Nostalgia & History > Muskingum Electric Railroad information and questions

The Muskingum Electric Railroad was an obscure operation in Ohio.
Here is the information I have about it.
Owned by American Electric Power
Operated 1968 – 2002
Dedicated Mine to Power Plant Coal Hauler – Not a Common Carrier
Operated 20 Miles in Washington County, OH from a mine at Beverly to a power plant at Relief
Owned two GE E50C Units (#100 & #200) – operated two trains with one unit each
Units did not change ends - pulled loads, pushed empties
Utilized Remote Control train operation
Units were scrapped in 2004
Originally had a connection with B&O’s Zanesville – Parkersburg Line at Relief that was lost in later years
I would appreciate any corrections to the information I have and any additional information you might have to offer.
Thanks.
ALLEN

TRAINS magazine had a good article back in the late 70s. I made one visit there in 1988. I will post some pictures later today.

Did these guys observe a miner's holiday during the summer?  I made an attempt to shoot them in the late 70s and never saw anything move.

march_hare Wrote:
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> Did these guys observe a miner's holiday during
> the summer?  I made an attempt to shoot them in
> the late 70s and never saw anything move.

My guess is yes.
ALLEN

Here are some corrections and additional information -

The coal loader was at the north end of the railroad, just south of Cumberland, Ohio, west of Ohio Route 83. At the south end of the railroad, there was a dumper near Unionville. The coal then moved on a four-mile conveyor to the power plant at Relief. The northern portion of the Muskingum Electric Railroad was in Noble County, and the southern portion in Morgan County. The power plant at Relief was on the south bank of the Muskingum River, in Washington County, but the railroad did not actually reach Washington County. The conveyor crossed the Muskingum River to reach the power plant, which was also served by the B&O's line between Marietta and Zanesville.

The Muskingum Electric once had a connection to B&O's Branch to Cumberland, OH. A two mile connection was built to the B&O around the same time that the Muskingum Electric was built. The B&O's branch to Cumberland came off the Wheeling-Cincinnati main line at Lore City, but B&O filed for abandonment of the the portion between Lore City and C&M Crossing, a distance of 9.5 miles, in 1966. At C&M Crossing, near Pleasant City, the B&O branch crossed the Pennsylvania Railroad's line between Cambridge and Marietta (PRR called this location Albin in their employee timetables). A connection was built between the PRR and B&O, and B&O got trackage rights over the PRR between Cambridge and C&M Crossing, allowing B&O to abandon the portion to Lore City. Although most of the ex-PRR line between Cambridge and Marietta was abandoned just prior to formation of Conrail, B&O continued to operate over the portion between Cambridge and C&M Crossing. I don't know when B&O (or perhaps CSX) made the last trip to Cumberland. There was no rail connection at the south end of the Muskingum Electric.

An interesting footnote is that much of the coal that moved over the Muskingum Electric Railroad came from strip mines where the Big Muskie was used. The Big Muskie was a massive dragline, reputed to be the largest single-bucket earth moving machine ever built. The Big Muskie was retired in 1991 and scrapped in 1999.

Thanks to cr7998 for the corrections and additional information.

I will add that the two units had signs on the sides that read:
"DANGER * KEEP CLEAR* TRAIN UNMANNED".

ALLEN

Big Muskie's bucket was saved. It is on display in a roadside park near McConnelsville, OH. At the site, there was photo of the entire Morgan High school marching band (maybe 50 kids) occupying the bucket. Cool chunk of steel.

John

There was an article in "Modern Railroads", September 1969, Vol. 24, No. 9, pgs 75-76, with a map and a foldout cover photo of the train at the loader. Check someplace like RailPub for availability.

steeplecab

krm152 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks to cr7998 for the corrections and
> additional information.
>
> I will add that the two units had signs on the
> sides that read:
> "DANGER * KEEP CLEAR* TRAIN UNMANNED".
>
> ALLEN

It is unclear if the units ever reached full automation. For a long time there was a crew member in the cab(s) and I'm not sure if he just monitored the trips or actually took the controls. I was there when they had a dedication of the line and on those trips control was a significant problem. The automation wasn't working correctly and attempts to manually override same were not much more successful.

DaleR

dbrcnw Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> krm152 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks to cr7998 for the corrections and
> > additional information.
> >
> > I will add that the two units had signs on the
> > sides that read:
> > "DANGER * KEEP CLEAR* TRAIN UNMANNED".
> >
> > ALLEN
>
> It is unclear if the units ever reached full
> automation. For a long time there was a crew
> member in the cab(s) and I'm not sure if he just
> monitored the trips or actually took the controls.
> I was there when they had a dedication of the line
> and on those trips control was a significant
> problem. The automation wasn't working correctly
> and attempts to manually override same were not
> much more successful.
>
> DaleR

Thanks for the comment. I was there only once. Saw each unit. One was pulling a loaded train and the other was pushing an empty. Can't remember if anyone was riding in the cab of either or both units.
ALLEN