The Tapeworm Railroad (Gettysburg Rail Road) was a

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

planned by Congressman

Thaddeus Stevens Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792August 11, 1868) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, being one of the leaders of the Radical Republican faction of the Histo ...

and nicknamed by opponents ridiculing a lengthy serpentine section around the Green Ridge of South Mountain after an orator compared the path to a tapeworm depiction on a product's packaging. Switchbacks were planned on the west slope at Hughs Forge along the E Br

Antietam Creek Antietam Creek () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Potomac River located in south central Pennsylvania and western Maryland in the ...

("Cold Spring Cr" in 1839) and on the east slope at Stevens' 1822 Maria Furnace along Toms Creek (Monocacy River), with three east slope tunnels through spurs of

Jacks Mountain Jacks Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge which is located in central Pennsylvania, United States, trending southeast of the Stone Mountain ridge and Jacks Mountain Anticline. The ridge line separates Kishacoquillas Valley from the Ferguson and D ...

. In 1836,

Herman Haupt Herman Haupt (March 26, 1817 – December 14, 1905) was an American civil engineer and railroad construction engineer and executive. As an honorary Union Army General officer, General during the American Civil War, he revolutionized U.S. milita ...

had surveyed the "road from Gettysburg across South Mountain to the Potomac" and in 1838, the rail "bed" was "graded for a number of miles, never got further than

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

", and included the following (west-to-east): * single-arch ''roadway'' bridge over Toms Creek west of Iron Springs, Pennsylvania * multi-arch bridge * viaduct at Virginia Mills * deep cut near Marsh Creek * elevated railbed on banks of

Willoughby Run Willoughby Run is a tributary of Marsh Creek in Adams County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Willoughby Run flows southward between Herr Ridge and McPherson Ridge through the Gettysburg Battlefield. References External links *List ...

* McPherson Ridge railway cut, site of the 1863

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...

military engagements on

McPherson Ridge McPherson Ridge is a landform used for military engagements during the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, when the I Corps of the Union Army had a headquarters on the ridge and was defeated by the Confederate division of Major General Henry Heth. Th ...

Seminary Ridge Seminary Ridge is a dendritic ridge that served as an area of military engagements during the Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War, which was fought between July 1 and July 3, 1863 in and around Gettysburg, Pennsy ...

railway cut After Thaddeus Stevens lost his position on the Canal Commission, the commonwealth ended the railroad's financing and work was suspended in 1838, and an 1839 survey was ordered of the planned line. The Tapeworm Railroad right-of-way was later used by the

Susquehanna, Gettysburg and Potomac Railway The Susquehanna, Gettysburg and Potomac Railway (SG&P) was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania in the 1870s. The 17 mile (27 km) main line ran from Gettysburg to Hanover. H.V. and H.W. Poor Co"Poor's Manual of Railroads of the United S ...

and its successor, the

Baltimore and Harrisburg Railway The Baltimore and Harrisburg Railway was a railroad that operated in Maryland and Pennsylvania in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The 59 miles (95 km) main line ran from Emory Grove, Maryland to Orrtanna, Pennsylvania, with a 6 miles (9.7 ...

to build a line from Gettysburg west to Highfield, Maryland.

References

External links

{{- Defunct Pennsylvania railroads Predecessors of the Western Maryland Railway Railway companies established in 1838 Railway companies disestablished in 1839 1838 establishments in Pennsylvania American companies established in 1838 American companies disestablished in 1839