The Bell's Gap Railroad was a long railroad in Pennsylvania. It was inaugurated in 1873 and consolidated in 1874. The original construction was narrow-gauge.
History The Bell's Gap Railroad Company was incorporated under the general law of Pennsylvania on 11 May 1871, to construct a railway from Bell's Mills, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, to Lloyds in Cambria County. The construction began in 1872, and the long line was put in operation in June 1873.Howard Fleming: Narrow gauge railways in America. A sketch of their rise, progress and success: valuable statistics as to grades, curves, weight of rail, locomotives, cars, etc. 1876. Page 60-61. H.V. & H.W. Poor: Poor's Manual of Railroads. 1887.
The Pennsylvania & North Western Railroad Company became the successor by change of name of the Bell's Gap Railroad Company on 9 May 1874.United States. Interstate Commerce Commission, U.S. Government Printing Office: Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States. Valuation reports, Vol 22, 1929. p. 665.
In 1883 and 1884, the Pennsylvania & North Western Railroad Company (under control of the Pennsylvania Railroad) converted the original 3 foot gauge trackage to standard gauge.
Route and track The grade was very heavy, the maximum of 158.4 feet to the mile (3.0 %) being continuous for .
The sharpest curvature was 28° with a radius. There were ten of these curves on the maximum grade, two of which were long with a turning an angle of 168°.
The weight of rail was 35 pounds to the yard (17.5 kg/m).
Rolling stock
The weight of the engines was 15 tons. The following rolling stock was used in 1875: 2 locomotives 2 passenger cars 78 freight cars
Operation Operations for year ending 31 December 1875 were as follows: Gross earnings: $38,146.42 Operating expenses: $18,504.85 (48.49 %) Net earnings, $19,641.57
External links Narrow gauge railway Bellwood-Antis Historic Railroad Postcard Scans
References