The “Bald Eagle Valley railroad company” was a successor in reorganization to the “Tyrone and Lock Haven railroad company’, which was incorporated early in 1857 to build a line connecting the Pennsylvania at Tyrone with the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad* at Lock Haven, Pa., a distance of some 54 miles. The road completed by the predecessor company was 4.2 miles, from Snow Shoe Intersection to Milesburg and from Milesburg to Bellefonte, Pa. This short line was apparently operated by the “Bellefonte and Snowshoe railroad company”, which had a line from Snow Shoe Intersection to Snowshoe, afterwards merged into the Bald Eagle Valley.

The Bald Eagle Valley, on April 1, 1861, acquired all the property and rights of the Lock Haven line, and, after making a contract with the Pennsylvania as provided by the “Commutation Act”, it proceeded to complete its line, beginning at Vail, a station on the Tyrone and Clearfield about 3 miles north of Tyrone, to Snow Shoe Intersection, 26.4 miles, in 1863, and to Lock Haven on May 1, 1865. The connection with the Snow Shoe Railroad opened up traffic from the Snow Shoe coal fields, about 20 miles from the Intersection, and the line, when completed, furnished a connection between the West and the territory north of Williamsport, and later became a route for the coal traffic to New England, as well as an alternate route to the main line in case of emergency.

The road was operated from January 20, 1863, by The Pennsylvania Railroad Company and effective July 1, 1864, a 99-year lease was made under which the lessor company got 40 per cent of the gross receipts. For the year 1873 the company received $89,448 under this arrangement, equal, after payment of interest on bonds, to 11 per cent on the stock. The lessee seems to have operated at about a 56 percent ratio, thus earning a small profit.

Pennsylvania RR - Centennial, Page 112