Info please on PRR's Lewisburg to State College and Bellefonte branch.

[Dave Drake]

Forgot to add, a very good read and history on the L & T up until the end.

https://centrecountypa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/487

Say's the last run west of Mifflinburg was on May 9, 1968, a GP9 took 4 covered hoppers to Coburn.

 

 

[Dave Drake]

roadwarrior72

I have biked on the section between Mifflinburg and Coburn that was turned into a rail trail. It was pretty neat riding thru the tunnel. I noticed on one end of the trail there was a bridge missing over the creek. The only thing left of the bridge was the abutments. You could see what appeared to be the base for the piers in the creek bed. Does anyone know what might have happened to the bridge?

I know this is an old thread but I wanted to answer your question.  I am familiar with this line and a little history on it, much of what has been mentioned in this thread already.  From what I know, the bridge in question was said to have been "Washed Out/Damaged" from Hurricane Agnes in 1972, but I looked into this with some vintage aerial photos, zooming to this location you can see it was already removed as of 10-18-71, which is prior to Agnes.  It's odd because other bridges remained in place along the line, even bare girder bridges were still in place next to the parking lot at Cherry Run last time I was there years ago.  So I honestly don't know what the real story is on this?

I use to bike that trail and look for things/relics along Cherry Run, always came up to where it ends at this point several times and turned around, one time I decided to cross over Penns Creek by wading since I was curious, water wasn't too deep in the Summer.  I then rode the remainder of the former ROW to Coburn Tunnel, I saw a PRR Mile Marker still in place along the ride, a small bridge or two where there are some homes around Ingleby.  There is also an old freight building (I beleive) or maint. shack prior to the first tunnel, it's in good shape and looked like it was being used for a Cabin. 

I met some railroad buffs the few times I was there, some were locals an one claimed different info on removal of the tracks and said he saw an engine on the line as late as 1972 which confused me even more.  I know in one of Clarence Weaver's Videos there is footage on this line with the John Bull on a flat car going across one of the bridges, that was in the mid 50's I think?

It's an interesting line and hike, scenic location.  I stlll recall being able to see the former ROW, though the tracks are gone, past Mifflinburg where it crossed Route 45 up to Weikert in locations, this is some 20 years ago.  

See the photo links below I mentioned from the historic aerials:

https://s8.postimg.cc/80t4pwqp1/Bridge_5-2-57.jpg

https://s8.postimg.cc/ai4vx8nh1/Bridge_Gone_10-18-71.jpg

 

[DAVID L WOOMER]

I grew up in a house on the south side of Route 45 about 2 miles west of Lewisburg, just across the road from the L&T. I became a railfan in 1972 at the age of 15, in large part due to the operations on this line. This was a hard time to be a railfan, what with the PC headed downhill and CR being a few years away yet (and even more years from profitability) - not much hope for northeastern railroading. During the time period 1972-1975, I remember operations being about twice a week. The sound of air horns would bring me out to watch the PC black SW-type switcher run a few cars up to Mifflinburg, returning an hour or two later. Not much traffic, 2 or 3 cars at best, sometimes running light to Mifflinburg and returning with a car to two. A drivers license changed my interest to the Reading and I spent many days chasing the evening freight from West Milton to SF tower in Sunbury. My photos from this era are crappy at best, most being Polaroids which have faded to nothing (pity, kids can't afford good cameras). I do have my memories, though, thanks for reminding me of them!

[roadwarrior72]

I have biked on the section between Mifflinburg and Coburn that was turned into a rail trail. It was pretty neat riding thru the tunnel. I noticed on one end of the trail there was a bridge missing over the creek. The only thing left of the bridge was the abutments. You could see what appeared to be the base for the piers in the creek bed. Does anyone know what might have happened to the bridge?

[LNER4472]

Is it time for me to contribute?  I guess so....

