C&I Photos by Mark Anderson
bicentennial train photos - taken at Ebensburg, PA, 1976
check out the old PRR station, which is no longer there.
A Brief History of the Cambria and Indiana Railroad up to the Bicentennial Year:
The Blacklick and Yellow Creek Railroad was founded in 1904 as a subsidiary of Vinton Lumber Company. It was purchased in 1910 by a Mr. Coleman and Mr. Weaver to serve their mines in Cambria and Indiana counties. The name of the railroad was changed to the Cambria and Indiana Railroad on April 20, 1911.
The first locomotive on the C&I was a Baldwin Steam Locomotive #3. This engine was sold in January 1930 and went to Mexico. From 1911 until 1944, a total of 21 steam engines were purchased and used until August 7, 1951 when the first diesel locomotive (#30, an EMD SW-9) went into service. In 1976 there were 19 diesel units on the C&I (6 units were 1500 horsepower and 13 were 1200 horsepower); these units could be made into two and up to five unit consists controlled by one engineer.
Passenger service was started in 1914 and carried through until December 1931. One of the last train robberies in the country occurred on the C&I on October 11, 1924, by 7 men who killed one guard and escaped with a $33,054.00 payroll destined for the coal company at Colver, PA. Two of the hold-up men were later captured in the state of Indiana. These men were executed in 1925 for the crime.
The Cambria and Indiana Railroad is a common carrier hauling primarily bituminous coal from mines in Cambria and Indiana counties in Pennsylvania. The year 1967 saw the C&I hauling 5,603,234 tons of coal on the way to markets.
The following men were responsible for the operation of the Cambria and Indiana Railroad Company in 1976. General offices are in Bethlehem, PA and the operating office in Colver, PA.
R.J. Kent, President, Bethlehem
R.N. Young, General Manager, Colver
R.H. Grazier, Chief Trainmaster, Colver
C.H. Kline, Master Mechanic, Colver
Roy H. James, Asst. Master Mechanic, Colver
M.F. Springer, Gen. Car Foreman, Colver
E.G. Billy, Supervisor M/W, Colver
J.J. Smith, Accountant, Colver
J.I. Fetterman, Supervisor Materials and Supplies, Colver
Two more of Mark's photos:
loaded C&I hoppers passing through Cresson, PA
Penn Central moving some C&I hoppers through Johnstown, PA.
