Chartiers Branch - Research

This page contains my research into the Pennsylvania Railroad's "Chartiers Branch". I have gathered this information from the Internet, books, magazines, e-mails, and other sources. I have no first-hand knowledge of the Chartiers Branch (was born in the "wrong country" and too late!). Online sources for some of the information below are listed at the bottom of this page. This page simply is a summary of all information I have gathered and is up-to-date according to what I know. If you have any information that enhances or corrects the content of this page, please feel free to . I am eager to learn, and to "get my facts straight".

A General Description of the Chartiers Branch

The Pennsylvania Railroad's mainline near Pittsburgh was called "The Panhandle". The Chartiers Branch broke off the mainline in Carnegie, PA and ran south-southwest to Washington, PA, a little over 23 miles. The branch name comes from the Chartiers Creek along which the tracks follow. The Chartiers Creek empties into the Ohio River just west of Pittsburgh. The name Chartiers came from a half-French, half-Native American who settled near the watershed of the Chartiers Creek and build himself a trading post.

A Brief History of the Chartiers Branch

In 1831 the Washington & Pittsburgh Railroad was created to connect Washington, PA to Pittsburgh, PA. Following the Chartiers creek was deemed to be the easiest route between the two cities. The company wasn't able to collect enough money to build the line. They tried again in 1837, and, again, came up short. The Baltimore & Ohio RR was actively trying to discourage the building of the line, because it already had a nearby track. No work was done on the line up to this point in time. Then, in 1853, the Chartiers Valley Railroad Company was started, with funding provided by shares sold to various cities. However, three years later the construction was already over budget, with at least two times as much money still needed to complete the line. The rights to the line were sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad for a fraction of the initial cost. The Chartiers Railway Company, founded in 1867 with funding from the Pennsylvania Railroad, was finally able to complete the line on May 18th, 1870, when an excursion train ran from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington, PA. In December 1871 the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway (PC&StL) leased the track, and officially named it the "Chartiers Branch". Its lease was continued with the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (PCC&StL) in 1907 when it was formed from the PC&StL.

The branch became very profitable for the PRR because of coal found in the region and subsequent industries which developed along the line from the late 1800's through World War II. After that, however, due to competing road traffic, the line began to decline. Finally in 1959, the PRR abandoned the connection with the mainline to the Chartiers Branch altogether. The Washington Secondary, the new name of the branch, became a branch off of the Scully Branch.

The Penn Central pretty much ignored the line, and Conrail renamed it the Canonsburg Industrial Track in 1976. It was put up for sale in 1994. In 1996 RailTex, based in San Antonio Texas, bought the line and renamed it the Pittsburgh Industrial Railroad. In 2000 RailTex was merged into RailAmerica, Inc, which later that year sold the line to the Ohio Central Railroad System. The OCRS, whose purpose it is to connect industries to Class I railroads via previously-existing shortlines, formed the Pittsburgh & Ohio Centrail Railroad (POHC) which then took over ownership of the line. The Ohio Central Railroad System was bought by Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. in 2008. This is where the line stands as of today. The POHC owns two SW1500 engines and a GP11, and still runs trains once a day Monday through Friday on the line.

The Chartiers Branch's Branches

The Chartiers Branch itself had two branches. The Bridgeville & McDonald branch, which broke off the Chartiers Branch at Bridgeville, served the Bishop (located near Venice) and Creedmore coal mines. It was abandoned in 1942, due to mine closures.

The Westland Branch broke off the Chartiers Branch at Houston, PA, to serve the Westland coal mine. The Westland Branch itself had a two-mile branch to Palanka to serve its namesake mine. The Westland, and therefore the Palanka, branch was abandoned in 1955 due to the closures of the mines they served.

The Chartiers Branch Connections

At Washington, PA, the Chartiers Branch connected with the PRR-owned Waynesburg & Washington RR, which was a narrow gauge line until 1944 when it was upgraded to standard gauge. It then became the "Waynesburg Secondary", which never really provided anything more than some passenger service.

