The Panther Creek Railroad had its origins in 1849. The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company ( LC&N) constructed it between Lansford, PA and the

Philadelphia & Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly calle ...

operating as the Little Schuylkill Railroad in Tamaqua, PA. LC&N believed a direct route to take Panther Valley coal to eastern markets and a tunnel connecting Lansford to Hauto would open up possibilities with the

Nesquehoning Valley Railroad The Nesquehoning Valley Railroad Company,L.K. Strouse, 1929Interstate Commerce Commission Reports Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States, Volume 149 herein called the Nesquehoning Valley Railroad (NVRR), is now a falle ...

. It also allowed the LC&N to cease coal shipments to the

Lehigh Canal The Lehigh Canal, or the Lehigh Navigation Canal, is a navigable canal that begins at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in eastern Pennsylvania. It was built in two sections over a span of twenty years, beginning in 1818. The low ...

on the

Summit Hill & Mauch Chunk Railroad The Mauch Chunk and Summit Railroad was a coal-hauling railroad in the mountains of Pennsylvania that operated between 1828 and 1932. It was the first operational railway, in the United States, of any substantial length to carry paying passenger ...

, operating since 1827.

Origins

In 1849, LC&N constructed the six-mile long Panther Creek Railroad from Lansford to Tamaqua. This connected the rich Panther Valley coal mines in Coaldale and Lansford to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad at Tamaqua and provided additional access to the Philadelphia market. In 1871, developers saw the possibilities of a tunnel connecting Lansford to Hauto which would open up connections with the Nesquehoning Valley Railroad and the mines in Nesquehoning. Eventually, an eastern branch was built from Lansford to Summit Hill, PA. The tunnel was a joint venture by the

Central Railroad of New Jersey The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...

(CNJ) and landlord LC&N shortly after the LC&N board of directors decided to opt-out of the rail transportation industry and leased the railroads it owned or controlled under the

Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad is a defunct railroad that operated in eastern Pennsylvania during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The company was a subsidiary of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N), but for much of its lifetim ...

to the CNJ. The tunnel (called the

Hauto Tunnel The Hauto Tunnel, dug in 1871–72, was a single-track railway tunnel crossing under the barrier ridge of Nesquehoning Mountain between Lansford, Pennsylvania, in the Panther Creek Valley and the Central Railroad of New Jersey trackage near the ...

) would be advantageous for several reasons: #to cut substantial mileage off of the trip to the Lehigh Canal terminal in Mauch Chunk, #to shorten the distance to other anthracite coalfields in the

Panther Creek Valley In Eastern Pennsylvania, the valley of the Panther Creek tributary of the Little Schuylkill River, a very small and relatively short mountain creek, was historically important due to its stranglehold on energy production, a key region central to ...

and others west of Tamaqua, #to drain water from the higher elevation mines and #to allow the CNJ to cease coal shipments to the Lehigh Canal via the Summit Hill & Mauch Chunk Railroad. Eventually CNJ sold off the latter asset as a common carrier and tourist railway. Work on the 1.1-mile, single-track Hauto Tunnel began in early 1871 and the two tunnel headings met on September 15. The first train passed through on February 1, 1872.

Successor Railroads

The Panther Creek Railroad was operated as a branch line of the CNJ. In 1901 the Reading Railroad gained control of the CNJ. The tunnel was last used in 1969 and abandoned. The LC&N (then back in the rail transport business) gained control of the

Lehigh and New England Railroad The Lehigh & New England Railroad was a Class I railroad located in Northeastern United States that acted as a bridge line. It was the second notable U.S. railroad to file for abandonment in its entirety, the first being the New York, Ontario ...

(L&NE) in 1904. In 1912 a new L&NE extension opened, splitting from the main line at Danielsville, Pennsylvania and running west to Tamaqua to directly serve the LC&N. In October 1913, LC&N transferred its leasehold interest in the Tunnel to Panther Creek Railroad Company by deed which contained a provision that “in the event of abandonment, the right-of-way shall revert to Lehigh Coal.” On December 14, 1913, the L&NE acquired the balance of the Panther Creek Railroad, running east from Tamaqua to Summit Hill, and with a connection to the Hauto Tunnel for access to Nesquehoning obtained in 1915. The L&NE made the route between Hauto and Maybrook, NY its main line. L&NE decided to end its railroad operations in late 1961. The rapid decline of the anthracite coal business was seen on the horizon led to the decision to cease operations. A few of its routes were spared when the nearby CNJ acquired, among others, its old line to Tamaqua (the old Panther Creek Railroad). This ex-L&NE trackage was operated under a subsidiary known as the Lehigh & New England Railway (not Railroad). The resulting Lehigh & New England Railway operated from 1961 until it was acquired in 1976 by ConRail.Walter Kraus, "Real Demise Of Rail Line Trailed Coal's Decline," August 24, 1989, Allentown Morning Call It is now used by the

Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad , sometimes shortened to Reading and Northern Railroad, is a regional railroad in eastern Pennsylvania. Its headquarters is in Port Clinton. The RBMN provides freight service on of track. Its mainl ...

from Tamaqua to Lansford.

References

{{Reflist Defunct Pennsylvania railroads Transportation in Carbon County, Pennsylvania