Pittsburgh and West Virginia Steam Locomotives
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. If more information on Pittsburgh and West Virginia steam locomotives comes available I will very much include it here. It should also be mentioned that while the P&LE owned several large steam locomotive designs such as 2-8-2 Mikados and the railroad's legendary 2-6-6-4 heavy articulateds. The P&WV's Class K included its small roster of three 4-6-2 Pacifics. The Pittsburgh & West Virginia never owned a large fleet of steamers but those aside from the aforementioned Mikados, Pacifics and its massive 2-6-6-4s it rostered included 2-8-0 Consolidations, 0-6-6-0 articulateds, and 0-6-0 switchers. For more information about Pittsburgh and West Virginia steam locomotives please click here.
For more reading about steam locomotives like those operated by the P&WV consider Perfecting the American Steam Locomotive by author J. Parker Lamb. As the name implies the book details the earliest history of steam engine technology, even before it was used in railroad applications. His book later explores the development of steam locomotive technology in the United States from the 19th through the 20th centuries, covering not only the most popular steam locomotive designs but also the most successful manufactures to build them. The book has received excellent reviews and is a great resource on steam locomotives and a fine reference tool; you should find it very useful. Also, consider the book American Steam Locomotives from author Brian Solomon. While this publication does not include quite as much technical data as Lamb's book, Perfecting the American Steam Locomotive, it is still a very good resource with lots of information and best of all, is loaded with photographs! If you're interested in perhaps purchasing either (or both) of these books please visit the links below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.
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