In 1946 the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie railroad (a subsidiary of the New York Central RR) became owners of the coal-hauler the Montour Railroad. At Hills, PA (just north of Canonsburg) the Montour interchange provided lots of coal to the Chartiers Branch. The Montour RR also interchanged traffic at McDonald with the PRR. The Montour RR had about 40 miles of track that roughly circled the west side of Pittsburgh, PA. The linked-to web site is also a great reference for seeing how the Chartiers Branch ties into the Montour and other railroads. There is also the Montour Railroad Historical Society web site, although the site has quite a few missing pages. The book "Mid-Sized and Manageable Track Plans" by Iain Rice describes how to build a 12'x12' HO-scale layout based on the Montour, which includes several prototype photos. Here's a Wikipedia link to the Montour RR.

The Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railroad connected to the Bridgeville & McDonald Branch just outside of Bridgeville.

At Bridgeville the PRR interchanged traffic with the Norfolk & Western.

The Chartiers Branch connected with the Tylerdale Connecting RR at Tylerdale, PA (north-west of Washington, PA). This line was co-owned by the PRR and the Baltimore & Ohio. It provided an interchange with the B&O and was a tremendous source of coal transportation.

The Chartiers Branch Track Features

There was a turntable at the servicing facilities at the end of the line in Washington, PA. Additionally, there was a turning wye near Houston, so engines did not have to run in reverse.

Although much of the Chartiers Branch appeared to be double-tracked back then, it was actually two railroads providing each other trackage rights. One was owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the other was owned by the Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny Rwy (PC&Y).

As if that wasn't enough coverage, the Pittsburgh & West Virginia (PWV) paralleled the Chartiers Branch from Carnegie to Bridgeville up to about a couple of hundred yards away and about 50 to 100 feet up (the PRR Chartiers Branch was in the valley, and the P&WV line was up on the ridge, so to say).

Area Map

This is a screen capture of the Track Chart, Pennsylvania Railroad, Pittsburgh Division, Central Region, Branches. It shows the Chartiers Branch as it was on January 1, 1966 (beyond my modeled period, but still useful). Below the map is a listing of what the circled numbers mean. I am currently trying to model from Canonsburg (which is not shown in the diagram and just north of Houston) south to Washington. The Westland Branch is not modeled due to space constraint.

1. Chartiers Branch
2. Waynesburg & Washington Railroad
3. Bridgeville & McDonald Branch
4. Westland Branch
5. Ohio Connecting
6, 7, 8. Not part of the branch.

Industries

Coal! The Chartiers Branch served 25 mines in 1916, as well as received much coal from the other railroad connections. Heavy industries later developed along the line, which included steel plants, a glass plant, brick works, lumber mills, a paint company, mills, a transformer manufacturer, a bridge manufacturer, and various other manufacturing facilities. Coal deliveries were made to power houses along the line as well. Near Washington alone there were 25 customers served by the railroad! Passenger trains, before they were terminated, also carried milk from the farms in Northern Washington county.

Towns Served

These are the communities and towns served by the Chartiers Branch:

Chartiers Branch

  1. Carnegie
  2. Leasdale
  3. Woodville
  4. Bower Hill
  5. Kirwan
  6. Bridgeville
  7. MayView
  8. Boyce
  9. Hills
  10. Morganza
  11. Richfol
  12. Canonsburg
  13. Houston
  14. Shingiss
  15. Meadowlands
  16. Arden
  17. Washington

Bridgeville & McDonald Branch

  1. Sygan
  2. Morgan
  3. Treveskyn
  4. Gladden
  5. Cecil
  6. Bishop

Westland Branch

  1. Brevard
  2. Westland

Palanka Branch

  1. Palanka

On my current layout I am modeling from Canonsburg down to Washington, skipping Houston, Meadowloads, and Arden due to space constraints.

Motive Power

Steam engines started being phased out around 1948 and were completely gone by 1953, according to people who lived in the area. Locals remember seeing Baldwin, EMD, and Fairbanks-Morse switchers (e.g. Alco S, Baldwin VO, EMD NW/SW), and cab (e.g. Alco F's) or hood (e.g. EMD GP's) units were very seldom seen on the branch. The following engines could therefore be modeled on my "Summer of 1950" layout:

