The Knox & Kane Railroad, the company that provided freight
and tourist travel over the Kinzua Bridge, sold its entire
inventory this weekend at a two-day auction in Kane and
Marienville.

Everything from steam engines and passenger cars to lanterns and
railroad signs were sold at the weekend’s liquidation auction by
Mike Peterson Auction and Realty Service.

Mike Peterson, owner of the Jamestown, N.Y., auction service,
was pleased with how the auction went.

“It went extremely well,” Peterson said on Sunday. “All three
engines were sold and are going to be rebuilt and put back into
service on other rail lines.”

Knox & Kane began operating in the early 1980s, said Teri
West, daughter of railroad owner, Sloan Cornell. In August of 1987,
its trains began transporting tourists across the historic bridge,
but 15 years later, in July of 2003, a tornado ripped through the
Kinzua Gorge, collapsing 11 of the bridge’s 20 towers.

West said Knox & Kane continued taking passengers to the
bridge following the collapse, but the interest in the demolished
bridge quickly faded. The loss of riders equaled a loss of income,
West said, spurring the decision to sell its inventory.

Peterson said the turnout for the auction was strong.

“There was an extremely good turnout,” he said. “There were
representation or buyers from 13 different states. Everything
sold.”

The railroad recently sold its tracks and other property to
Kovalchick Corp., an Indiana, Pa., scrap metal company. The company
reportedly has little interest in resuming tourist rides along the
rails.

If the tracks are scrapped, there is talk of a rails-to-trails
program over the right-of-way.