Hello all! im a faithful reader of the forums but rarely post! I used to work in western pa in West Newton. a CSX (formerly B & O)double track mainline ran through west newton following the youghighany(SP) river, with heavy heavy rail traffic. i am in the process of modeling that, from connellsville PA to McKeesport PA. its a triple deck layout 2 helixes. im in the helix building phase righ now and all is well…ok now to my question!!! where do this heavy traffic generate from? am i correct by assuming its rom connelsville yard to MCKeesport Yard? it doesnt look to far apart on google earth… Thanks in advance for any help!
The line in question is the CSX main from Baltimore/Washington to Pittsburgh. Connellsville yard has been downgraded significantly since CSX took over what was left of the P&LE, and the N&W no longer calls via it’s former P&WV connection.
The major marshalling yard for the line is at Cumberland, Maryland. I think all they do at Connellsville anymore is a little bit of local work and maintaining a helper station for eastbound trains headed for Sand Patch.
Lee
good information, thank you Lee!! back to the drawing board!!!
Connellsville Yard was almost pulled up completely a few years back, but after the Conrail breakup, CSX started using it again as an overflow yard. They mainly sort out autoracks there, but there’s a couple of freights and at least one intermodal that also pick up/drop off there.
They also run eastbound helpers up to Sandpatch out of Connellsville, and it’s an interchange point with the Wheeling & Lake Erie, who send occasional grain trains to NS over Sandpatch.
The Southwest Pennsylvania (part of the AVR system) also interchanges in Connellsville. Their line is split by CSX, so trains bound for Uniontown have to pass over CSX rails to get through Connellsville. I think most of the SWP’s interchange traffic comes from NS in Greensburg though.