How can the Root Beer Barrel not be the theme for this post? The Root Beer Barrel was a local favorite hot dog and soft drink stand that stood aside Rt. 72 coming in to Mt. Gretna for 50 years. It was renovated and moved to its present location on the LVRT by two young men, their work team, and the original builder to serve as their Eagle Scout Project. (The Eagle Scout projects on this trail are impressive!) It represents one of those quirky mid-century Pennsylvania roadside attractions - and there were many - that sprang up when motoring around the Commonwealth was a weekend family pastime. I was one of those kids who was stuffed into the back seat of my great aunt Louise's Pontiac for hours of Sunday motor-touring, stopping at, I believe, every one of these places.
 |
| The Root Beer Barrel |
The idea that people actually had time to spend on "leisure time" gave my riding partner a bit of a giggle as we both had to wrangle time away from work-related schedules to make this day happen. "With everyone I know working two and three jobs just to stay ahead," she said, "it's a wonder 'the working class' has time at all these days." We reflected on how the Covid-19 year affected the work place - how jobs that were once considered not important suddenly became essential. Carol is one of those. She is an office manager at local pet hospital and never missed a day of work during the pandemic. She struggles to find qualified office staff a year and a half later so she's been working two shifts a day for the past ten months, plus an occasional shift at the local Dollar Store. "It's crazy how hard I see some people working. And crazier still that other people won't or can't return, making it harder on the rest of us." She mentions lack of affordable and reliable child care for two of her most valued office staff.
 |
| Kauffman's Park whistle stop |
Carol had time only to ride one way to Lebanon from Mt Gretna where we'd left her car. I opted for the out-and-back since I had the time. Soon she was off to her next shift. As I waved goodbye I thought about how important this railway corridor has become, once so important as an operating railway to the working people who took holiday at Kauffman's Park near Mt. Gretna or who came by rail from cities to attend church meetings and camps, disembarking at the same station just a mile north of the village where we began our ride.
 |
| Steel span bridge |
On my return ride I noted the whistle stop post that alerted engineers to the busy rail crossing at Mt Gretna Station up ahead and imagined how the passengers must have watched in anticipation for the roller coaster, swimming lake, and various attractions through the trees. It's all gone now- existing only on faded postcards and photographs on Eagle Scout kiosks and historical displays. The foundations of the station are visible through the brush as is one remaining intact water tank, the stone surround of a decorative fountain, and a wide, flat siding area that once contained the boardwalk and crosswalk.
 |
| Old railroad ties mouldering in the leaves |
During the work week, the Cornwall-Lebanon Railroad carried products to and from the mines, kilns, and furnaces as well as lumber, produce, and military materials. The large National Guard site, just north of Mt. Gretna sprawled across the hills and featured an impressive rifle range and tent barracks complex. It was moved to the present day Indiantown Gap location, and a smallish empty lot named Soldier Field is all that remains.
 |
| Conewago Hotel |
In the summer and on Sundays excursion trains carried passengers to picnic groves, parks, and church camps. Leisure time was a valuable commodity then as it is now. For the families of the furnace and quarry workers and (mostly) women workers who toiled in the dozens of factories from as far away as Harrisburg, a trip to church camp meeting or a relaxing day at the amusement park and picnic grove was the highlight of the summer season. If you had a lot more money and a lot more time, a well-to-do person might book a room at the Hotel Conewago to enjoy a weekend or a summer respite from the smoke-filled streets of the manufacturing towns upriver, where according to one hotel guest "smoke stacks took the place of church steeples."
 |
| Disused water tank in the woods. |
Our Covid experience not withstanding, available leisure time and income to support it for most American workers - especially women - has not changed in over a century, despite optimistic predictions made by economists in the first half of the 20th century. Current studies that measure labor participation rates and worker-sector analysis to show who is working and where (Francis, 2007; White 2014) conclude that leisure time in the 21st century is about equal with that of the end of the 19th century. This sobering reality makes John Maynard Keynes' 1930 rosy predictions seem like science fiction. He predicted that "central problem for humanity would be using its abundant leisure time in a meaningful way." Carol later emailed me to say that her hour-and-a-half on the bike trail that morning was one of the best breaks she's had a year.
The LVRT may not transport people from urban work centers to relaxing parks and camp gatherings anymore, but its corridor still serves to provide people with a beautiful outdoor experience for much needed time away from their hectic work weeks. Even just an hour-and-a-half on a bike rolling through an early fall forest is balm to a busy woman's soul. As we learn more about how important leisure time is to our mental and physical health, the national rail trail network is helping to provide leisure opportunity for when one has the time.
Notes:
National Bureau of Economic Research, Francis (2007)
"Where Did All the Leisure Go?"
White (2014) "Changes to the Leisure Time Landscape."
Keynes (1930) "Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren."
No comments:
Post a Comment