Not addressed so far are abandonment dates.  Part of what had been the Lewisburg & Tyrone, 18 miles between Stover and Fair Brook, was set for abandonment Dec. 1927 but was sold to the Bellefonte Central for potato traffic.  Penn Central abandoned the middle section between Coburn and Mifflinburg, 25 miles, on May 25, 1970; Coburn to Lemont (22 miles) was abandoned in 1974.  The 10.5 miles between Montandon and Mifflinburg was sold to the West Shore RR in 1983.  The West Shore started excursions with a PRR P70 acquired from the Adirondack RR's abortive attempt to run trains to the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, and a former Jersey Central car converted to an erstwhile table/diner car; later two former Lackawanna MU cars showed up as well.  Power was the previously pictured ex-PRR SW1 and a PRR GP30 privately purchased by one of the line's major shareholders.

The West Shore RR was half excursion line and half lifeline shortline for a feed mill and manufacturer.  The money was never really there either in freight or passengers, and in later years the line was essentially forsaken.  The rail was ripped up for the trail in 2009, after a last "out-and-back" track speeder "excursion."  Lewisburg purchased the right-of-way between the junction installed at the crossing with the north-south Reading line and the Susquehanna River Bridge, in part to put in a street.

[wanswheel]

Harrisburg Telegraph, October 29, 1910

RAILROAD IS TO BE ELECTRIFIED

Lewisburg and Tyrone Branch of Pennsy Will Discontinue Steam

The Simplex Surface Contact Company, which has the contract for electrifying the Lewisburg and Tyrone Railroad, a branch of the Penn’a Railroad between Montandon and Mifflinburg, ten and one-half miles, will soon begin work. According to the terms of the contract, the Simplex Company must have the system ready for operation between Montandon and Lewisburg by December 1 and to Mifflinburg by March 1. It is the intention to operate from six to eight cars at half-hour periods, meeting all trains at Montandon. The present train service from Montandon to Mifflinburg will be discontinued. A substation will be built at Vicksburg. Power is to be furnished by the new power plant at Milton, the wires running across-country to the substation, where the power will be transformed and distributed over the Simplex system.

Loch Haven Express, February 25, 1911

The Simplex Surface Contact Company, of Williamsport, Pa. Awarded Contract to Electrify Part of Pennsylvania Railroad

As proof of Edison’s recent statement that the steam locomotive is blowing its final blasts for millions of people is the granting of a contract by the Pennsylvania Railroad company to have a large portion of the Lewisburg and Tyrone division from the main line...in Northumberland county to Mifflinburg in Union county [sic] electrified with the Simplex Surface Contact System, the patents for which are owned exclusively by the Simplex company of Williamsport, Pa.

The Simplex System places a contact box about eighteen inches in width and from six to eight inches in height in the center of the track on the line fastening it to tie with lag bolts. The covers or lids of these boxes are of slightly oval at sides and being nearly flush with the street and rails are not displeasing to the eye and offer no hindrance to traffic, the center or contact point of the lids being benign.

Within the covering lid, suspended within the cast iron boxes, is a swinging arm or armature with a switching brass contact and a copper wire or cable running from the switching brass contact on each side of the arm or armature to the inside of the lid or cover of the box...The arm or armature at the point of contact with the switching brass contact occupies a reclining position in the bottom of the box when not in service.

The electric current is transmitted from the power house to the boxes by means of a heavy copper cable or feed wire, enclosed in a pipe or conduit running parallel with the rails and each box is connected with this heavy feed wire, properly insulated, terminating at the end of the box with a carbon contact point...

On the bottom of each car in the center suspended parallel with the car and a few inches above the level of the lids or covers of the boxes are two magnetic bars. These bars on a thirty-foot car are twenty-two feet in length, thus allowing eight feet off for the front and back platforms, about three inches in width and an inch and a half in thickness. These bars are highly magnetized by a series of wire coils. As soon as the magnetic bars get over the lid or cover of a box they lift the swinging arm or armature from its reclining position in the bottom of the box up against the carbon, or point of contact, and the lid of the box is then alive.

