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Fifty-Five Minutes to Shamokin

Early passenger notices made the railroad tangible in departure times, journey lengths, and fares.

Some details remain uncertain

Philadelphia and Sunbury Railroad passenger notice, 1854An advertised passenger schedule lists departure times, connections and fares, including sixty cents from Sunbury to Shamokin. The notice is dated December 7 and was printed on December 30, 1854. It describes an announced service, not proof that every train ran on time.Image date: Published December 30, 1854; notice dated December 7, 1854Credit: The Sunbury Gazette, December 30, 1854

In September 1853, a report of regular passenger trains put the journey from Sunbury to Shamokin at 55 minutes. A railroad that might otherwise be described through companies and construction could now be understood as a trip someone could take.

A December 1854 notice supplied the details of that trip. A train was scheduled to leave Sunbury at eight in the morning and reach Mount Carmel at 9:30, with a return departure at five in the afternoon, except Sundays. The fare was 60 cents between Sunbury and Shamokin, with another 30 cents for the journey onward to Mount Carmel.

Those notices describe an advertised service, not a guarantee that every train ran exactly on time. They also differ from a proposal reported for another railroad into the coal field. Keeping a proposed line separate from an operating passenger schedule lets us see what travelers could actually plan around: a departure, a destination, and a price.