This branch was constructed in the 1870s as the Dillsburg Mechanicsburg Railroad. It changed ownership over the years, to the Cumberland Valley, then Pennsylvania, then Penn Central, and finally Conrail (in 1976).
The line left Mechanicsburg at Dillsburg Jct., then proceeded generally south through Trindle Spring, Williams Grove, D&M Jct. (crossing of the Reading, now Norfolk Southern), and ended at Dillsburg. It was best known as the route to an annual Grange picnic held at Williams Grove.
Recently, a small station dating from 1872 was located and selected for refurbishment. It is located at Washington Street in Mechnicsburg. Plans are for the station to include a 'museum exhibit' showing what rail passengers would have seen in the early 1900s.
If the NS (PRR) line between Harrisburg and Carlisle is converted to a light rail line, this station could also be used for that route.
