Eastern Railroad Discussion > PRR in Pittsburgh

Here's an interesting image that comes from a 1924 study of the "railroad problem" in Pittsburgh. It's interesting to note that the density of carload freight through Penn Station was almost nil. The Brilliant and Port Perry bridges appear to carry all of the freight traffic for either the Panhandle or Fort Wayne. Apart from the need to serve Amtrak through Penn Station, was there a justification for discontinuing use of the Brilliant Branch almost completely?

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aclfan Wrote:
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> Here's an interesting image that comes from a 1924
> study of the "railroad problem" in Pittsburgh.
> It's interesting to note that the density of
> carload freight through Penn Station was almost
> nil. The Brilliant and Port Perry bridges appear
> to carry all of the freight traffic for either the
> Panhandle or Fort Wayne. Apart from the need to
> serve Amtrak through Penn Station, was there a
> justification for discontinuing use of the
> Brilliant Branch almost completely?



Interesting. One must wonder based on the map, what was the benefit of eastbound freights using the Conemaugh Line to the Brilliant Branch then heading east on the mainline through the Homewood section of Pittsburgh verses going through the station in downtown Pittsburgh. I would say because of the passenger trains on the line at the time. Many more than now. Also, was/is gradient a factor? The same could be said as to why freights at that time were also routed down the Mon line and across the Port Perry branch to the mainline at Wilmerding (of course it's a clearance thing now). I can see why with the Panhandle trains. Now that the bridge across the Allegheny river that carries the Brilliant branch is back in service, could or would Norfolk Southern start running trains accross it, or is that the exclusive domain of the Allegheny Valley Railroad? Hmmmmm.


SantaFeRuss

A most interesting map!
So, today is all freight traffic routed right through Pa. Station?
Or, does some use the Mon. line through Port Perry? Where is the clearance problem on that line?
When one heads across the Ohio River from Esplen, does the connection with the main have a name?

Paul Ramer
Cincinnati, OH

Today freight is routed east on the Conemaugh Line (most loaded coal, grain and heavy boxcar freights), and east through the station in downtown Pittsburgh (piggyback, roadrailer, single stack container/pig, boxcar type freights). Also trains go across the Ohio Connecting bridge over the Ohio river and down the Mon Line (doublestacks, autoracks, piggybacks mixed with autoracks and doublestacks) then across the Monogahela river and Port Perry Branch to the east. Heading west toward the Port Perry Branch than going across the Monogahela river, empty coal trains make a left turn and head south down the Mon line to the coal fields of southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. The Conemaugh line gets mostly eastbound freights except the local freight and the Shalocta coal epmties. Westbound freights except doublestacks and autoracks mostly go through the station in downtown Pittsburgh. Doublestacks and autoracks go west across the Port Perry bridge then make a right turn and head up the Mon Line to the Ohio Connecting bridge cross the Ohio river than make a left and head northwest up the Fort Wayne Line toward Conway yard and points west. Shelocta coal loads also go up the Mon line and across the O.C. bridge but make a right turn and head for the Conemaugh Line. Panhandle Line is mostly gone now. Some of it is now a shortline.

SantaFeRuss

To summarize the current situation:

Conemaugh Line = eastbound coal and tonnage freights, plus locals and westbound Shelocta empties
Pittsburgh Line (through the station) = eastbound low-clearance intermodals, westbound manifests and low-clearance intermodals, plus passenger trains
Mon Line/Port Perry Branch = high-clearance route for autoracks and stacks, plus coal trains to/from points south on the Mon Line

Clearances on the Mon Line/Port Perry were raised during the mid-1990s using government money to allow doublestack service in Pennsylvania. The circuitous routing was deemed preferable to trying to figure out a way to improve clearances on the route through the passenger station.

Actually the Mon Line sees plenty of mixed freights because of high cars, sometimes tonnage, and dispatcher preference based on congestion.

Once in a while there are mixed freights headed eastbound on the Pittsburgh Line. NS occasionally stations helper engines at the Amtrak station to provide an assist. However, this was more common during the Conrail days than now.

Also using the Pittsburgh Line is an NS local typically with GPs at both ends of the train.

Dave

aclfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here's an interesting image that comes from a 1924
> study of the "railroad problem" in Pittsburgh.
> It's interesting to note that the density of
> carload freight through Penn Station was almost
> nil. The Brilliant and Port Perry bridges appear
> to carry all of the freight traffic for either the
> Panhandle or Fort Wayne. Apart from the need to
> serve Amtrak through Penn Station, was there a
> justification for discontinuing use of the
> Brilliant Branch almost completely?

Thanks for posting. I always love stuff like this. An interesting companion piece would be a map to show average daily train movements, that would quickly show the reason for the paucity of freight thru the station, which is of course what others hinted at: passenger traffic, not only the intercity runs, but also a very large number of commuter trains radiating in all directions. I suspect that the reasons that the Brilliant branch was "abandoned" by Conrail was the ability to get out of the maintenance on the Ally River bridge, plus the suprisingly steep grade from CP Sharp to CP Home...which I suspect is actually steeper than the hill from the station to CP Home on the main due to the fact that the same elevation must be gained in a shorter distance. AVR is the sole owner of the bridge, which was part of the purchase from Conrail, and uses the re-opened structure exclusively to serve AZcon Corp, a large scrap processor in Sharpsburg.

A couple of other interesting tidbits from this map:

The relatively high amount of carload freight heading up the Allegheny Valley side via a westward move on the main at CP Home to a northward move on the Brilliant Branch (vs from west) threw me until I realize that this was a 1924 map, and Conway Yard in it's current form wasn't even a dream. Hence, all of that freight was starting out at Pitcairin east of Pittsburgh.

Also, regarding the earlier discussion this week about the Panhandle Line going thru Carnegie: Look how much business is going through there past Wagner Tower via both the Scully Branch and the Corliss line! Conway yard certainly hurt this route, since when it opened anything coming in from Mingo Jct and Columbus would now have to back track to the west instead of going directly into Pitcairin as it would have before.

The Fort Wayne Line entering Union Station has a sharp curve at the station entrance.  Also, it made no sense to run freight through the station into 28th St. yard, which serviced commuter engines until the Sixties.  Using Port Perry or the Brilliant Branch provided low-grade lines to the Mon Line, the Panhandle, the Conemaugh Division, the Fort Wayne, and the Allegheny Valley.  Most of the freight in and out of Pittsburgh back in the day was coal, iron ore, steel, and machinery (big machinery).  The 1923 traffic analysis is a good reference to how stuff flowed in the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio River valleys, something no one operating west of Pittsburgh had to deal with.