Explore the abandoned Coburn Tunnel along the Lewisburg & Tyrone Railroad in central Pennsylvania.
The Lewisburg and Tyrone Railroad, originally chartered in 1853, was intended to link the Susquehanna Valley with Tyrone, Pennsylvania, but was only completed in two unconnected segments due to financial setbacks and the Panic of 1873. The Pennsylvania Railroad later took control, extending the eastern segment through mountainous terrain to Spring Mills, while the western portion was abandoned in 1941.
The eastern line declined throughout the 20th century, with major abandonments following Hurricane Agnes in 1972. By 1974, a section of the LC&SC/PRR Bellefonte Branch between Coburn and Weikert had been converted into the Penns Creek Rail Trail, which includes the Coburn Tunnel pictured below. Operations further east ended in 1997, and after further storm damage, the line was officially abandoned in 2008. The corridor was eventually converted into the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail, which opened in 2011.
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