HISTORY

Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society (BHRS) was chartered in 1984 with the intent of offering excursion service on the Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad (NBER).  At that time, the NBER was a newly-formed shortline, operating the trackage in Centre County owned by the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority.  At about the same time, BHRS acquired its first major piece of rolling stock in the form of RDC-1 #9167.  This self powered, rail diesel car was retired by SEPTA, and given to the PHMC, after a long career that began in 1953 as New York, New Haven & Hartford (NYNH&H) RDC #40.  It came to BHRS in December of 1984. In 1992, BHRS acquired our second RDC, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) RDC-1 #9153.  This car was built in 1962 for The Reading Company.  Both RDCs ran excursion service until 2005 when operations were suspended by BHRS.  Regulatory compliance and mechanical issues have keep both RDCs out of service since that time.  In December of 2014, RDC #9167 was sent by truck to Rail Mechanical Services in Columbia, PA to begin repair work intended to return the car to service in 2015.

The balance of the BHRS fleet was initially made up of two track cars, a snowplow, and a caboose.  The caboose and snowplow are former Bellefonte Central Railroad cars that reside as static displays adjacent to the Bellefonte station.  One of the two track cars is a large, ex-Bellefonte Central car.  The other is a former Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) Fairmont M-9 that is used for special occasions. More recently the BHRS has acquired 2 additional track cars, a Fairmont M19 currently in use on our track in Lemont, and a former US Army track car in need of significant rehabilitation. For more info on our equipment, see the rolling stock page.

Over the years, NBER grew to a system consisting of approximately 70 miles of track, with lines stretching from Tyrone to Lock Haven and from Milesburg to Dale Summit (near Lemont) and Pleasant Gap via Bellefonte. 

The only trackage owned by the BHRS is about a mile beginning near the Centre Concrete plant (behind the Giant grocery store) off of College Avenue (the end of the NBER) and leading into the village of Lemont, just outside of State College.

Major changes came to the NBER and the BHRS in 1996.  Conrail began operating coal trains on trackage rights via the NBER main line between Tyrone and Lock Haven.  This brought a track upgrade, increased traffic, and Conrail dispatching.  Since Norfolk Southern took over 58% of the former Conrail system in 1998, run-through traffic has increased again due to additional coal trains and merchandise freights operating between Pittsburgh and Buffalo.  Another track upgrade, started in the fall of 1999, has brought welded rail to the NBER main.

Facing many organizational changes in 2005, the BHRS was forced to cease operation indefinitely. In 2008, we were pleased to venture into a new partnership that enabled the BHRS to sponsor excursions to be held twice a year. These excursions were held in conjunction with the Nittany and Bald Eagle RR, the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority, and utilized Penn Valley Railroad, LLC’s beautifully restored passenger cars. These trips have included Fall Foliage excursions from Bellefonte to Lemont, Pleasant Gap, Sayers Dam, Tyrone and Lock Haven, and also the very popular Santa Express trips held each December until the end of 2019.

In 2020, the world around us changed drastically and the organization was left stagnant. The board still faithfully worked behind the scenes to survive and try and bring the organization back into full swing. However, facing regulatory and financial hurdles in restoring the long-time partnership once had with Penn Valley Railroad, LLC., we were unsuccessful in re-establishing our excursion partnership in 2022.

However, where there’s a will, there is a way… A small group of volunteers and board members started working extra hard in late 2022 to get the organization back in operation. We raised funds by hosting “speeder” rides at Bellefonte Victorian Christmas in December 2022 and at the Bellefonte Easter egg hunt in April 2023. We continued to forge ahead by holding many meetings with our gracious partners—which resulted in organizing a long sought for operating agreement with the North Shore Railroad System and SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority to once again provide passenger excursions utilizing our own or leased equipment indefinitely. We are very grateful to these organizations for their continued support of the BHRS. Without their support, we would not be in operation.

In the midst of all of this, the long awaited BHRX RDC #9167 returned home from what was to be 1 year repair process that turned into over 10 years. We were able to successfully host a welcome home weekend in October 2023, and quickly worked to restore our beloved multiple car Christmas trains in December the same year, this time dubbed the “Candy Cane Express.”

We also expanded our offering for the first time that year by hosting rides on 9167 during Bellefonte Victorian Christmas, named the “Sugar Plum Limited.”

Going into 2024, the team has set sights on working to expand our mission as a historical society.  We have expanded our lineup of rides to and branded them as the “High Iron Limited”, “The American Pioneer”, The Woapalanne Arrow”, and “Mountain’s End.” It is very special to note that we once again made history aboard the “Mountain’s End” in October 2024 when we returned with 9167 to our track in Lemont for the first time in over 20 years!

It is our hope that we continue to connect current generations to the railroad history of Bellefonte and Centre County both by preserving historical equipment and by providing excursions to bring that history to life and show that railroads are still a vital part of our transportation infrastructure.

For information on our upcoming trips, please see our Ticket Page.