Locomotive No. 7 and four cars, of the Lewisburg & Buffalo Valley Railroad, derailed into Buffalo Creek near the Clingman Farm in February 23rd 1899.
Wreck, February 23rd 1899
The Lewisburg & Buffalo Valley Railroad organized in Lewisburg on Monday May 17th 1897. Hon. Monroe H. Kulp was elected president. The Railroad was to be about 13 miles long, and the right of way had been secured. Work was expected to commence in a few days time. [Monroe Kulp was also responsible for the creation of Edgewood Amusement Park in Shamokin]
"A movement is on foot to have a branch line of the Lewisburg and Buffalo Valley Railroad extended to Kelly Point." The Lewisburg Chronicle, December 16th 1899
Lewisburg & Buffalo Valley Steam Locomotive alongside a mill, dumping sawdust into the stream.
Kulp Lumber Company, Milroy Pa
The Pittsburgh Press
August 21 1902
LUMBER CAMP RAILROAD. Twenty-Three Miles of Unione Track in Pennsylvania Mountains. There is a railroad In Pennsylvania whose equipment George Stephenson if he were living today, would regard as only a slight improvement over his original experimental outfit, says the New York Tribune. The traveler whose Is weary of speed trials and trains run on nerve-wrecking schedules may find rest and recreation on the Lewisburg & Buffalo Valley Railroad, which owns just 23 miles of the weirdest track that ever was laid.
Seven miles an hour is the average speed when the locomotive is running at top speed, and there is so many stops for water, repairs and help of various descriptions that if one asks the conductor what time the return will be made he will give it up. The road has no passenger cars, but It carries passengers.
It owes its existence to the Kulp Lumber Co.'s desire to get to market the vast quantities of heavy timber that clothe the mountainside included in the tract of land it owns. Monroe H. Kulp, who for two terms represented the Seventh congressional district of Pennsylvania, is the principal stockholder of the company and in the road. The railroad traverses the corners of four counties, Clinton, Center, Lycoming and Union, and its shape in consequence is very like that of the letter S. While at present there are only 23 miles of track, this number is variable, for the railroad is advanced as the heavy timber falls under the blows of the lumbermen's axes.
As a rule it takes a train a full 14 hours- to .make the round trip from Lewisburg, on the Susquehanna river, to the "camp" and return. When the road was built little attention was paid to such trifles as grading and roadbeds. These were left to look after themselves. As a result the unaccustomed traveler is apt to get seasick while bounding up and down over the billowy Lewisburg & Buffalo Valley.
Three mountains in the heart of the Alleghanies are crossed or dodged by the little road, some of the grades looking nearly perpendicular when viewed from a distance by the horror-stricken passenger. It appears to his fascinated gaze that the little engine must leap across yawning chasms over a perpendicular trestle, while the curves are so numerous and so sharp that most of the' time the engine would be In full view from the windows of any car in the train, if the cars had windows, which, as a rule, they do not, nor any sides, either, for that matter. Intending passengers are advised to take plenty of food along, in case of a breakdown.
Sometimes it happens that the conductor desires to speak to the engineer. In that case he waits until a propitious moment has arrived, then he drops easily to the ground and runs across a field, meeting the engine on the other side as it finishes describing a curve.
The engines employed upon this unique road are little pinion-geared affairs about the size of those used on the elevated roads in New York. No airbrakes are used or provided for. On heavy grades a substitute, however, is employed. It consists of two men who stand on the pilot and pour sand on the rails. It is a job in great demand with the employees of the road. In many cases the roadbed consists of solid stone, and the ties are blocked up with small pieces of stone. When the engine runs short of water the train is stopped near a' mountain stream. A pipe is let down from the engine, a small steam pump is set going and in a few minutes the machine's thirst is slaked.
The road penetrates a region that is rich with game, such as bear and deer, and there are great quantities of smaller animals and birds. The streams are full of trout, and when a train is stalled the hands put in the time fishing or capturing rattlesnakes. A station about half way to the "camp" is called Kulpsburg. The place is composed of one house and a barn. .
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An article in the Lewisburg Chronicle, September 11 1897, describes a "Jolly Party" traveling on the Lewisburg & Buffalo Railroad:
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September 4th, 1903
A train went out of control west of Lewisburg on wet rails.
Kulp Purchase, March 1904
Map showing Lodding Railroads of South-Central Pennsylvania
Lewisburg & Buffalo Valley [L&Bv] shown near top right
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"the old Kulp-Thomas Railroad was commissioned in 1902 and operated in northeastern Huntingdon County until its abandonment around 1911"
A 16 Ton Dunkirk Class B (42" Gauge) Kulp, Thomas & Company #1, which was built around January 1893 for Railroad services in Milroy, PA. it was used until it Burned in a Railroad Fire in December 1896.
Shamokin News, September 1937
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