between Harrisburg and Philadelphia had become crowded with passengers and very long freight trains. The Pennsylvania Railroad decided to make a freight-only line to relieve the pressure. The Susquehanna & Atglen line was born. The current name "Enola Low Grade" actually comes from the Enola freight yards across from Harrisburg where the line ended. The line was built over three years starting in 1903 and was a colossal undertaking employing mostly new immigrant labor. Apparently profitable immediately, it was later electrified after the building of Safe Harbor Dam. At the end of 80 years of service in 1988, the line was decommissioned. The final decades of the line saw very little use, so it was actually heavily used for only 50 years. 50 years of lucrative use justified cutting a scar across Lancaster County at a cost of 200 construction laborer lives (many "blow to atoms" handling dynamite) and what would be 500 million dollars today. Will this be the Via Appia of Pennsylvania in 2000 years?
Today the rail trail starts at the base of Turkey Hill in Lancaster County. An extremely popular stretch of the trail that slowly climbs (it was "low grade" for heavy freight trains) above the river affords spectacular views of Lake Clark. The Enola Low Grade was blasted into the cliff above the lower line that continues down to the Chesapeake Bay. Sometimes a section of the sheer cliff sloughs off and falls on the trail - sobering to say the least. Passing by one of those rockfalls, I wondered what it was like to watch a several ton stone fall off the rock face. The trail stops at the Safe Harbor Trestle which is being renovated for walkers and bicyclists. When finished, it promises to be an amazing experience crossing the notch where the Conestoga River finally pushes through the hills to the Susquehanna.
After the Conestoga, the trail climbs higher above the river and passes below sheer rock faces that are favored by climbers. A couple mile walk (or bike ride) from the nearest parking lot, the climbers really must want to do it. The line finally turns inland near the Pequea Creek above Shenk's Ferry Flower Preserve (a great spring flower experience in Lancaster County). Then comes the "long straight" with just one deviation all the way to Atglen on the other side of the county. The western side of the long straight was simply blasted out of the earth and creates a narrow notch through the wooded hills surrounding. Walking it (apart from the lovely Martic Forge Bridge) is very dull. My brother and I walked this section on cool November days and learned how truly cold it could be out of the sun with just a touch of wind.
Finally, around Quarryville, the trail breaks out into farmland and is less of a cleft and more of an earthen viaduct. This is the heart of Lancaster's Amish country and the line passes close to many Plain People's backyards. I think I learned more about Amish people walking the Enola Low Grade than I did growing up in the area years before. My brother and I discussed what technology was permitted and what was not - a confusing and contradictory topic. The Amish are certainly NOT completely frozen in the 18th century in spite of the horses, buggies, and lack of electricity. On Sundays, we would meet groups of young Amish people walking the trail, probably visiting a nearby farm or coming home from church. The trail finally crosses the East Branch of the Octoraro Creek and joins the Main Line at Atglen near Christiana, PA. Because we parked and walked the trail in sections, it meant returning to the car each time. I am proud to say that I have walked across Lancaster County and back, literally!
The Martic Forge Trestle had been renovated for bikers/walkers and was subsequently destroyed by an arsonist. I assume the deck will be rebuilt eventually, but it gives me pause to wonder what degree of "angst" someone local would feel to destroy something like that. Was it mental illness? I see that being swept under the rug more and more in the United States and much to everyone's peril. Was it some lone protest about modern life and living conditions akin to graffiti? How could someone in rural Lancaster County feel so disconnected and alienated that they would do this as an outcry? Again, something seems seriously amiss if this is the case.
Beyond reading about the building of the line and a few stories attached to it like the dynamite factory that exploded during construction and a famous train wreck, there was one other bit of local history I learned walking the trail - the Christiana Riot. In 1851 some Marylanders came to Lancaster to recover slaves who were making their way northward on the Underground Railroad. A group of slaves and abolitionists fought back and one of the slave owners was killed. This was national news at the time and became an important event in the chain that led to the start of the Civil War. It was something "local" that I had never learned about growing up nearby. Little, forgotten Christiana played a role in the course of US history.
The Enola Low Grade Trail is not my favorite trail to walk in Lancaster County, in spite of a few nice bits. However, walking most of it gave me a sense of accomplishment during the Great Lockdown of 2020. I learned more local history, too. Lemonade from lemons, right?
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