Between the two magnetic bars is suspended a copper bar or collecting shoe, which, like the magnetic bars is of a length covering two boxes at all times. The magnetic bars, being slightly longer than the collecting shoe, maintain the electric current until the collecting shoe entirely passes off the box, which eliminates any possibility of arcing inside the box. The copper collecting bar or shoe touches the center of the lids or covers of the boxes and collects the current the same as the trolley wheel collects the current from the overhead trolley wires.

These boxes are placed ten feet apart so the magnetic bars and collecting shoe are always on two boxes at one and the same time, thus furnishing a continuous current of electricity to the moving car, and as the magnets on the car are the only thing that can raise the arm within the box to the point of contact, only the lids or covers of the boxes directly under the car are alive, which makes it possible for man or beast to travel over it with entire safety. To be plain, only the two boxes directly underneath the car are alive at one time and as soon as the car with the magnets passes over the boxes the arm inside drops by gravitation to the bottom of the box and the lid of the box is dead.

The great value of the Simplex System is its simplicity. It is built on two old established principles or physics, that magnetism must lift and gravitation must bring down the swinging arm or armature.

By the use of this system steam and electricity can be used on the same tracks without danger or interference so that railroads now operated by it can haul their freight by steam and their passengers by electricity, and this is one of the main advantages that led to the approval and adoption of the Simplex Surface Contact Company’s system by the Pennsylvania Railroad.

http://news.mifflinburgtelegraph.com/history/Trail_of_History_for_Week_of_September_3_2009_printer.shtml

[ACY Tom]

It's the least I could do, considering all the good info I've gotten from you in the short time I've been following the forums.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Thanks, ACY ! 

- Paul North. 

[ACY Tom]

Paul: The series you mentioned is THE LOGGING RAILROAD ERA OF LUMBERING IN PENNSYLVANIA. This area is covered in Book 1, "Pitch Pine and Prop Timber", by Benjamin F. G. Kline, Jr. There may also be some coverage in Book 2, "'Wild Catting' on the Mountain", also by Ben Kline. And speaking of Mike Bezilla, his book RAILS TO STATE COLLEGE mentions the line in some detail. It's a history of the Bellefonte Central RR, which connected with the PRR at Bellefonte.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Gotta be quick here -

ACY, the operations you mention are also described in detail in the Bezilla article referenced above and linked by wanswheel.

Also mentioned in that article is that the PRR allowed a trolley line to operate over a few miles of the eastern end of this line from about 1910 to 1922.  Apparently some of those operations used a battery-powered trolley car !  ("What's old is new again !")

Personally, the PA Forests magazine linked above for the article on pages 4 - 7 has a wealth of other information on forestry subjects that are quite worthwhile to me right now.  Thanks again so much, Mike !  (There's more than just trains here, folks !)

Wonder if any of the small booklets on PA logging operations (by Benjamin Kline, IIRC) include this area ?

- Paul North. 

[ACY Tom]

Fascinating line; one of my all-time favorites. I've followed it and 'splored it a few times. The area east of Coburn is particularly scenic. Until around the very early 1950's, the line had mixed milk train service. Power was usually a G5s 4-6-0 train or one of the small, old 4-4-2's in the last years. At the very end, a 2-8-0 was used. The train usually consisted of a handful of freight cars, a couple Sheffield Farms milk cars, a B60 baggage car, and an MPB54 mail/passenger/baggage combine. I think I have seen at least one photo showing the train with a larger combine and a full-sized P70 coach. Clarence Weaver took moving pictures of the train, and those have been available on tape in the past. Don't know about current availability. The mixed originated at Sunbury and ran to Montandon, where it left the main and took to the branch. I think one milk car was dropped at Coburn and the other may have run all the way to Bellefonte, where the train was turned. Bellefonte had an incredibly tight wye. Upon return to Sunbury, the milk cars were forwarded to Philadelphia (or maybe the New York area) on other trains. Bellefonte was also served by a passenger train from the west. It was the regular Bald Eagle Valley passenger service which had to make a backup move to serve Bellefonte. That train's K4s did not turn on the little Bellefonte wye, but I was amazed to see that 1361 actually did make it thru those curves on an excursion or two in the nineties. The Weaver films also show PRR H10s 7688 (the one that's preserved in the museum at Strasburg) on the line. Operations on the line ca. WWI(?) were mentioned in the excellent book SET UP RUNNING by John W. Orr.

