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Bellefonte Central Railroad
Philadelphia interests purchased The Buffalo Run, Bellefonte, and Bald Eagle Railroad in 1892 and reorganized it as the Bellefonte Central Railroad. Instead of ore, its livelihood relied on lime and limestone from quarries along Buffalo Run, and coal and other freight to the Pennsylvania State College. The iron ore mining at Scotia were abandoned about 1911 and the Pennsylvania Railroad abandoned their line to Scotia in the mid-1930's. The Bellefonte Central purchased the abandoned Pennsylvania trackage and attempted to operate it as a through route from Bellefonte to Tyrone for a few years. The line to Scotia left the Bellefonte-State College route a short distance south of Waddle. The community of Scotia and the mines were about two miles from Waddle.
The McNitt-Huyett Lumber Company operated a sawmill at Waddle starting in 1909. Lumber from the mill was shipped out over the Bellefonte Central.
From the middle 1930's on, the railroad served as the rail link between State College and Bellefonte. The only interconnection was with the Pennsylvania RR at Bellefonte. Traffic was mainly coal from the mines at Snowshoe to the power plant of the Pennsylvania State College. There was also some traffic in building materials to a few lumber yards and refrigerator and box cars to the college's commissary building.
Passenger trains operated between Bellefonte's PRR station and State College until 1917. Mixed passenger and freight service was offered until in 1945, although passenger specials off the PRR to Penn State football games ran as recently as 1964. Passenger traffic ceased in 1945 on a scheduled basis but large, special passenger trains were handled into the college as late as 1964. A special train brought Dwight Eisenhower to the college via the Bellefonte Central in 1955 when he was commencement speaker.
In 1961 the Army football team and Corps of Cadets were brought to State College for a football game in a train of solid sleepers; thereby solving the housing problem in sparsely populated Center County. During the fall of 1964 a train of twenty coaches hauled by four diesels brought Pittsburgh fans to a Penn State - Pittsburgh football game. These huge trains were taken over the weed-grown Bellefonte Central Railroad trackage for the 17 mile journey without incident.
After coal haulage to the power plant was taken over by trucks, the line was cut back until it extended only a short distance beyond Coleville. The National Gypsum quarry in the Buffalo Run valley provided a steady source of outgoing traffic, feeding hundreds of thousands of tons of lime annually to the PRR. In 1975, the Bellefonte Central was sold to California-based Kyle Railways, owner of a number of shortlines throughout the U.S. Then the steel industry suffered a sharp decline and the demand for lime and limestone nearly dried up. The Bellefonte Central ran its last train in 1983 and most of the remaining trackage was removed. The enginehouse/shop at Coleville is now used by the Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad.
In January of 1908, the Bellefonte Central Railroad took delivery of a unique new car. The Democratic Watchman editor described the new car as a "monster." Measuring seventy feet in length, this car was self-propelled and divided into four compartments. In the front compartment was the driving apparatus, consisting of a gasoline fired steam engine. The second compartment was for baggage, the third as a smoking room and the fourth as a general passenger compartment with a big locker in the extreme rear of the car. On its trial run, the car reached a speed of seventy-five mile an hour. It was hoped anticipated that it could easily maintain a speed of thirty miles an hour on the Bellefonte Central line.
The car was not only very modern for the era, but it was "handsomely equipped and furnished" The interior was finished throughout in solid mahogany.
Due to inclement weather, primarily a bad snow storm which shut down rail traffic for a short period, it was not put into service immediately. It wasn't until mid-February the car started regular operation. It didn't take too long to determine that there were unforeseen problems. The seventy foot length proved to be almost too long for some of the curves on the line. Additionally, once loaded with passengers and freight, the motor wasn't powerful enough to pull the car up the various grades typical along the Bellefonte Central.
Not ones to give up easily, the Bellefonte Central engaged a team of workmen to "put the car to rights."
By mid-May the car again was back on the line and on a regular run. Local newspapers reported that is was "giving entire satisfaction. In fact for passenger traffic and express transportation, it is far better than their old engine and car, as better time can be made by it."
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