Conemaugh Line

Conemaugh Line

Extent	New Florence - Pittsburgh
Dates of operation	independent: 1863-1865 Pennsy: 1865-1976 Conrail: 1976-1999 NS: 1999-present

The Conemaugh Line is a rail line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Conpitt Junction (west of New Florence) northwest and southwest to Pittsburgh^[1] along a former Pennsylvania Railroad line. At its east end, it merges with the Pittsburgh Line; its west end is at the Fort Wayne Line at the west end of the Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge. The line was used by the PRR as a low-grade alternate to its main line (now the Pittsburgh Line).^[2]

History

A short branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad from Torrance (on the main line) to Blairsville opened in 1851; only a small piece of this at Blairsville is still in use.^[3] The Western Pennsylvania Railroad opened from Blairsville west to Saltsburg in 1863^[4] and to Kiskiminetas Junction (near Freeport) in 1864 or 1865.^[5][6] The line from Freeport to Allegheny (Pittsburgh) opened in 1866.^[7] A new, more direct line east from Blairsville was built by the Western Penn in the early 1880s, meeting the PRR main line at Bolivar.^[8] The PRR's Sang Hollow Extension, now only part of the Conemaugh Line west of Conpitt Junction, opened east to Johnstown in 1876;^[9] the portion east of Conpitt Junction was operated as a one-way line for westbound freight.^[10] All of the aforementioned lines became part of the PRR through leases and mergers, and were taken over by Conrail in 1976. In the 1999 breakup of Conrail, the line was assigned to Norfolk Southern.

References

1. ^ the NS Conemaugh Line
2. ^ Keystone Crossings: Hobo's Guide to the Pennsy: The Allegheny Valley Railroad
3. ^ PRR Chronology, 1851PDF (67.7 KiB), March 2005 Edition
4. ^ PRR Chronology, 1863PDF (140 KiB), June 2004 Edition
5. ^ PRR Chronology, 1864PDF (109 KiB), June 2004 Edition
6. ^ PRR Chronology, 1865PDF (110 KiB), June 2004 Edition
7. ^ PRR Chronology, 1866PDF (89.2 KiB), June 2004 Edition
8. ^ PRR Corporate History: Pennsylvania Railroad
9. ^ PRR Chronology, 1876PDF (116 KiB), April 2006 Edition
10. ^ PRR Interlocking Diagrams: Altoona to Pittsburgh Main Line