The Historic Railroad Station at Gettysburg

Historic Gettysburg Railroad Station
35 Carlisle Street
Gettysburg, PA 17325

As the Battle at Gettysburg broke out on July 1, 1863, the offensive was taken by Confederate forces assaulting from the northwest and north. Hastily developed Union lines collapsed, sending the defenders retreating through the streets of town to the hills just to the south, where defensive positions were established and reinforced. As wounded and dying soldiers flooded into town, the railroad station and platform were commandeered for use as an army hospital. On days two and three, wounded Union soldiers climbed to the station’s cupola to watch the successful defense of the hilltop positions. Train service was restored about a week after the battle ended, but traffic was far from normal and would remain so for several months. The station was crowded with wounded waiting for trains that departed twice a day, carrying their passengers towards home or to distant hospitals. Inbound trains delivered medical supplies and brought volunteers to help the wounded.

In the years following the Civil War, the Gettysburg station maintained a steady flow of passenger service, but freight business was sporadic and unreliable. By the late 1930s, America’s increasing reliance on the automobile had drastically reduced demand for Gettysburg’s passenger service, and Gettysburg Railroad Station’s final passenger train departed in December, 1942.

The Gettysburg Train Station is now owned by the Borough of Gettysburg, and the entire first floor has been turned into a museum. The museum contains artifacts found during station renovation, a diorama showing how the train station and the surrounding yard looked in 1863, and an amazing scale model of the original two-story building, which was completed in 1858.

The tracks run past the station from east to west; this photo was taken from the northern side of the tracks. Its Italianate style architecture was fashionable at the time it was built, but was certainly unusual for a railway station. The station was originally built as a “head house”, i.e. it formed the western terminus of the line. In 1886 the wing extending alongside the tracks (on the far side of the building) was added, and the path of the tracks was shifted so that trains could pass by the station.

Features typifying the Italianate style architecture include the two-storied structure, the pediment (triangular section) above the roof line at the center of the façade, pilasters (projecting columns built into the face of the wall), a projecting cornice (the horizontal decorative molding crowning the building) with decorative brackets for support, and the cupola (the dome-like structure on the roof top).

This diorama shows how the station looked in 1863; trains came in from the east and made their final stop here. Glare from transparent cases is going to be an issue today.

This is a 1 inch to-the-foot scale model of the Gettysburg Train Station as it was in 1863. William Aldrich of Gettysburg, who is said to be one of the leading miniature-railroad modelers in the country, took nearly 1,000 hours to build it. I have reason to believe that he also created the diorama shown above. The first picture shows the view from the east: The tracks terminate at the station, next to the covered passenger platform extending from the rear of the station. The second photo shows the view from the west. The south wall is left open on both the first and second floors. The first floor held a ticket counter and two waiting rooms, creating one waiting area for men and another waiting area for women and children. The second floor was one large room, and housed the office of the President of the Gettysburg Railroad Company.