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Tommy Varner's Red RoosterA History of the Tuscarora Valley RailroadBy George N. PiersonIn 1892, the year construction started on the KVRR, another railroad was being built in neighboring Juniata County. It began at Port Royal and would eventually stretch as far South as Blairs Mills in Huntingdon County - a distance of 27 miles (43 kilometers). The three-foot (0.9 meter) narrow-gauge road was named the Tuscarora Valley Railroad, but like the KVRR it too had a nickname - "Tommy Varner's [Little] Red Rooster." Tommy Varner was the railroad's hostler, and after firing up the engine for the morning run, he would blow the whistle signaling to the farmers that it was time to get their milk cans to the station for delivery. The TVRR interchanged with PRR in Port Royal and several early attempts were made to expand from Blairs Mills and to link up with other nearby three-footers such as the East Broad Top Railroad or the Newport & Shermans Valley Railroad. Nothing ever transpired and Blairs Mills remained the TVRR's terminus until 1934 when the road was finally abandoned due to the Great Depression and competition from trucks. The author of this superb book is George Pierson. Although he lives in Chicago, he has a love affair with small railroads in the Northeast. There are two reasons why George wrote about the TVRR, it is one of the few railroads in Pennsylvania that has not already been written about and second, it was just plain fun for him discovering its story. The author's enjoyment of researching this subject certainly shows in the writing. The text is extremely well written and footnotes abound, providing the reader with an abundance of information. The only complaint is the stock of paper used in relaying this information. The uncoated paper does not do the photographs justice, which are numerous and of high quality. But this is minor, and in all honesty the majority of reader's will probably not find it distracting. Tommy Varner's Red Rooster was published by the Juniata County Historical Society in 1995. The society carries it (www.rootsweb.com), or visit Karen's Books (www.karensbooks.com). |
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