Eastern Railroad Discussion > Cresson-Station Inn Visit Week of 10-18-2021

Question; I am looking for some information on the Bessiemer & Lake Erie RR and the Union RR. On the Bessiemer where and which day of the week should we 
head west to see some movements on that RR and what time?  Should we visit the town of Bessiemer? Same request for the Union RR when is their busiest day and what 
location should we plan to visit? 
Tim McRea

 

As your questions pertain entirely to the Bessemer & Lake Erie and Union railroads, you may want to change the subject line.

Per a look at Google Maps, Bessemer Borough, northwest of Pittsburgh by the Pennsylvania/Ohio border does not have any railroad lines passing through it.

There is a yard in North Bessemer where the Union and Bessemer & Lake Erie (now Canadian National) interchange.  North Bessemer is a place name in Penn Hills Township, but not the name of any municipality within Allegheny County.  Many years ago, I tried without success to find a place to see trains in this yard.  I think there better places north of the Allegheny River.  I'll defer to others on good places and times to see trains on this line as well as on the Union Railroad.

Its almost impossible to view North Bessemer Yard other than a bit of the north throat along Leechburg Road. There are no engine facilities or other items of interest. A lot of yard tracks but not really a switching operation just an interchange point between the two railroads. The Union going south towards Pittsburgh goes into a rather long tunnel immediately out of the yard and it too is almost impossible to see. It is always uphill behind trees or downhill behind trees! I believe there is only one grade crossing, most roads pass under the tracks with a few overhead bridges. Very reclusive railroad.The best I ever saw North Bessemer Yard was going west on the Pennsylvania Turnpike where you could see directly into the north end of the yard for a brief glimpse at 65 MPH! That was thirthy years ago and may be behind trees today. Good Luck with the Union.
Go

Short version answers because it is late:
-B&LE. You should be aware just in case you aren’t that CN owns this railroad and CN power is used almost exclusively on the daily ore train which most commonly is moving over the Allegheny River Bridge at harmarville pa southbound very predictably between 9-10 am. They will drop their train in North Bessemer and come back north maybe 90 minutes later with empties. This is the only regular train but it runs 7 days per week. There are occasional locals that run with BLE power usually in the midday range but these are not daily and unpredictable.

URR is not an easy railroad to do if you don’t know where to go, but the busiest spot with access is Bull Run road crossing in West Mifflin Pa. There might be 12 URR moves a day through there every 24 hrs or so. Mid to late AM usually will be a steel slab and a coke train. Good luck!

Posted from iPhone