Eastern Railroad Discussion > Connellsville & Homestead PA Info

Traveling up to the Pittsburgh area this weekend, and was wondering how busy these areas are now days, I found lot of old posts that was 5+ years old so we hoping for some newer intel. Also if someone could advise the frequencies I might need, it would be much appreciated.

You'll see a lot more trains in Homestead! Connellsville is a neat little historic town but CSX doesn't run nearly as many trains through there as they did in the past. If you do find yourself in C'ville you can walk about a mile or so south out of town on the old Western Maryland ROW and cross a long steel bridge. It carries the WM Rail trail over the former B&O Sheepskin line near Dunbar, Pa.

Take care,

Matt

The combination of NS and CSX trains makes Homestead one of the best places in the Pittsburgh area to see trains.

If you go to the Pump House near the Monongahela River and walk about 20 - 30 minutes on the Great Allegheny Passage Trail you will come to a bridge over the railroad tracks. From this bridge, you can view Union Railroad trains interchanging with NS.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/25 19:05 by RuleG.

Connellsville 14-16 CSX per 24 hours, plus SWP M-F each way, and 2 Amtrak. 
Homestead agree probbaly the busiest single spot in Pittsburgh.
 -Same 14-16 CSX through freights as in Connellsville plus a handful of coal to/from the P&LE to/from Brownsville and several locals each way a day.
- NS maybe 35-40 combined intermodals, manifest, autos, coal, frac sand, and locals. As noted above URR sometimes pulls down the Munhall Industrial track for headroom when interchanging with NS, but usually well short of Amity Street.

 

DJ-12 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Connellsville 14-16 CSX per 24 hours, plus SWP M-F
> each way, and 2 Amtrak. 
Thank you, how about the W&LE into Connellsville?
If the OP opts for Connellsville, probably best to just sit by the Amtrak station .
 

bigsavage Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> DJ-12 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Connellsville 14-16 CSX per 24 hours, plus SWP
> M-F
> > each way, and 2 Amtrak. 
> Thank you, how about the W&LE into Connellsville?
> If the OP opts for Connellsville, probably best to
> just sit by the Amtrak station .
>  

Yes forgot the W&LE. They seem to be less predictable. Maybe 3x per week?

Posted from iPhone

If nothing has changed the WLE comes in one day, goes out the next. It's a Rook crew with an afternoon call time, maybe 2pm-ish? They get to Connellsville at night (I've seen the train come in around 9pm) and taxi back to Rook. Next day the crew goes on duty at Rook and taxis to Connellsville to bring the train back to Rook. Pretty much a continuous cycle with (maybe) one of the weekend days off?

More than anyone asked for but I figured I'd share what I know.

Mike Derrick

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/25 12:02 by ShortlinesUSA.