In 1862, George A. Bittenbender, William Gibson, David Hadley, Henry C. Hickok, A. W. Raymond, William Lawrence Scott, and John P. Vincent-all northwestern Pennsylvania businessmen-sought a charter for a shortline railroad in northwestern Pennsylvania.
On April 19, 1864, the charter was amended by the legislature a third time, to permit construction of either a narrow-gauge or standard-gauge branch south of Oil City into Cranberry Township in Venango County.