Headquarters and Stonefield Valley Railroad Organization

Stonefield Valley Railroad General Offices are located in Annenell, right across from the Annenell depot.  The Chief Dispatcher, Road Foreman of Engines, General Freight Manager, Chief Engineer, Trainmaster and most other "high muckety mucks" are also located here. Our Company Officers are noted (select at your own risk).

Many of these photos are courtesy of Professor William M. Andrews, Professor, Medical College of Georgia and Co-Owner of the Cibolo Valley Railroad.  The Stonefield Valley Railroad Management extends our sincere thanks to Professor Andrews.

Principal Company Officers

A Brief History of the Railroad

Stonefield Valley Railroad operates under timetable and train orders as a single-track main line railroad between Binghamburg and Harriston with branches to Esther and Billsgate.  We offer both passenger and freight service to the Stonefield Valley and all points along the line.  Stonefield Valley Railroad is a wholly owned subsidiary of Andrews Enterprises, Stonefield, Pennsylvania and operates in a business consortium with Cibolo Valley Railroad, Carolsburg and Genesville Railroad, and Keays Coal Company.

The earliest common carrier rail service for Stonefield Valley started in 1867 with the Petesboro, Sallytoon and Esther Railway (PS&E), connecting with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) at Sallytoon.  The PS&E was acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1887 to extend their trackage north from Harriston, north along the Susquehanna River, to ultimately link with the east-west railroads along the twin tier region.  In 1987, the Pennsylvania Railroad made additional acquisitions to finish this link, known as the Stonefield Valley Secondary Bridge Route.  This became a strategic rail link from Harriston to Binghamburg and offered, in addition to a valued bridge route, Pennsylvania Railroad was without competition and industrial customers in this industrial valley added to the PRR revenues.

As a bridge route, it provided a vital shortcut between major rail yards and facilitated interchange for Delaware and Hudson (D&H), Western Maryland (WM), Lehigh Valley (LV), Baltimore and Ohio (B&O), Hudson, Delaware and Ohio (HD&O), Delaware, Lackawanna and Western (DL&W), Carolsburg and Genesville (C&G), New York, Susquehanna and Western (NYS&W), Cibolo Valley (CV), Norfolk and Western (N&W), and Erie.  While these rail companies held trackage rights from Harriston to Binghamburg and, after 1905, from Sallytoon to Billsgate, they were not allowed to switch enroute, either set outs or pick ups.  This bridge route was exclusive Pennsylvania territory.

In addition to the trackage rights revenue, the Stonefield Secondary provided the Pennsylvania Railroad with on-line traffic from the towns and cities along the way: Esther, St. John, Spikerton, Annenell, Sassyburg, Lucyville, Tiggerdale, Chico Mills, Petesboro and the Peabody Coal Mine, just north of Petesboro.  Rail junctions at St. John and Petesboro led respectively to Esther, a farming village with some light industry, and the Peabody Coal Mine.  The Stonefield Secondary proved so successful to the Pennsylvania Railroad that, in 1905, an additional 19.3 mile freight line was built from Sallytoon to Billsgate.  This increased PRR revenues and opened new markets for industries in Stonefield Valley.  This 19.3 mile extension also provided for a market for the Keays Coal Company at Billsgate.  Keays Coal purchased their own rolling stock and have operated on favorable trackage rights since the link was opened, delivering coal to the northeast railroads.

Peabody Mine was a successful anthracite coal producer until 1947.  But following World War II, Peabody production slumped in the same pattern as the anthracite industry as a whole.  Natural gas markets were expanding at the expense of anthracite and steam powered railroads could no longer deny the advantages of diesel power.  The anthracite markets slumped further.  In March 1947, major storms took out several bridges and trestles along the Peabody Spur as well as on the line between Petesboro and Binghamburg.  The roadbed repair costs for the Peabody Mine Spur were prohibitive and available delivery trucks could not make up for the lack of rail service.  Peabody Mine could no longer get the coal to market and was forced to close in December 1947.  The 13.7 mile Peabody Spur was abandoned by PRR in 1948.  Postwar building of nationwide highways and the trucking surge took another major toll on Stonefield Valley rail traffic.  This heavily impacted the PRR business position of the Stonefield Secondary.  Against the loss of trackage revenue and the growing competition from trucks, the expense of roadbed repairs between Petesboro and Binghamburg necessary to sustain continued heavy rail traffic could not be justified by the PRR management and they petitioned to abandoned the line north of Petesboro.  Approval was received in January 1949 and the bridge route was permanently broken - at least for the PRR.

Facing dwindling post-war profits, the remaining on-line traffic revenue from Stonefield Valley industries was too limited for the PRR book keepers.  Without trackage from Binghamburg and without coal production from Peabody Mine, the Stonefield Secondary slipped toward "red ink" and PRR management acted before total collapse became a reality.  In August 1949, the PRR chartered a subsidiary company, Stonefield Valley Railroad, and promptly sold it to a rail consortium!  The original 49.9% Stonefield Valley Railroad shareholders included: D&H, LV, NYS&W, Wabash, HD&O, DL&W, C&G, B&O, N&W, WM, CV and Erie.  The remaining 50.1% shares held jointly by Anne-Nell E. R. and James R. Andrews of Stonefield Pennsylvania.  There was a new economic life coming to the Stonefield Valley and all the industries located along the line.

With additional private source funding, the plans developed to rebuild the line north from Petesboro to re-establish the entire Stonefield Secondary.  The new business partners were building "Rails to the Markets of the World."

Before the reconstruction of the line north of Petesboro, rail service was limited and available only to the south and southeast via interchange connections at Esther, Billsgate and Harriston.  By the early 1950s, strong growth was evident in the Stonefield Valley and the Country in general.  Business was booming and prosperity became general.  Both Annenell and Petesboro realized significant industrial expansion and many small businesses sprang up along the line.  The Valley was a good place to locate businesses, with an adequate labor force and a viable rail link to the world via the southern and southeastern connections.  With the growing rail traffic, better marketing with Valley customers and extremely careful management of the physical plant and rolling stock, the Stonefield Valley Railroad succeeded.  As the industries built up all along the line, passenger traffic also increased and SVRR was obligated to support this expanding market as well. 

By 1958, at the same time the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with the New York Central Railroad to become know as the Great Disaster Railroad, SVRR completed all the roadbed repairs between Petesboro and Binghamburg.  The line reopened for traffic on Feb 24th 1958 and has remained operational since that date.  Now, the money rolls in.  The Pennsylvania Railroad had divested too soon.

Some Primary Company Officers

The General Superintendent and Chairman of the Board in discussions on proton decay	Professor and Vicki Andrews of Augusta, Ga. Bill and Phil are co-owners of the Cibolo Valley Railroad, a consortium member	This is an original by Professor William M. Andrews, PhD Georgia Medical College, Augusta, Ga. It has been used widely on Manvell Wine labels
Earlier in the Railroad's development	The Pilgrims Andrews	Col Philip R. Andrews, USAF gets his eagles
An on-site inspection tour ended at Chez MacDonald's	Part of the inspection tour	Part of the inspection tour
Gene St. John was a major inspiration for the SVRR. He operated the Carolsburg and Genesville Railroad (C&G). Gene was a Master Model Railroader	Honorary Members of the SVRR Staff - Spike on the left and Sassy on the right

The End for now ...

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