Bell's Gap Railroad

The Bell's Gap Railroad was a 8+1/2 mile 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 8+1/2 mile long line was put in operation in June 1873.

The Pennsylvania & North Western Railroad Company became the successor by change of name of the Bell's Gap Railroad Company on 9 May 1874.

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 6+3/4 mile.

The sharpest curvature was 28° with a 206 feet radius. There were ten of these curves on the maximum grade, two of which were 600 feet 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