with the B&P main line at old WS Tow- er, near East Butler, north toward Petrolia, home to three chemical plants. As of this writing, the branch is worked five days a week, sometimes more, by daylight local BT-3 working out of the engine facility in Butler. The connection with the main line is at MP 44.0, while the end of track is at MP 59.1. Chicora is located at MP 51.3, Karns City at MP 56.4, while Petrolia is just to the north at MP 58.1.
Trestles
Let’s take a moment to look at the wooden trestles that make the North- ern Sub special. There were four of them, all located around Chicora. The close spacing of the bridges, all located between MP 50 and MP 52, means more than one visit is needed to proper-
ly cover all the bridges.
Working from south to north, the first bridge is located just south of Chicora, around MP 50. This very short bridge crosses over a farmer’s road and can be seen from Route 68. Chicora Bridge (Bridge 431) is located be- tween MP 50.8 and MP 50.9 and passes over Route 68. There is a cemetery lo- cated at the southern end of this bridge. This was replaced by a steel structure in late 2013. The next bridge is located just north of Chicora Bridge between MP 51.0 and 51.1. The largest of the four
is called Iron City Trestle
(Bridge 430) and is located between MP 51.9 and MP 52.4. This bridge will be replaced starting in March 2014. St. Johns Reformed Church and cemetery are located on the west side of the bridge. The 613 foot long Divener
Trestle (Bridge 428) was located at MP 49. On May 10, 2006, this trestle was destroyed by a fire, trapping the train and its consist north of the bridge. The B&P subsequently replaced Diven- er trestle with a fill, reopening the branch three months later.
With Divener Trestle filled in, B&P
began a program to replace the other four wooden bridges in 2012. Cars heavier than 263,000 pounds are cur- rently restricted from the branch, but the new bridges will handle cars weigh- ing 286,000 pounds. All four trestles have speed restrictions of between ten and 13 m.p.h. and six-axle locomotives are prohibited. For years, the B&P used sets of orange or black GP9s on the branch. Only within the last couple of years has other four-axle power ap- peared on BT-3. During most of 2011, BT-3 used a consist of faded red slug set 3807 and 807 along with one or both of the still-Conrail Blue GP38’s working on the B&P, the 7803 and 7822.
Current operations
Operations on the Northern Sub are straightforward. The BT-3 is scheduled Monday through Friday, though morn- ing call times can vary. The crew starts its day at the Butler engine facility. BT-3 often uses the same power as nighttime Butler local PW-1, which
LEFT: Late into the Chessie era, B&O 5921 and WM 6407 team up to switch the Witco (Sonneborn) chemical plant at Petrolia on Au- gust 7, 1979. BELOW: B&O 9141, 9007, and caboose C2488 are helpers on a coal train from the Dudley Loader crossing the trestle at Bruin on September 10, 1972. What little coal traffic there was disappeared from the North- ern Sub by the 1980s. PHOTOS BY ROSS JACK
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