The Northern Central Railcar Association (NCRA) was started by a few local motorcar owners who lived near the Northern Central Railroad in York County, PA. They organized in 1994 to provide communication between the motorcar owners, the operators of the Northern Central Railway Inc, and the County of York. Soon, NCRA members began to clear brush and trees from the line.

In the late 90’s the first section of the rail trail opened and many members volunteered to go ahead of the train with their speeders carrying a sign warning hikers of the oncoming train. In more recnt years, members have offered assistance to those on the trail who have been injured or fatigued or have had mechanical problems with their bicycles.

In 1996 the Liberty Limited excursion train began operation. A good relationship existed between the NCRA and the Liberty Limited excursion group.  Since June 2013, Steam Into History has been running train excursions on the Northern Central Railroad (NCRR).  NCRA maintains a good relationship with the Steam Into History organization.

In November of 2008, the NCRA held their first excursion on the Stewartstown Railroad, which joins the NCRR at New Freedom. Starting in 2009, NCRA membership would include all excursions on both railroads.

The NCRA is an affiliate of the North American Railcar Operators Association (NARCOA) and in addition to holding excursions on the Northern Central and Stewartstown railroads,they have organized excursions on many other railroads in PA and surrounding states.

The NCRA is now reaching further into Pennsylvania and Maryland and down on the DelMarVa Peninsula to provide NARCOA's membership with a variety of track car meets.

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Some RailroadsThat Have Hosted Excursions

     •     Allentown & Auburn 

     •     Amtrak's Bear & Wilmington Shops

     •     Brockway Branch (Brookville, PA)

     •     Colebrookdale

     •     Delaware Coast Line Railroad

     •     East Broad Top Railroad

     •     Eastern Berks Gateway Railroad

     •     Eastern Shore Railroad, Inc.

     •     Everett RR Co.

     •     Gettysburg RR Co.

     •     Indian Head Central RR Co.

     •     Irvona Branch

     •     Knox and Kane Railroad

     •     Maryland and Delaware Railroad

     •     Maryland & Pennsylvania RR Co.

     •     Middletown & Hummelstown RR Co.

     •     Northern Central Railroad

     •     Piney Branch (Brookville, PA)

     •     Reading Blue Mountain & Northern

     •     Stewartstown Railroad

     •     Walkersville Southern Railroad

     •     West Chester Railroad

     •     West Virginia Northern

     •     Western Maryland Scenic Railroad

     •     Wilmington & Western Railroad

     •     Yorkrail, Inc.

The Northern Central Railcar Association is a tax exempt 501c(3) organization incorporated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.