[henry6]

Clicking on the link at the bottom I found the piece somewhat misleading but informative.  It states that this segment of the Rail Trail is the only section upon which bikes can be ridden but the section east from there, between Mifflinburg and Lewisburg is open to bikes....but I do think that is a very recent event.

Great Stuff!

[wanswheel]

“James Poe, son of Thomas, was born in what is now Antrim township, Franklin county, Penna.  April 15th, 1748. He was brought up on his father’s  farm as was most of the sons of pioneers, and found it necessary to earn his bread “by the sweat of his brow.” As early as the 26th of July, 1764, although but a lad of sixteen years, he formed one of a party of settlers who, under the command of Lieut. James Potter, persued the savages who had massacred the schoolmaster and scholars at Guitner’s School House. When the war for independence became an established fact, James Poe was among the first to offer his services to his country.  He assisted in the organization of a company of associators in 1776, of which he was a lieutenant. He was commissioned July 31, 1777, captain of the Third company, 8th battalion, Cumberland county militia, commanded by Col. Abraham Smith. He held the same position in May, 1778, and from that on until the close of the revolutionary struggle he was in active service, especially on the frontiers…”

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=80574933

Pennsylvania Forests magazine article indirectly mentions Capt. James Poe, for whom Poe Creek (and everything else) was named. He was the son-in-law of Gen. James Potter.

http://www.paforestry.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/PAForestsSampleMagazine.pdf

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM6C2N_Poe_Valley_Railroad_Rails_to_Trails

http://www.gearedsteam.com/climax/images_R.htm

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

That trail and tunnel is hard to locate on a map, and to find directions to it/ them.  Unpaved roads to get there.  Here's some info:

About 3 miles southeast of the village of Millheim, at the intersection of PA state routes 45 and 445.  Can't get to it from there, though - need to come off US Rt. 322 a little north of the town of Milroy, then go about 10 miles to the northeast, to and through the several 'units' of Poe Paddy State Park.  

Poe Paddy State Park Campground - closest to it: N 40 50.073' W 77 25.036'

Detail map from same: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_003319.pdf 

Park brochure (note RR history): http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_003318.pdf 

Park info: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/poepaddy/index.htm?tab=Maps#Maps 

Tunnel (approx. coords. for the ends):

N 40 50.096' W 77 24.378'

N 40 50.150' W 77 24.493'

- Paul North. 

 

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

henry6

[snipped - PDN] !...and I suggest both of you click onto the links the other has provided for a different perspective of history of the railroad and the area than what you have presented.

Oh yeah !  That URL isn't near descriptive enough - Mike's (Wanswheel's)  link is to the reference I wanted to see the most, the thorough history by Mike Bezilla (everything except the name of the foreman on the track gang, it appears . . . ).   It's "The PRR's Lewisburg & Tyrone Railroad" by Michael Bezilla, from The Keystone, the quarterly magazine of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society, Spring 2006, Vol. 39, No.1, pgs. 18 - 40 plus masthead page (22 pages total, 6.91 MB electronic file size in this 'PDF' format):

http://centrecountypa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/487 

This thread illustrates the great thing about this Forum - ask a question or comment on a topic, and a few people will generously contribute their time and knowledge.  From this alone, I found out about the Buffalo Valley Rail-Trail (had no idea before this, even though it's less than 100 miles away), plus all that history, and an explanation for some other things I've seen out towards Tyrone.  Thanks, Mike (and Henry).

