Beech Creek Railroad Co. - Specimen Stock Certificate

Specimen Stock, Printed by American Bank Note Company. New York.

The Beech Creek Railroad, a defunct railroad, operated in central Pennsylvania between Jersey Shore and Mahaffey. Originally chartered in 1882, it was leased by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad (later the New York Central Railroad) in 1890 and subsequently directly operated by that company. However, a significant portion of the line was abandoned in the latter half of the 20th century. Nevertheless, sections at both ends remain operational.
The Susquehanna and South Western Railroad was initially chartered on August 12, 1882. Its charter mandated a 100-mile line from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to the southern line of Clearfield County. Initially, the New York Central Railroad supported the proposed line as part of a strategy to secure access to bituminous coal reserves. However, the New York Central did not directly operate within the bituminous coal fields, making it vulnerable to actions by both the coal operators who mined the coal and rival railroads like the Pennsylvania Railroad, which transported it.

The coal operators of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, some of whom already utilized the New York Central via the Fall Brook Coal Company’s railroad system, faced significant labor challenges and the impending exhaustion of their mines. In response to this adversity, William H. Vanderbilt, president of the New York Central, devised a plan to enter the Clearfield Coalfield, which had previously been exclusively controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The Vanderbilts would provide capital to a syndicate of Tioga coal operators and businessmen from the Clearfield area, which was subsequently incorporated as the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Company. This entity would acquire coal lands without raising suspicion. The Fall Brook’s rail network, extended down Pine Creek by a paper railroad known as the Jersey Shore, Pine Creek, and Buffalo Railway, would bring the New York Central’s trains to Jersey Shore, situated on the West Branch Susquehanna River to the west of Williamsport. From there, the Susquehanna and South Western would proceed westward via Beech Creek and Moshannon Creek, ultimately reaching the vicinity of Clearfield.

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