About 100 area college students helped clean up the Tom Hughes farm after a 1974 tornado.
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Aerial photos today hint of the old Eel River Railroad path through the north half of campus — between Schwalm Hall and Cordier Auditorium.
The tracks were here long before Manchester College. The railroad changed
owners and names several times through the years, with the Pennsylvania
Railroad Co. assuming ownership in the very early 1900s. Alumni will recall
calling it The Vandalia, Penn Central and finally, Conrail. (The railroad path
defines the “Rhiney Bowl” beside Schwalm Hall.)
At one time, the tracks fed 16 trains daily through North Manchester. Don’t
confuse this line with the Big 4 that ran to Milford, dropping off students
near Camp Mack, notes William R. Eberly ’48, professor emeritus of biology.
Both lines hauled more freight than passengers. Some students earned
money wheelbarrowing the coal to the bin chute, recalls retired archivist A. Ferne Baldwin ’58, professor emeritus of sociology and social work. In
1967, the College’s first gas/oil boiler arrived on the campus tracks,
pictured above.
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