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The Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway, "The Hi-Line"
The Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway was another of the western Pennsylvania/northern Ohio regional systems to serve Pittsburgh and the steel mills located in the area (thus it moved large amounts of coal, coke, and iron ore). However, the railroad is perhaps best remembered for being a link in the chain of the famous “Alphabet Route”, a system of smaller railroads, which competed with the large eastern trunk lines (the Pennsylvania, New York Central, and Baltimore & Ohio) to move traffic between the major cities in the Northeast to Chicago and St. Louis in the Midwest (which include aside from the P&WV, the Nickel Plate, Wheeling & Lake Erie, Western Maryland, Reading, Jersey Central, New Haven, and Lehigh & Hudson River). Today, virtually the entire Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway survives as a key route for the reborn Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway.
The purpose of Jay Gould’s ownership of the Wabash-Pittsburgh Terminal Railway, and several other eastern and western systems was to create a gigantic, true transcontinental system that spanned the country. Unfortunately the Panic of 1907 played havoc on several of the railroads Gould owned, the Wabash-Pittsburgh Terminal one of those, which declared bankruptcy in 1907. The railroad emerged in 1916 as the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway, an independent company that would remain so for another 48 years. In 1931 the P&WV reached its final length when it opened its extension to Connellsville, Pennsylvania, which allowed it to connect with the Western Maryland. This connection also allowed the Pittsburgh & West Virginia to become part of the “Alphabet Route” and ferry traffic westward to the Wheeling & Lake Erie in Ohio, which carried it on to Toledo. In 1964 the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway again lost its independence when it was leased by the Norfolk & Western. Then, three years later the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railroad was set up by the N&W as a real estate trust to acquire ownership of the P&WV property, effectively relegating the railroad to the history books.
As for the P&WV’s motive power, it owned an interesting collection of steam locomotives from Mikados to Pacifics (although no large models, such as Yellowstones or Northerns). However, perhaps its diesel fleet was the most exotic. Even though it never maintained a large roster (mostly because of its takeover in the 1960s), the P&WV owned only rare Baldwins and Fairbanks-Morse models! The railroad’s roster is below: · #30: Baldwin VO-1000 Switcher · #40: Baldwin AS-616 · #50 - #71: Fairbanks-Morse H20-44 · #90 - #93: Fairbanks-Morse H16-44 Still, in an interesting twist of fate the P&WV still lives on today. The N&W retained virtually all of the railroad’s routes upon purchasing it and when the N&W’s successor, Norfolk Southern, spun-off the P&WV’s lines in 1990 to the new Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway they have since become a very important corridor under the W&LE. And, since the owners of the W&LE themselves have stated they have no plans to ever sell their railroad It appears that in many ways, the former Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway will continue to live on throughout the foreseeable future. It should also be noted that the W&LE has paid tribute to its roots and given GP35 #101 the classic P&WV logo. Today the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway is going as strong as ever, with a traffic base in coal, iron ore, steel, aggregates, plastics, chemicals, forest products, and grain! The Conrail breakup has also allowed the W&LE to dabble into the profitable intermodal business. Because of this, coupled with a strong management team extremely dedicated to not only the railroad’s success but also its future growth, things are looking as bright as ever on the W&LE. If you are interested in visiting the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway its east-west main line runs between Bellevue, Ohio and Pittsburgh, PA. However, the “hub” of the railroad’s operations continues to remain in Brewster, OH, as it has when since the railroad began in 1871. So, you may want to stop by and ask them for a quick tour of the railroad, as I am sure they would be happy to do so!
For more reading about the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway you might want to consider the book Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway Timetables by author Howard Worley. While the book is a comprehensive guide to the P&WV’s operations through historic timetables it also gives a very informative general history of the carrier. If you have any interest in the P&WV or would like to learn more about it you should very much enjoy Mr. Worley’s book.
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