The geographical location of Tyrone helped determine its growth as a railway center. With the success and use of the steam locomotive the demand for a railroad line to connect Philadelphia and Pittsburgh grew more intense. Engineers had to overcome major challenges of tunneling through mountains and building bridges over waterways.
By 1849, a short Pennsylvania Railroad line was completed between Harrisburg and Lewistown. There was passenger service daily and freight service three times a week. It was in September 1850 that the first passenger train stopped in Tyrone. By 1857, using a single track, Tyrone had become a regular stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad Main line and by the 1860s there were three tracks passing Tyrone.
The 1853 wooden depot, the 1881 brick station
A wooden station (depot) was first built in 1853. Only six years later, in December 1879, this depot was destroyed by an early morning fire. A beautiful brick station was built on the same site in 1881. At that time the station housed the offices of the Tyrone Division, the Adams Express Company, and the Middle Division Yard Master. The Tyrone Division was in existence from 1853 to 1929, when it merged with the Middle and Williams Parts Divisions. Unfortunately, the Tyrone Station was demolished after years of neglect and a fire in 1968.
In 1859, the Ward House was built as a stopover for travelers, particularly for businessmen. The block on Main Street (Pennsylvania Avenue) near the station was a desirable location for hotels, barbers, and stores.
The 1903 West Tyrone Yard and Lehigh Station
In 1903, the West Tyrone Yard was built as part of a large expansion program. There were eight tracks and a Wye connection with the Tyrone Division. As part of this expansion program, an island platform was built. In 1916, the small Lehigh Station was built west of the Wye.
The railroad expansion provided Tyrone with the opportunity to thrive economically. It was the policy of the Pennsylvania Railroad to help build the terminal towns. The railroad supported the YMCA from 1891 to 1934. It developed a large tract of land (now the location of Gardner Candy Factory) into an Athletic Park. The railroad also provided professional musicians to play at weekly concerts, and it subsidized a semi-professional baseball team.
Three wrecks and a long decline
Tyrone had its share of railroad train wrecks. The Walter L. Main Circus Train wrecked at McCann’s crossing early in the morning of Memorial Day 1893. Five circus workers were killed and many animals escaped into the countryside. Another derailment was the collision of a passenger train and a mail train in front of the Tyrone Station on July 30, 1913. The engineer was killed and 192 passengers were injured. On November 26, 1981, a coal train derailed causing damage to the station and underground tunnel crossing here in Tyrone.
During the 1920s the importance of the railroad started to decline. The popularity of the automobile and the Depression helped immensely. During the 1940s with the onset of World War II the train traffic picked up to 54 passenger trains daily, however by 1976 the number of trains stopping in Tyrone had dropped to 4.
Originally the land for the rail park area was donated by Conrail. The area is known as the Bud Shuster Intermodal Transportation Center. Looking at the initial artist’s concept of the area there were to be several buildings. Unfortunately, funding was lost and only one building was ever built, housing the Tyrone History Museum.
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