The line was to cross the Schuykill River on the Columbia Bridge then climb the hills on the west side of the river. The railroad accomplished the climb by digging a gradually rising grade into the steep hillside of Fairmount Park. Trains would cross the river then slowly climb the grade until they reached the connecting line at the top of the hill.

The line was completed in 1834.

The Belmont Plane (so called because it ended near the Belmont Mansion) was a half-mile long and rose 187 feet. At first, a 60-hp steam engine would pull cars up the incline by rope, where they would be reconnected to a locomotive. But starting in 1836, locomotives would pull the train up the hill.

But the incline proved to be inconvenient and hard to maintain. It cost the railroad $27,000 a year to operate. And there was more than one accident where something would break and the cars would roll down uncontrolled, to crash at the bottom.

So, by 1850, the railroad replaced the incline with other, less direct, routes to the top. The plane was sold to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, who also found it inconvenient, and avoided using it.

And the Belmont plane was abandoned.

The great Centennial Exposition of 1876 brought hundreds of thousands of visitors to the western section of the park. But after the Exposition closed, the west park again fell mostly inaccessible.

William Wharton was a big man with the Philadelphia railroads in the late 1800's. He realized Fairmount Park would be a wonderful place for people to explore, so in 1889, he developed a plan to build a "gravity passenger railway" within the park to make it more accessible. His plan included the use of the old Belmont Plane, still cut into the hillside.

An interesting note: Not wanting to mar the natural beauty of the west park, the park commission would not approve of any powered or mechanized equipment in the park. Therefore, Wharton's plan to power his railway was "limited to the force of gravity". Given the "one-way properties" of gravity, it is unsure how he planned to operate the line.

The park commissioners approved of Wharton's plans in 1889, but before he could begin construction, Wharton developed problems in other business ventures. The gravity railway was never begun.

And the Belmont Plane remained abandoned.

Belmont Incline Plane - 1838