Masons meet monthly

The Columbia Lodge 286 Free and Accepted Masons meet the first Thursday of each month a Masonic Lodge 25, 25 Cool Creek Road, Wrightsville.

The Columbia Lodge received its consitution in 1854 is associated with the Grand Lodge of the Pennsylvania Masonic Bodies.

For more information, call 684-2343.
The Columbia Lodge has been providing service and leadership to the community for more than 150 years.

Three Mile Island generators to move

Last fall, there were major traffic headaches throughout western Lancaster County when generators headed from Maryland to Three Mile Island went through the area.

Get ready for some more traffic problems but not to the extent as the ones in the fall when out-of-service generators are moved from Three Mile Island to North Carolina.

The generator move, which will cause Route 441 to be closed through Marietta into Columbia to be closed, it not nearly as massive as the ones in the fall.

The generator being moved is from the Unit 2 reactor at TMI, which has been out of service since the 1979 nuclear meltdown at the island.

There is no radiation contained within the generator, which will be moved in two parts weighing 670 tons each. The generators will be moved to the Progress Energy’s Harris Nuclear Plant in North Carolina.

A generator in storage for more than three decades after the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant is heading to North Carolina.

Unlike the fall move, which called for special construction of bridges and overpasses, this one will follow main roads and actually cross the Wright’s Ferry Bridge between Columbia and Wrightsville. Proceeds across Route 30 to Route 24 and through Red Lion into northern Maryland.

Detour signs have already been posted for the move, which will happen in the next two weeks.

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Railroad to become reality

In the late 1990s and early 2000s. the former Middletown and Humelstown Railroad spur that runs through Columbia was to be turned into a greenway, a walking/hiking path that was to run from Front Street to the Malleable Road into the township.

The little 2.4 mile tract of land became a hot bed issue in our town. In the end, instead of hte planned greenway, the fight ended with the re-establishment of the railroad. And after many years of planning, it looks like there will soon be trains running again to serve businesses in the area such as Sahd Salvage Center.

The new owners of the railroad, Freedom Railroad recently purchased the 2.4 mile stetch of railroad from the Columbia and Reading Railroad Company.

The sales price was not disclosed.

Based in Schuylkill Haven and a long-time operator of railroads in northern New England, Freedom Rail plans to upgrade the Columbia tracks.

Sahd Salvage had acquired the railroad and then sold it to the Columbia and Reading RR ub 2002. Freedom Rail purchased the short line in January.

All that's left today is the short stretch from the Mill Street crossing in Columbia to its tie-in with the Norfolk Southern line near the Susquehanna River.

Freedom Rail will mark its arrival here with a brief outdoor ceremony Friday, April 9 at 2 p.m. at the South Fourth Street rail crossing, followed by a reception at A Taste of Styles, 237 Locust St.

Basketball/Wrestling updates

Here are some links to the weekend's PIAA basketball and wrestling action.
Sites are up for Tuesday's games -- Eastern will play at one of my favorite all-time gyms, the Geigle Complex in Reading. Catholic boys will play York Suburban at Central Dauphin East. Both games are 7:30 p.m.
The links are: lancsports.com, pennlive.com, piaa.org are some of my favorites.

Sites for Wednesday's games might be announced later today. Hempfield gets the winner of today's game between LaSalle College and the Chester Clippers. Game was postponed from yesterday because of a power outage.