Bellefonte and Snowshoe Railroad - Origins and Construction

Origins and Construction

The line was originally chartered as the Allegheny and Bald Eagle Railroad, Coal and Iron Company on June 12, 1839. It was to extend from the western side of the Allegheny Mountains to Bald Eagle Creek. For many years, however, it showed no organized activity, although the Pennsylvania General Assembly periodically renewed its charter. On May 2, 1855, a charter supplement allowed it to extend to Bellefonte, to connect with the Bald Eagle and Spring Creek Navigation canal. In 1857, a survey of the line was finally completed. Construction began in 1858, and it was completed in 1859, from the coal mines at Snow Shoe to Snow Shoe Intersection (now Wingate) in the Bald Eagle Valley. There it connected with the west end of the newly-constructed Tyrone and Lock Haven Railroad, which ran up the valley to Milesburg and then south to Bellefonte, and over which it had trackage rights.

The name of the company was changed to the Bellefonte and Snowshoe Railroad Company on March 24, 1859, shortly before a ceremonial opening on 21 June 1859, featuring a special train from Bellefonte to Clarks, then the terminus of the line. It would be extended to Snow Shoe later in the year, and regular passenger service begun in December.