The Allegheny Valley Railroad constructed this line in 1872, starting in Verona on the Allegheny River, and following Plum Creek to a connection with the Unity Railroad (under the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad at the time) at North Bessemer. The line was built to serve the Plum Creek Mine in Renton which opened that same year; in 1916, it began also serving the Newfield Mine. Some maps show this line as the Plum Creek Railroad.
The Pennsylvania Railroad purchased the line in 1910, and extended the line further, likely in 1957, to serve other mines to the southeast. Total length of the branch was about 7.5 miles.
Passenger service along the line ended in 1966, and the Penn Central Railroad abandoned the line outright in 1972, 100 years after it was built.