This volume by Jerry Hartzler, subtitled 'A History of the Kishacoquillas Railway' could be one of the classic shortline history sleepers of our time. It encapsulates all of the rich warmth of an old diary rescued from a musty trunk in the attic of an historic Victorian mansion, faithfully chronicled by an appreciative citizen of this sleepy old town in the Pennsylvania mountains. Yet it has been enhanced with excellent technical data, charts and fine hand turned graphics to delight even the most critical historian searching for a classic history of a rural short line.

Without losing any of the solid strength of the thread of the woof of this well woven account of the business of creating and operating this railroad, the book charms the reader with a warp of brilliant personal vignettes of the characters playing their roles from its rise to its ultimate fall. Once it was scanned for the quality of its printing and binding, which, incidentally, is adequate but hardly worthy of its narrative, I could not put it down. My all-consuming interest was held by the Norman Rockwellesque word pictures and a fascinating collection of fine old family album illustrations of remarkable brilliance for their age.

The final touch was the excellence of the maps, in a format which has long been sought by devoted railroad historians. By matching a line drawn map on the right hand page almost as an overlay to the aerial photograph on the left hand page, the author gives the reader a clear understanding of the relationship of the topography and architecture, to the railroad's trackwork and facilities. The rosters of motive power and rolling stock are excellent with complete traceability thanks to the thorough bibliography.

When this delightful experience ended, the volume seemed more worthy of tooled leather, gold foil embossed covers and spine, and gilt edged pages, than paper bindings. I felt forced to make a whimsical decision as to whether to place it in the railroad section, or somewhere between "Our Town" and "Life On The Mississippi" with the true classics. For those who want a quintessential age-of-steam shortline history, this book is a must! <less>

A well written and carefully researched history of a "backwoods" short line in the heart of Pennsylvania. Ample attention is given to finances, passenger service, personnel, anecdotes, disasters, trackage rights, the K.V. Studebaker rail car and the final abandonment in 1940 after 47 years of life. One of the most enjoyable railroad histories that we have seen.

This seems to be a good year for new books on vanished Pennsylvania short lines. The H&BTM RR series is started, the Bellefonte Central RR will be getting a book-length treatment, and now the story of the Kishacoquillas Valley RR is in print. No, it was not narrow gauge, but the "Ol' Hook & Eye" was hard to beat for shortline charm. <more>

Over on the other side of Jacks Mountain, in Big Valley, the 9 1/2 mile Kishacoquillas Valley Railroad connected Belleville with the outside world at Reedsville and Lewistown from 1892 to 1940. Now, 48 years after the 48-year-old standard gauge road was abandoned, a new 170-page six by nine inch booklet provides a thoroughly informative and entertaining look at the KVRR. <more>

From the backwoods of Pennsylvania comes The Ol' Hook & Eye - A History of the Kishocoquillas Valley Railroad. Author John G. Hartzler begins by teaching us how to pronounce this railroad's Indian name, then waxes wonderfully nostalgic about the KV... <more>

When the passengers of Amtrak's Pennsylvanian or Broadway Limited pause at the Lewistown, Pa. station west of Harrisburg on the old Pennsylvania Railroad mainline, no train of the Kishacoquillas Valley Railroad is waiting at the station, nor has one been for many years. But from 1928 to 1940, the KV ran passenger trains over the PRR branch that joined the main line at Lewistown... <more>

"The Ol' Hook & Eye," subtitled "A History of the Kishacoquillas Valley Railroad" is an interesting new (1988) book by John G. Hartzler. The book has 170 9"x6" pages, printed on good quality coated stock. It is professionally typset, with an attractive typeface and 110 very well-reproduced photographs... <more>

The Kishacoquillas Valley Railroad was a shortline that ran in the state of Pennsylvania, northwest of Harrisburg, Southeast of State College. It ran from Belleville to Reedsville, a distance of nine miles and existed from 1893 until 1940. <more>

The nine-mile Kishacoquillas Valley served agricultural, forestry and later manufacturing needs of the small central Pennsylvania town of Belleville, near Lewistown, connecting with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Reedsville. <more>