ABOVE: On a wintry February day in 1971, B&O 9014, 9015, and 9007 switch the Penreco chemical facility at Karns City. This plant remains a major customer today for the Buffalo & Pittsburgh. PHOTO BY ROSS JACK
Karns City Railroad (P&KC). In 1881, both were merged into the Pittsburgh & Western (P&W), which connected at Butler. In 1884, when the P&W came under Baltimore & Ohio control, the P&W ran from Pittsburgh (Millvale) to Mount Jewett and was standard gauge between Pittsburgh and Callery, west of Butler. The line remained narrow gauge north of Callery to Mount Jew- ett. In 1901, the Butler to Foxburg sec- tion, most of which is today’s Northern Sub, was standard gauged. Around 1920 or so, the Foxburg to Mount Jew- ett section of the P&W was made stan- dard gauge. For more history on the P&W and Northern Sub please see au- thor Wayne Cole’s book Ghost Rails VIII, which covers the Northern Sub north of Petrolia to Mount Jewett.
In 1932 B&O acquired control of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh. With the BR&P largely parallel to the P&W and having better grades, the old P&W became a secondary line. North of Foxburg, the P&W resorted to using switchbacks to climb out of the Alleghe- ny River Valley. In the early 1960s, the B&O was finally able to abandon the switchback north of Foxburg and over the years slowly cut back trackage south of Foxburg. In the early 1980s, the B&O ran its last trains north of Bruin and then in June 1988 sold what was left of the Northern Sub to Genesee & Wyoming, becoming part of its Buffa- lo & Pittsburgh operation. Today’s Northern Sub is a 15-mile long branch, running from a connection
38 JANUARY 2014 •
RAILFAN.COM
Buffalo & Pittsburgh’s Northern Subdivision
Illustration by Otto M. Vondrak. Not all lines shown. Not an official map. ©2014Carstens Publications, Inc.
BRP- Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh PW- Pittsburgh & Western BO- Baltimore & Ohio BLE- Bessemer & Lake Erie WARR- Western Allegheny Railroad CN- Canadian National
Euclid Gilbert Karns City Fairmont Queen Jct. Jamisonville Divener Chicora
Parker
Dudley Bruin
Petrolia
North Oakland Oneida
East Butler Butler Shops BUTLER Lyndora 0 MILES McCalmont Renfrew 5
PENNSYLVANIA PITTSBURGH
BUTLER Carbon Center WS Tower Wadsworth
Lucasville Fenelton
BPRR (BRP/BO)
BPRR (PW/BO)
CN (BLE)
BLE (WARR)
BO (PW)
CN (BLE)
BPRR (BRP/BO)
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