To the farmers of southern Lancaster County who depended on it, the Peach Bottom and Lancaster, Oxford and Southern Railroad was lovingly dubbed the "Little, Old and Slow."

But during the 50-plus years it chugged between Peach Bottom, Quarryville and Oxford in Chester County, it was a vital link in getting farm produce from the local fields to the markets in Philadelphia and Baltimore.

The history of this railway, the first narrow-gauge line in Pennsylvania, is recounted in "Little, Old and Slow" by the late Benjamin F. G. Kline Jr., now back in print after 22 years.

The book, reprinted by the Friends of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, includes an eight-page addendum of new material and photos uncovered by historians William Cole, Joseph Hueber and Stanley White.

The addendum includes original drawings by White of Dorsey Station at Peach Bottom, which still exists.

Deb Reddig, marketing director for the Railroad Museum, said Kline, who died in 1987, had been the acting curator at the museum and had written a number of books. Few, though, sold more than "Little, Old and Slow."

"This one was hugely popular at the time," Reddig said. "The Friends of the Railroad Museum have gotten a lot of requests over the years to bring it back. We were very fortunate to have Mr. White, Mr. Cole and Mr. Hueber add to this volume."

Reddig said the book, which costs $15, is available in the museum's store and that "we are trying to get it in at other historical societies and museum stores."

The Little, Old and Slow, or "Peachy" as it also was known, was originally formed as the Peach Bottom Railway in 1868 by a group of investors. It went into operation in 1873 and ran between Peach Bottom and Oxford — a distance of about 20 miles. A connection to Quarryville was added around 1915.

White, an author and historian who lives in Drumore, said the investors had envisioned a standard-sized railroad, but a shortfall in funding forced them to build a narrow gauge line.

With the rails just 3 feet apart instead of the standard 4 feet, 8½ inches, everything was miniaturized. Locomotives, cars and even bridges were smaller and, subsequently, more affordable.

The petite size of the rolling stock was both a blessing and a curse.

"It was small enough that if it jumped the track, you could literally get a group of guys together and lift it back on the rails," White said. "But if a big gust of wind came along, there was a serious danger that the car you were in might get blown over."

He related a tale by one man who spoke of a car he was in being blown off the track six times.

"I imagine that got a little tiresome after a while," White said.

Originally, the rail line was seen as a connection between Philadelphia and the coal fields at East Broadtop near Orbisonia in Huntingdon County.

In the end, money talked, and the line, which connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad at both Oxford and Peach Bottom, was strictly a means for local farmers to ship their goods.

"It was intended to be one of the big players one day, but all those plans fell apart, so they ended up building a railroad that was never connected across the river by anything other than a little steam ferry," White said.

The Little, Old and Slow also carried passengers, some of whom actually flagged it down between stations.

"In its heyday, it probably made six trips a day between the three stops," White said. "But for most of its life, it did about half that."

White said the Little, Old and Slow was "was very much a peoples' railroad," and was so well-loved that, after the last of its several bankruptcies, the locals bought it back.

The rail line operated until 1919, put out of business by the advent of trucks. The line was dismantled and its equipment sold for scrap.

Today, only one car — a gasoline-powered passenger car that can be driven from either end — exists. It is in possession of the Strasburg Railroad.

E-mail: lalexander@lnpnews.com