Also, the small segment of the middle portion of this line that is now a rail-trail - the 3.6-mile Penn's Creek Path Rail-Trail in Poe Paddy State Park -  http://www.traillink.com/trail/penns-creek-path-(mid-state-trail).aspx - includes the 250-foot-long Poe Paddy Tunnel, but it's been closed for about a year now due to rockfalls. See: http://www.apps.dcnr.state.pa.us/news/resource/res2013/13-0403-poepaddysp.aspx and

http://www.rockthecapital.com/06/26/mid-state-trail-tunnel-remains-closed-dcnr-searches-funds-fix/

- Paul North. 

P.S. - Henry, how about changing the caption for this thread to something that better reflects its subject, like, "Need Info on PRR's Lewisburg - Tyrone (incl. Bellefonte & Mifflinburg) Line" to help future readers figure out easier and faster what it's about, now that we know ? - PDN.

[wanswheel]

Henry, you're welcome. I always click to see what Paul knows that I don't, which is much. --Mike

[Eddie Sand]

The line in question was known as the Bellefonte Branch/Secondary Track.

http://www.google.com/#q=PRR+Bellefonte+Branch

It diverged from the PRR's Williamsport Division or Northern Region (Harrisburg - Buffalo) Main line at an interlocking plant (manned until 1958) in the village of Montandon, crossed the West Branch of the Susquehanna and the Reading's "Willy and Philly" at another interlocking tower in Lewisburg ( designated "UR" and manned by the Reading, likely open only by train order when needed in its last years),

From there, the line paralelled PA Route 45 for another ten miles or so to Mifflinburg, then crossed the highway at grade and lost itself in Hairy John State Forest; highlight was a short, unlined tunnel through a small ridge of solid rock at Coburn. This was a favorite rock-climbing spot for Penn State students during my undergraduate years (c. 1970), but by then, service had been cut back to Mifflinburg.

The line eventually emerged from the woods at Spring Mills, turned northward at the village of Lemont (about three miles from State College Borough), served a Corning Glass plant opposite Nittany Mall and passed in front of Rockview Penitentiary before following Spring Creek to Bellefonte, where several substantial limestone quarries were based. The last few miles to a connection with the Bald eagle Branch at Milesburg were somewhat more heavily used, guarded by the Pennsy's "Block-Limit" or "Unattended Block" Stations, and were the scene of a fatal accident reported in an ICC investigation sometme around 1950.

[wanswheel]

[henry6]

Paul and Wanswheel!  What a wealth of information from both of you!...and I suggest both of you click onto the links the other has provided for a different perspective of history of the railroad and the area than what you have presented. The tunnels are most interesting, the concept of which my PA Atlas and Gazetteer from DeLorme only faintly suggests nor revealed in the PA County  Maps by Bureau of Maps of Hartjes Center WI.  I can see that it was an agricultural line but felt there must be some mineral wealth back there someplace.  I see why it could never be a mainline nor even a secondary back up to the main thus being sliced and diced to death.  From what I saw...and I did not wander off Route 45....was the rail trail in place from Lewisburg to Mifflinburg but no other traces of activity west from there.  I doubt I will get back there soon, but will wait until Fall when the trees lose their leaves and paths and views open up.  Thank to both of you...

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

See this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewisburg_and_Tyrone_Railroad 

It's pretty good, and appears to have good references, except that I disagree with the assertion that "It* has since become a rail trail.", referring to the middle portion of the Bellefonte Branch from Mifflinburg to Coburn, abandoned in 1970.  To the contrary, that's still under study, and the fragmented ownership as a result of that early abandonment appears to be a major obstacle to reconstituting the line as an integrated trail.  For more on that, see this presentation from 2013 (49 pages/ slides, approx. 4.0 MB electronic file size in this 'PDF' format), which also includes some photos and info on the history of the line:

 http://centrecountypa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/814 

- Paul North. 

