Station Stop: Hanover Junction. Passengers gather on the platform as a Northern Central passenger train arrives at Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania on its way south to Baltimore. On the point today is York 17, a 4-4-0 American Standard Locomotive, the likes of which were ubiquitous from the 1850s through the end of the century.
Of course, York 17 is not an original piece. She is a replica, built by David Kloke of Elgin, IL, in 2013 for the newly formed Northern Central Railway, then doing business as "Steam into History." The York was built from plans and patterns developed by O'Connor Engineering in the 1970s, for the construction of the Jupiter and 119 replicas for the Golden Spike National Historical Park. The York is essentially a heavily modified version of the 119, which was a product of the Rogers Locomotive Works in Patterson, NJ. The York differs from the 119 in that she was built with a Yankee-style balloon stack and represents a wood-burner, whereas the 119 burned coal. Additionally, other modifications were made to make this engine more suitable for tourist operations, such as the addition of knuckle-style couplers, an incandescent headlamp and injectors on both sides of the cab. The York also sports a rear-facing box headlamp on the back of the tender, for reverse operations. And for safety and practicality, this engine burns waste motor oil instead of wood. Oil is far easier to load and poses a much lower risk of lineside fires.
