{"nrhp_refnum":"79002265","name":"Cumberland Valley Car","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"E of Strasburg","address_restricted":false,"city":"Strasburg","county":"Lancaster County","state":"PA","lat":39.982416870000066,"lon":-76.16077163499995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-12-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Transportation","Invention"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Cumberland Valley Car is a combination passenger and baggage railroad car built in 1855 at the Chambersburg Shops of the Cumberland Valley Railroad in Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the rolling stock items included in the Pennsylvania Railroad Rolling Stock thematic resource.","why_significant":"The document states that the car is the second oldest piece of rolling stock extant in the United States. It served on the Cumberland Valley Railroad until 1888, then in maintenance of way service until August 1909, when it was placed in storage. The nomination describes the thematic group as a variety of historically significant rolling stock, many of them the only existing specimens of their types, and states that all cars are genuine rather than replicas.","narrative":"Built in 1855 at the Chambersburg Shops of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, this combination passenger and baggage car measures 49 feet 0 inches in length and 9 feet 2 inches in width, with a wheelbase of about 45 feet. It ran in passenger and baggage service on the Cumberland Valley Railroad until 1888, when it was reassigned to maintenance of way work. It was placed in storage in August 1909. The car is regarded as the second oldest piece of rolling stock surviving in the United States. Its significance lies in its age and rarity as an early American railroad car, and in its inclusion among the surviving examples of nineteenth and early twentieth century rolling stock preserved as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad Rolling Stock group. All cars in the group are original rather than replicas, which adds to their value as physical records of railroad history.","period_of_significance":"1855","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Placed in storage in August 1909 after maintenance of way service.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.667652-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/79002265.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993199","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/lancaster-county/cumberland-valley-car-79002265/"}