Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail

Story

The Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail (TCB), the official name of the Northern Central Railroad (NCR) Trail, is a rail trail that runs along an abandoned railroad corridor where the Northern Central Railway once operated. The trail extends 20 miles from Ashland Road in Cockeysville, Maryland to the boundary with Pennsylvania. At the Pennsylvania line, the Torrey C. Brown Trail becomes the York County Heritage Trail (part of BicyclePA Route J) and continues to the city of York.The trail is 10ft wide with a stone dust surface and the majority of the trail runs along the Gunpowder River and Beetree Run. It has a beautiful rural scenery with trees along the trail that make it a pleasant outdoors experience. Popular activities on the trail include horseback riding, jogging, walking, hiking, fishing and biking. It is open to the public from dawn to dusk, seven days a week throughout the year. The trail is also pet-friendly as long as the pet is on a leash.The TCB makes up a segment of the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000 mile long system of trails connecting Maine to Florida.Historical developmentHistorical significanceThe Northern Central Railway, built in 1832, ran between Baltimore, Maryland, and Sunbury, Pennsylvania, and was one of the oldest rail lines in the country. The railway serviced the growing Baltimore, York and Harrisburg industries, had 46 stops, 22 of which were in Maryland, and operated for 140 years. It carried passengers, people vacationing at Bentley Springs, and freight between Baltimore and York or Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. During the Civil War, the Pennsylvania Railroad-controlled Northern Central served as a major transportation route for supplies, food, clothing, and material, as well as troops heading to the South from Camp Curtin and other Northern military training stations.