KVRR / History / Second Charter Granted

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	Doc. Getter was close to 80 years old when this picture was taken of him with his friend, Robert G. Lewis, in 1937. Getter was general manager of the KV throughout its existence. The last 21 he also served as president.

	Lewis put together a NRHS excursion over the KV and had visions of buying the road (See: Last Scheduled Run). (Robert G. Lewis collection) Click Image to Enlarge

Second Charter Granted

Soon we hope to hear the whistle
Of the engine on its way;
To the little town of Belleville
In the evening of the day.

The Lewistown Gazette
Author Unknown

After nearly a quarter of a century, the Kishacoquillas Valley Railroad would resurface again as the vision of Dr. John P. Getter, a local physician in Belleville. How this mild-mannered doctor became a railroad tycoon can be traced to the summer sands of Cape May, NJ, in 1891. Here, Doc Getter was bitten by the railroad bug while vacationing with his wife. The two took a three mile (4.8 kilometers) trip out to Cape May Point on the Delaware Bay & Cape May Railroad. The narrow-gauge train caught the fancy of the good doctor and he soon began to fantasize about building a similar kind of road between Reedsville and Belleville.

When the Getters returned home, the doctor got a few of his friends in Belleville interested in his railroad dream. Before long the group formed a board of directors. These were some of the more prominent people in Belleville: Samuel Watts, A.W. Campbell, A.Y. Detweiler, A.C. Henderson, J.K. Renno, J.Y. Zook, H.S. Wilson, John M. Fleming, Wm. M. Gibboney, Wm. B. Maclay and John P. Getter. This group of doctors, bankers, lawyers, merchants and farmers together pooled a total of $22,000, the amount required to secure a charter.

Samuel Watts was elected president, since he was a major stockholder. This was the same Watts who was a director of the first KV railroad attempt. Being the founder of Watts Department Store in Belleville, and president of Reedsville National Bank, Watts was a wealthy man. He put up $10,000, half of the required investment. KVRR Charter

On June 11,1892, Watts, Gibboney, and Getter came before Mifflin County's Justice of the Peace Miles Haffley, in order to draft the Charter. The railroad was again named the Kishacoquillas Valley Railroad Co. The capital stock was set at $100,000 (at least $10,000 for every mile of track proposed).

Three days later, in Harrisburg, the charter was approved by the Department of State. Gov. Robert E. Pattison applied the state seal to the charter, and the little railroad was in business.

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