Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad
| Locale | Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1857–1944 |
| Successor | Reading Company |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad was built in the 1850s to transport iron ore from local mines in Lehigh and later Berks County to furnaces along the Lehigh River. Originally owned by two iron companies, the railroad later became part of the Reading system, and parts of it remain in operation today.
From its founding in 1839 until the 1890s under the auspices of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, the Lehigh Crane Iron Company — the first enterprise in North America to successfully achieve anthracite charged iron smelting using the newly patented Scottish hot blast technology to produce a new, plentiful and inexpensive (even revolutionary) product anthracite iron — obtained much of its ore supply from limonite deposits in southern Lehigh County. The ore had to be hauled over rural roads and across Biery's Bridge to reach the company's budding furnace and casting complex at Biery's Port (renamed Catasauqua in 1854), which early on, would have eight of the first ten successful blast furnaces producing anthracite iron in the Lehigh Valley. The wagons used to carry the heavy ore did great damage to the roads, and as the furnaces expanded, the deficiencies of this method of transportation became clear.
The first successful anthracite blow and cast of iron occurred there on July, 4th 1840 about which Bartholomew & Metz note:
From that moment on, anthracite and the canals were of pivotal importance in the industrial development of the United States.
The initial application to the Pennsylvania General Assembly for a railroad charter, around 1853, was met with fierce resistance by local farmers, who feared that trains would frighten livestock, set fires, and destroy the local farming districts. The iron company was forced to compromise and charter the Catasauqua and Fogelsville Plank Road on July 2, 1853. While plank roads were a popular improvement in transportation at the time, the short stretch that was constructed was found wholly inadequate for the haulage of ore. The heavily-loaded wagons rapidly damaged the road and rendered it dangerous for travel. The Crane Iron Company persevered, and on April 20, 1854, the plank road was issued a modified charter to operate as the Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad. The newly chartered Thomas Iron Company partnered with Crane in support of the railroad in March 1856, and construction began shortly thereafter. Crane Iron owned 60% of the railroad stock, and Thomas Iron 40%.
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