PA York Heritage Rail Trail - Segments 5 & 6

 Segment # 5 - Brillhart Station to Howard Tunnel (March 2 2025) 4.5 miles O&B

16 miles to go!

A bright but colder day, Amos and I completed a 4.5 mile out-and-back starting at the YHRT parking lot at Brillhart Station to make the historic Howard Tunnel our snack break and turn around point.  As we walked past the old station house (now a private residence) and the small Brillhart trackside community, Red Tail Hawks were circling and calling over the Codorus Creek valley. Their courtship calls filled the next mile of rail trail walking and was a welcomes sign of spring on this chilly day. The tracks curved around bends ahead following the creek closely.

Amos sunning

Near an outcrop of phylite (metamorphosed shale, sand, and mudstone) the sun heated up the forested curve like a greenhouse and Amos decided to pause for a sun soaking. He does love sunning. I explored the outcrop while he warmed up and found some star bit drill tracks including a horizontal bore hole. These were made by hammering hand held drill bits into the rock that allowed for blasting sections of wall away to make room for the double rail line. The North Central Railroad (NCRR), first run in 1838, connected Baltimore with York and was a vital link for transportation and transfer of goods for over 125 years. 

Drill trace

Horizontal bore hole

This famous rail line was one of the first to radiate out from the Baltimore in a network of lines that connected Philadelphia, New York, and industrial cities during a time of capitalistic expansion in the 1830s. By mid-century, the NCRR was a busy rail corridor and a target of Confederate attacks to derail northern supply lines. As we approached the historic Howard Tunnel I could see clearly the hilltop outpost above the rail line where Federal troops maintained a cannon and guard station. 

Going through the Howard Tunnel

A fault line and a Union outpost

The brick-lined tunnel marks a place where the Martic Overthrust Fault Line can be seen as it runs nearly up against the tunnel opening and stone facade. This Alleghenian era fault line marks the crustal boundary of two continents that smashed against each other 320-million years ago, a line that runs all the way to Long Level on the Susquehanna River and across into Lancaster County. This is the fault that gives us the Wind Caves, a tectonic plate shift cave in PA, currently one of the Lancaster Conservancy's unique preserves.   

Dressed stone 

Slickensides of vertical fault line tracks

Overthrust fault boundary at tunnel entrance

This system of faults shows up in several places in York County including in Emigsville Codorus Stone Quarry near where we started this Walk with Spring. The Martic Fault runs in a SW to NE line from southern York County beyond Quarryville in Lancaster County.. It is visible in other railroad cuts as well, namely the Enola Low Grade Rail Trail across the river. It serves as clear evidence of how collisions of tectonic plates buckled, folded, and finally broke to shear up and over other masses of rock, actions that formed entire mountain ranges in the Eastern U.S. 

Vertical phylite outcrop

A cold air vent with teeth 

Original NCRR mile marker for Baltimore

After having a snack at the tunnel, reading the historical panels, and enjoying the tranquility of this preserved landscape we made our turn around. On the way back I noted a few fractures in the outcrops where deep cold air gaps appeared to have teeth of ice. Those warm outcrops of near vertical phyllite rock slowed Amos again and though he didn't sit down, he slow-walked this section to soak up as much warmth as he could. An original NCRR mile marker indicated southbound trains had another 52 miles to go before pulling into the Baltimore station.

Codorus Creek 

Sec. 5 (4 mi) yellow, Sec 6 (7 mi) green

Section #6  Seven Valleys to Howard Tunnel Out-and-Back, 7 miles

The South Branch Codorus Creek was never far from the winding path of the North Central Railroad on this section of the YHRT and to our delight it was filled with sounds of spring with Wood Frogs, Spring Peepers, and a Barred Owl sighted not far from what appeared to be a nest cavity in a sycamore along the edge of the stream. I neglected to bring my binoculars but if I squinted hard enough I was able to see the bobble head of an owlet inside as she shifted back and forth to look back at me and the dog.

South from the Howard Tunnel

We're starting to make friends with the regular walkers and riders of the trail as we recognize each other along the way. Today a bicyclist stopped to ask how far we've come so far and I figured we're at or just past the half-way point over these past few weeks of out-and-backs. He rides the entire trail every week (40+ miles) and so has been the one to call out "Amos!" on his way by. 

Fine quartzite with embedded biotite crystals

Tiny little things

 

Several outcrops of phyllite, quartzite, and schist frame the railroad cut through the woods and while there is some folding and faulting, not as dramatic as Section 5 (above). The biotite crystals were cool though! In a little hillside springhead green grass and bright yellow-green watercress blanketed the ground adding a splash of color to the otherwise earthy brown hillside of dead leaves and bare woodlands.

Glatfelter Station 

The original 1750s Glatfelter farmhouse marks the nearby crossroads where the Glatfelter Station once stood, an important local stop for this valley full of farms that delivered dairy products north and south on the freight trains. The creek meandered all across the wide valley and with so many oxbow ponds tracing older channels of the stream, it seemed all there was to hear was Wood Frogs and Spring Peepers in all their courting songs. 

Broad valley hemmed by Antietam Quartzite ridges

Seven Valleys park and rail trail access

Amos let me know many times on this section that I'd forgotten both his water and his little bag of kibble treats. When we arrived back at the Seven Valleys parking area he put on a dramatic show of needing to get to his forgotten treasure by yowling at the bike sculptures. No time for pictures, just get him to the truck!