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May 14, 2007
University Park, PA—An exhibition charting the growth and significance of the Bellefonte Central Railroad from the turn of the twentieth century until its demise in the 1980s will be displayed in the Pattee Library main exhibit area from June 4 to August 24. The exhibition is being held in conjunction with the newly published Rails to Penn State by Michael Bezilla and Jack Rudnicki. The authors will give a presentation about the book, followed by a book signing on July 12, at 3:30 p.m. in the Foster Auditorium, 101 Pattee Library.
Bezilla and Rudnicki, both Penn State alumni, made extensive use of vast resources on the railroad in Penn State's Historical Collections and Labor Archives, within the Special Collections Library. The library acquired Bellefonte Central corporate records in 2001 and has a total of 122 boxes of cataloged archival
materials in its holdings. Images from the collection comprise the current exhibition. "The Bellefonte Central corporate archive is one of the most detailed and comprehensive collections of its kind anywhere," Bezilla noted. "It's likely to be a tremendous asset for other researchers interested in the history of railroads, the University, and some of the other customers the BFC served, such as the lime and limestone industry."
The 19-mile-long rail line was Penn State's primary passenger and freight transportation link to the outside world for several decades. It began life in 1886 as the Buffalo Run, Bellefonte, and Bald Eagle Railroad and was reorganized as the Bellefonte Central in 1892. Hard-pressed by competing modes of transportation and changes in the regional economy, the Bellefonte Central ran its last train in 1982 and was abandoned in 1984.
At Bellefonte, it connected the campus and the surrounding State College community to the vast Pennsylvania Railroad system. "As a passenger hauler, the Bellefonte Central carried thousands of undergraduates and faculty members, along with such notables as steel magnates Andrew Carnegie and Charles Schwab and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower," Bezilla said. "As a freight railroad, it carried virtually everything that Penn State and State College needed to function and to grow—bricks, office furniture, food, home appliances, paper, coal, gasoline, even new automobiles for the town's dealerships. Plus mail and express."
Bezilla, who is a director in University Relations, has authored many books on the history of Penn State. Rudnicki, a supply chain management graduate, is in sales management for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Railway. "The Bellefonte Central corporate archive is one of the most detailed and comprehensive collections of its kind anywhere," Bezilla noted. "It's likely to be a tremendous asset for other researchers interested in the history of railroads, the University, and some of the other customers the BFC served, such as the lime and limestone industry."
Rails to Penn State will be available for sale at the book signing on July 12. Sponsored by Penn State University Libraries, the event is free of charge and open to the public.
For more information, contact James Quigel, head of Historical Collections and Labor Archives, at 814-863-3181.
Image: Engines 20, 21, and 22 of the Bellefonte Central Railroad, from the Historical Collections and Labor Archives, Photographic Collection, Special Collections Library, Penn State.
Editor's Contact:
Lana Munip, 814-863-4265