The scope of the Southcentral Pennsylvania Shortlines RPM includes shortlines that operate(d) within the counties of Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, and York (see map below). A further qualification is that they were not "paper railroads" (see below).
Historical Shortlines
- Cornwall Railroad - Operated 1860-1968 when absorbed into the Reading Company.
- Cornwall & Lebanon Railroad - Absorbed into the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1918.
- Gettysburg Railroad - Operated 1976-1996.
- Hanover Branch Railroad / Gettysburg Railroad (1858-1870); purchased by the Susquehanna, Gettysburg and Potomac Railway in 1871; consolidated with the Hanover Branch Railroad in 1874 to create the Hanover Junction, Hanover and Gettysburg Railroad. In 1886 the company merged with the Baltimore and Hanover Railroad and the Bachman Valley Railroad to form the Baltimore and Harrisburg Railway which was controlled by the Western Maryland Railway; the WM bought the company in 1917.
- Lancaster, Oxford & Southern Railroad - Started as the narrow gauge Peach Bottom Railway (1872-1890); reorganized as the LO&S (1891-1918).
- Lancaster & Quarryville Railroad - Absorbed into the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1915.
- Lebanon Valley Railroad - Operated 1850-1858 when acquired by Reading Company.
- Maryland & Pennsylvania "Ma & Pa" Railroad - 1901-1999. Started as the narrow gauge Baltimore & Delta Railway (1881); merged into the Maryland Central Railroad (MCRy) in 1882. Meanwhile, the narrow gauge Peach Bottom Railway (1871); reorganized as the York and Peach Bottom Railway (Y&PB) in 1882. The Y&PB merged with the Maryland Central Railway in 1891, becoming the Baltimore and Lehigh Railroad (1891-1894). As a result of bankruptcy in 1894, the Pennsylvania portion as the York Southern Railroad and the Maryland portion was sold off as the Baltimore and Lehigh Railway. The lines converted to standard gauge in 1895 and 1900, respectively. The two lines merged in 1901 to form the "Ma and Pa".
- Mont Alto Railroad - Operated 1872-1901. Originally incorporated as the Scotland and Mont Alto Railroad. Leased to the Cumberland Valley Railroad in 1879 but retained its own locomotives until 1894. The Mont Alto was sold at foreclosure in 1901 and reorganized as the Cumberland Valley and Waynesboro Railroad which, in turn, was sold to the Cumberland Valley in 1906. The Cumberland Valley fell under control of the Pennsylvania Railroad as early as 1859 and acquired the line in 1919. The bulk of the Mont Alto became the PRR's Waynesboro Branch.
- New Park & Fawn Grove Railroad - Absorbed by the Stewartstown Railroad in 1923.
- Reading & Columbia Railroad - Absorbed by the Reading Company in 1923.
- Susquehanna River and Western Railroad - Consolidated the Perry County Railroad and the Newport & Shermans Valley Railroad. Narrow gauge. Ceased operations in 1935.
- York & Wrightsville Railroad - Absorbed by the Pennsylvania Railroad (early).
Contemporary Shortlines
- Gettysburg & Northern Railroad - Formed 2001.
- Middletown & Hummelstown "Milk & Honey" Railroad - Formed 1976. Former Reading Company trackage.
- Northern Central Railway - Founded 2013 as "Steam Into History". Former Pennsylvania Railroad Northern Central Branch trackage.
- Stewartstown Railroad - Founded 1885.
- Strasburg Railroad - Founded 1832.
- York Railway - Formed 1999. Part of the Genesee & Wyoming system.
Paper Railroads
Paper Railroads are out of scope for the Pennsylvania Shortlines RPM events. Paper railroads...
...existed on paper only and were never built or otherwise realized; or
...were charted and constructed with the intended purpose to be immediately acquired or leased by a larger parent railroad.