The Middletown and Hummelstown Railroad, "The Milk & Honey Line"

The Middletown and Hummelstown Railroad is a shortline operation based out of Middletown, Pennsylvania. The railroad has been serving the local region between its namesake cities since the late 19th century so not surprisingly it has seen quite a bit over that time. For much of its life prior the collapse of the Northeastern rail industry in the 1970s the Middletown and Hummelstown was owned by the Reading Railroad. However, this changed in 1976 with the formation of Conrail and the little railroad was spun-off becoming an independent operation.

To give a brief history of the Reading Railroad it was another of the many anthracite carriers of the Northeast and perhaps the most famous (it was even featured in Monopoly!). Unfortunately, while the Reading was the most famous anthracite carrier it was also relied the heaviest on the commodity and when demand began to disappear following WWII so did the Reading’s profits. While the railroad was one of several that collapsed in the wake of the Penn Central disaster to be absorbed into Conrail it was certainly one of the most interesting and colorful anthracite carriers of all.

Prior to World War II the Reading did fairly well, moving millions of tons of anthracite from western mines to eastern ports, a staple which was quite profitable, at least while demand held. And, despite a system that only connected the larger cities of Philadelphia and New York, the Reading did have one posh passenger train, the Crusader, a streamlined operation between New York/Jersey City (in conjunction with the CNJ at its Jersey City Terminal) and Philly. In its initial streamlining the train used a simple 4-6-2 Pacific (streamlined at the Reading Shops) and matched it to its lightweight consist of five cars (built by the Budd Company), bedecked in stainless steel.

One other interesting aspect of the Reading Railroad, especially for its main role in hauling coal, was the railroad’s extensive, and electrified, commuter operations around the Philadelphia regions. By the 1930s the railroad had electrified its lines, extending from its now-abandoned Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, to Norristown, Chestnut Hill, Doylestown, Hatboro, and West Trenton. Amazingly, even as late as the 1960s, the Reading was continuing to expand its commuter/electrified operations!

On June 21, 1970 the PC declared bankruptcy and not long after so did most of the other surrounding carriers, including the Reading on November 23, 1971. With things not improving the Reading, along with most of the other Northeastern railroads, became part of the federally created Consolidated Rail Corporation on April 1, 1971.

Currently the M&H does not roster a large number of locomotives and rely entirely on older GE and Alco switchers (despite the locomotives' size and age, however, they do a great job and were built to last).

Along with freight operations the M&H also offers passenger excursions over 11 miles of its railroad, which runs from May through October. They offer a number of different events with their excursions throughout the year and perhaps best of all is their fully operational former Canadian National 2-6-0 #91!

For more reading on shortlines like the "Milk & Honey Line" consider the book American Shortline Railway Guide from author Ed Lewis. The book has gone through several updated editions to keep up with the ever-changing world of the shortline industry. Today, the publication highlights almost 600 shortlines across the country with general background information about each. If you have any interest in shortlines you will very likely enjoy this book.