    

 

[wanswheel]

http://centrecountypa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/487

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

That bridge will still be there long after we're all gone.  In the mid-1980's - during that highway/ bridge funding 'crisis' - another contractor friend and I looked at it for the purpose of reusing portions of it - the individual trusses - for local township/ county secondary roads and state game lands & forest roads across some of the larger streams.  It had plenty of strength for that, but would have been only 1 lane wide - and some of the spans were too long for those applications, etc.  Technically feasible but perhaps politically, environmentally, and financially challenged.

I expected the bridge to be part of the rail-trail, but I see that the adjoining 'new' PA Rt. 45 bridge has a decent walkway on its south side, so there's not as compelling a need for that now.  Also, since there's not much R-O-W on the eastern side to the Montandon Jct. location to make into a rail-trail there (and I believe the former small RR bridge over PA Rt. 405 has since been removed).

As best as I can recall, the line west of Mifflinburg was abandoned well before the mid-1980's, thus was not acquired by the local multi-county SEDA-COG Rail Authority, nor was it subject to the ICC/ STB's "trail condition", so highly unlikely it will ever become a rail-trail.

- Paul North. 

[henry6]

Thanks, Paul...you da man!   The Susquehanna River bridge still stands but is shorn of track and looks dangerous at least to trespassers while its rust gives it an unstable look.  The Right of Way from Lewisburg to Mifflinburg is a well kept Rail Trail while west of M'flnbrg it is just an abandoned right of way.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

That line came off the PRR's Harrisburg-Northumberland-Buffalo line on the easterly side of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River at Montandon, at about these Lat. / Long. cords.: N 40 58.027' W 76 51.478'  

It then crossed the West Branch on a long multi-span through truss bridge just north of the Rt. 45 bridge, at about these coords.: N 40 58.077' W 76 52.743'

In 1987 or '88, I designed and staked-out a connecting track in Lewisburg between this line and the former Reading RR Williamsport line, at about these coords.:   N 40 57.858' W 76 53.342'

By then the line had already been cut back to about Mifflinburg. 

More later/ over the weekend.

- Paul North. 

[samfp1943]

DwightBranch

I am not familiar with the line, but here is one photo.  And here, here, here, and here. One caption said "Lycoming Valley train KH37 makes a rare trip onto the Ex. PRR Bellefonte Branch to pick up 4 loads of scrap rail. Unitrac is pulling up the line from Mifflinburg to Lewisburg and in a few more weeks this shot will not be possible.."

Back in ( IIRC: June of 1987)  

      I was laid-over at the Truck Stop on top of Snow Shoe / Someone mentioned that there would be some' old trains running on the rail line at the East side of Snow Shoe. (about 9 miles) Back then the Exits were numerically numbered from West to East SS was Exit 22 and the Milesburg/ Bellefonte was, I think,23) 

  There was little information on what was going to happen and when, so I eased down to the Bald Eagle Truck Plaza at E-23 )  Found out there, the Train was coming out of Altoona and would be powered by PRR #1361 ( A K-4 Pacific) .  I took some poor pictures with an old Kodak, I kept in the truck.   It was well worth the side trip.

 Found some videos of what we saw on YouTube @  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iab7BOhZ56M

 And this one @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZHOdZ-bOUc

and this link to the LVRR on Wiki @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycoming_Valley_Railroad

 

[henry6]

Yeah, I've done 15 many times but never went into town on 45...What a beautiful, antiquated, preserved old town!   

[SALfan]

Lewisburg is also home to a U.S. Penitentiary. Red brick, scary Gothic architecture, ornate smokestack. Like a monastery with a 40-foot wall and gun towers. Made the drive on U.S. 15 up the Susquehanna from Harrisburg a number of times.

[henry6]

thanks, Dwight.  ANybody else?  Like to see PRR pics and operations info on the line before CR

[DwightBranch]

I am not familiar with the line, but here is one photo.  And here, here, here, and here. One caption said "Lycoming Valley train KH37 makes a rare trip onto the Ex. PRR Bellefonte Branch to pick up 4 loads of scrap rail. Unitrac is pulling up the line from Mifflinburg to Lewisburg and in a few more weeks this shot will not be possible.."