Eastern Railroad Discussion > Pittsburg and West Virginia

I was doing some stock research today and noticed that the PW symbol stands for Pittsburg and West Virginia Railway. Further research shows the RR line was leased/mergered into the N&W. When did this happen and what line is this. The Pittsburg and West Virginia Railway still owns the land on which the tracks run, and they recieve money from NS for using tracks on their land. How many other compnaies like this still exist. Also, on a related note, does Penn Central still exist as a real estate company? Any help on the P&WV will be helpful.

Also, how busy is the NS line that was the P&WV?

chapmaja wrote:

> I was doing some stock research today and noticed that the PW
> symbol stands for Pittsburg and West Virginia Railway. Further
> research shows the RR line was leased/mergered into the N&W.
> When did this happen and what line is this.



1964, IIRC. The line is now part of the Wheeling & Lake Erie.




The Pittsburg and
> West Virginia Railway still owns the land on which the tracks
> run, and they recieve money from NS for using tracks on their
> land. How many other compnaies like this still exist.


The North Carolina RR used to be like this. IIRC, oh boy, it's midnight and I can't remember everything, this was the NS main north? or south? from Charlotte. I want to say Charlotte to Greenville, SC, but that can't be right. Oh well, anyhow, there was a long drawn-out dispute over the lease payment within the last five years. The state owned a slug of the stock and investors owned the rest and everyone wanted NS to pay more rent but NS. I think they might have ended up with the state buying out the public and NS paying rent to the state. There were a lot of columns about it in the CTC Board NS news section.

Other arrangements that I know of: the city of Cincinnati owns the Cincinnati Southern, which you know as the NS from Cincinnati to Chatanooga, TN.

I can't think of any that are publicly traded like the P&WV.



Also, on
> a related note, does Penn Central still exist as a real estate
> company?



Penn Central was controlled by Cincinnati financier Carl Lindner (most famous these days as the principal owner of the Reds). It was folded into his insurance conglomerate American Financial Group about five years ago. That's publicly traded. There isn't any railroad real estate in there that I know of---Lindner bought control of the non-rail subsidiaries, such as pipelines, hotels, defense contractors and all manner of things.

BobE

does any one have pic's of the pittsburg and west virginia i have heard of them but haven't ever seen them happy fanning guys crash.

The Pittsburgh & West Virginia was leased for 99 years to N&W (NS) in 1964. The lease has NS paying the P&WV a little under $1 million per year. In turn, NS has subleased the line to W&LE, but NS is still responsible for the lease payments. P&WV still exists as a corporation and is currently trading on the American Stock Exchange for about $8.80 per share and pays a 54 cent annual dividend.

By the way, one of my hobbies is to buy stock in these lease line railroads. For example, I own stock in the Dayton & Michigan RR (CSX) and the Mobile & Birmingham (NS)

I caught one of their engines last month on a WLE grain train at Sand Patch, PA.

What other lease lines are there like the P&WV? You mentioned the Birmingham Southern and the Dayton and Michigan.

Was the D&M a former independent RR that was somehow mergered into the pre-CSX RR's.

Here is a list of most (not all) of the leased lines still in existence that you can still buy stock in:

Dayton & Michigan - this is the line between Dayton, Ohio and Toledo, Ohio. Was leased to B&O predecessors in the 1870's. Now CSX

Mobile & Birmingham - between those two cities. Leased in the 1880's. Now NS

Rutland & Whitehall - between those two cities, leased in the 1880's. Now part of the Vermont Railway System.

New York & Harlem - leased by the New York Central in the 1870's. Now essential the Harlem Line of Metro-North

Allegheny & Western - the Pennsylvania part of the Buffalo Rochester & Pittsburgh. Always leased since the 1880's. Now the regional Buffalo & Pittsburgh.

There are a few others, but these are the biggies (and of course the P&WV). Many others were eliminated in the 1980's and 90's.