Northern Cambria Railway

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The Northern Cambria Railway was an interurban tram service in Cambria County in the US state of Pennsylvania . The total of 20 kilometers long network connected the places Patton , Carrollton and Barnesboro .

On October 1, 1901, the Northern Cambria Street Railway received the concession to build and operate an electric tram from Patton to Barnesboro. The construction was delayed due to a lack of money and the 16-kilometer-long railway was not put into operation until February 5, 1906. In the meantime, the Johnstown Terminal Railroad intended to build an interurban line from Johnstown to Ebensburg . The Northern Cambria now wanted a branch line to Ebensburg to get a connection to this railway. In 1907 Carrolltown was reached, but the building was not continued for financial reasons. The network was built in standard gauge and operated with 600 volts direct current. The depot and workshop of the railway were in St. Benedict.

The railway company operated the following lines:

  • Patton – Carrollton Junction – St. Benedict – Spangler – Barnesboro – North Barnesboro (10 miles, every 60 minutes)
  • Carrollton Junction – Carrollton (4 km, every 60 minutes)

There were no connections to other tram companies. The railway company went bankrupt in 1917 and was reorganized as the Northern Cambria Railway in 1918 . The end of the railway came when the government decided in 1926 to expand and expand US Highway 219 . The railway company could not finance a rerouting and therefore stopped tram operations on July 31, 1926.

literature

  • Benson W. Rohrbeck (1997): Pennsylvania's Street Railways West Chester PA: Traction Publications. Page 223.
  • Benson W. Rohrbeck (2007): Pennsylvania Street Railway Atlas West Chester PA: Ben Rohrbeck Traction Publications. Page 71.