CENTRE  COUNTY

Bellefonte (PRR/Bellefonte Central) - HQ of Bellefonte Historical RR. See photo here. The PRR opened this brick station, telegraph call sign BF, for passenger and express service on February 11, 1889. The freight station (razed around 1970) was about 1,000 feet further north. Originally the passenger tracks were on the east side, between the station and Spring Creek, but these were taken up in the early 1900s. The Bellefonte Central also used this station for its passenger service to and from State College until this service was discontinued in March 1946. PRR passenger service ended August 23, 1950. In the early 1980s, the Bellefonte Chamber of Commerce purchased the station and refurbished it for its offices. The chamber rents space to the Bellefonte Historical Railroad, which has a ticket office here for its weekend Rail Diesel Car excursions. --Note by Michael Bezilla

Centre Hall (PRR) - The PRR built this wood station, telegraph call sign RH, located along Pennsylvania Avenue (Pa. Route 144), in 1884 on its Lewisburg & Tyrone Branch. Passenger service was discontinued September 24, 1949. Tracks were pulled up soon after Hurricane Agnes caused washouts along the line in June 1972. Today it houses the Whistle Stop Restaurant, which has local railroad memorabilia on display. Adjacent rolling stock, for future use by the restaurant, includes an Erie coach and a New York Central caboose. --Note by Michael Bezilla

Lemont (PRR) - This is on the site of the old Lemont PRR station which was in ruins at the time this was built. In 1991 the site became the location of several retail shops, including Forster's Train Shop, but almost nothing of the original building remains. The Bellefonte Historical Railroad ran Rail Diesel Car excursions from Bellefonte to Lemont from 1992 to 1996.

State College (Bellefonte Central) - The Bellefonte Central built the brick State College station on North Atherton Street in 1930 to replace a wooden structure that sat at approximately 101 West College Avenue (now the site of Hammond and Sackett buildings on the Penn State campus). A mixed train from Bellefonte served the station until March 1946. However, occasional passenger specials were operated, including one for President Dwight Eisenhower in 1953. Freight service ended in July 1974 when the BFC abandoned its track to State College. By that time, however, the station had already been leased by local government as a bus terminal, a function that continues today.  Station saw heavy traffic during WWI and WWII. There were storage tracks for coal cars which were shunted across the street to the Penn State Power plant where an in-track scale would weigh-in and -out for the delivery. Tracks removed after 1972 Agnes Hurricane (and floods) which damaged some bridges that served the location. Final track ties (and bumper/end-ramp loading platform) removed in late 1980s during parking lot resurfacing. Right-of-way still exists and is paved (or chip) for a bike path, including one deck bridge within 1/2 mile. --Notes by Michael Bezilla & John Balogh