Engine Purpose Possibly Seen on the Branch
4-6-0 G5 "Ten Wheeler" commuter runs yes (confirmed)
4-6-2 K4 "Pacific" commuter runs yes (confirmed)
2-8-0 H6, H8, H10 "Consolidation" all yes (confirmed; top speed 25 - 30mph)
2-8-2 L1 "Mikado" coal hauling yes (confirmed)
2-10-0 I1 "Decapod" coal hauling no (too heavy for rail)
2-10-2 N2 heavy coal hauling no (too heavy for rail)
Alco S-1, S-2 switching yes
Alco RS-1 road switching never, but it's my most favorite engine, so...
Alco FA-1, FB-1 freight service no
Alco DL-109, DL-110 mixed service no
Alco PA-1, PB-1 passenger service no
Baldwin DS4-4-660 switching yes (note: S-12 was built in 1951)
Baldwin VO-1000 switching yes
Baldwin DR-8-12-3000 (1500/2) freight service no
Baldwin DR-6-4-2000 passenger service no
Baldwin DR-4-4-1500 freight service no
Fairbanks-Morse H-10-44 yard switchers no
Fairbanks-Morse "Erie-builts" freight service no (A-B-A configuration too much power)
EMD NW1, NW2, NW3, NW4, NW5 switching yes
EMD SW1, SW7 switching yes (SW9/SW1200 were bought in 1952)
EMD BL1, BL2 freight service yes
EMD GP7 freight service yes (seeing that they currently run GP11)
EMD FTA/B mixed service no
EMD F3A/B mixed service no
EMD F7A/B mixed service no

Cars

Lots of coal cars, such as H21a hoppers and GLa gondolas (not only for coal, but also for scrap and source materials). Lots of outside-braced, mostly wooden boxcars. Flat cars and depressed-center flat cars were used by the Pennsylvania Transformer company and by companies shipping odd-sized or over-sized items (with idler cars). Tank cars were rare, and refrigerator and stock cars were never observed on the line. Cabin cars observed were N5b, N5c, N6b, and N8. All according to eye-witnesses.

Significant Timeline

1942
Last three miles of Bridgeville & McDonald branch closed due to closure of Bishop and Creedmoor mines.
1943
Coal reserves deplete; competing highway construction begins.
1944
Waynesburg & Washington RR converted from narrow gauge to standard (at Washington station).
1948
First diesels appeared.
1950
My chosen time period to model: steam, diesel, double-track, lots of coal, some passenger service.
1952
Passenger service to Washington ceased. Double track replaced with single track. Coal traffic died down.
1953
Steam engines were gone.
1955
Westland and Palanka branches closed due to mine closures.
1959
Connection to mainline removed at Carnegie.

The Chartiers Branch Scenery

The track started at 770 feet above sea level in Carnegie and terminated at Washington at 1060 feet. Most grades were less than 1%. The reason why I became interested in this branch was the fact that it crossed the Chartiers Creek 19 times in the 23 miles, including one 500-foot long tunnel. Outside of the towns the scenery is mostly rolling hills with lots of wooded areas; just my cup of tea.

Trees in the Area

Name
Max. Height (ft)
Bark Color
Leaves Color
Bigtooth Aspen
65 (10" in S-scale)
pale grayish green
bright green
Black Walnut
165 (31")
dark gray brown to black
light green
American Beech
70-80 (13-15")
blue-gray
dark green
White Oak
80-100 (15-18")
pale gray
dark green
Pin Oak
100 (18")
dark gray
?
American Elm
100-120 (18-22")
ash gray
medium green
Yellow Poplar
80-190 (15-35")
dark gray
?
Sycamore
100 (18")
gray brown
medium green
Red Maple
80 (15")
pale gray
dark green
American Basswood
80-130 (15-24")
brownish gray
medium green
Green Ash
80 (15")
gray-brown
dark green
Eastern Red Cedar
60 (9")
reddish to grayish brown
dark green
Norway Spruce
130 (24")
gray-brown
dark green

Nearby Railroads

There were several railroads in the same area, some of which exchanged traffic with the PRR on the Chartiers Branch. The Montour Railroad, as of 1946, was jointly owned by the PRR and the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad. The railroad makes a semi-circle around the south and west of Pittsburgh. It connected with the Chartiers Branch in Hills, PA, which is about midway between Bridgeville and Canonsburg. The Montour hauled coal and used 2-8-0 and 2-8-2 steam engines, which were later replaced by the 1200hp SW9 EMD diesel engines.

References