Lancaster, Oxford and Southern Railway
The Lancaster, Oxford and Southern Railway was a narrow gauge railway that operated in southeastern Pennsylvania between 1912 and 1918, as a successor company following the bankruptcy of the Lancaster, Oxford and Southern Railroad. The main line connected Oxford and Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania.
History
The original line was built between 1872 and 1878 as the Eastern Division of the Peach Bottom Railway. The line began in Oxford, connecting with the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad, and proceeded roughly westward to Fairmont, then southwest to Peach Bottom, on the eastern shore of the Susquehanna River. The line served passengers and freight from farm communities, but there were no industries on the line, and it was not successful financially. It originally used type 2-4-0 steam locomotives.In 1881 the Peach Bottom Railway declared bankruptcy and was reorganized as the Peach Bottom Railroad. In 1890 the company went bankrupt again and it was sold to investors who reorganized as the narrow gauge Lancaster, Oxford and Southern Railroad. These investors hoped to connect Lancaster County to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad by building a branch line from Fairmont, on the existing LO&S line, to Quarryville, as well as an extension from Oxford southeast to Singerly, Maryland on the B&O main line. To this end they planned to convert the existing tracks to standard gauge. By 1905 the railroad had six locomotives—the newer models were type 4-4-0—and 24 freight cars.
The LO&S owners did not have sufficient finances to build the B&O connection, nor to convert to standard gauge. In 1906 they opened a branch line from Fairmont to Quarryville.