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CSX CONQUERS THE WESTERN ALLEGHENIES


BY STAN TRZONIEC/PHOTOS BY STAN TRZONIEC AND SCOOTER HOVANEC L


OCATED IN SOUTHWESTERN Pennsyl- vania, the CSX Keystone Subdivi- sion is a vital conduit for freight.


The high point of the operation lays at the pinnacle of the Allegheny Moun- tains. At its peak, the famed Sand Patch sits at an elevation of 2258 feet above sea level. All trains departing west from Cumberland, Md., or east from Connells- ville, Pa., encounter this famous grade. Noted for its twisting roadbed and steep grades that tax even the most modern high-horsepower prime movers, the ride west seems to be favored by many as the most exciting, demanding ribbon of rail around the eastern part of the country.


The Baltimore & Ohio was the care-


taker of this impressive line that jumped into the forefront of railroad history in the first third of the 1800s. Going back to the mid-1950s as an impressionable young railfan, I still can remember one elderly gentleman telling me the B&O was “a railroader’s railroad” simply be- cause of its personality, charisma, and romance. Even today, I can still remem- ber watching its crack passenger train, the Diplomat, flash by me on the then- four-track main line of the Central Rail- road of New Jersey running west out of Jersey City with sleek diesels on the head end.


The Pittsburgh & Connellsville Rail-


road was the driving force behind con- quering the mountains and started to build east from Pittsburgh in 1847. In 1853, a four-line piece in the New York Times notes that on May 13, “a bill au- thorizing Baltimore City to guarantee the stock of the P&C which had previ- ously passed the House, was ordered by the Senate to a third reading.” The whole process must have gone the right way, because in 1854 a contract was awarded for the construction of Sand Patch tunnel, an effort that lasted more than 17 years; when you look at the fine print, however, in actual work time, total man hours to-


ABOVE: With most of its train hanging downhill to Manila, CSX GE ES44DC No. 5352 will pause at the “Summit of the Alleghenies” to drop helpers and resume its trip with 4400 hp on the head end. STAN TRZONIEC OPPOSITE: Cumberland-to-Indianapolis manifest train Q359 swings below the for- mer Western Maryland Railway Keystone Viaduct on July 22, 2007. The WM bridge was built in 1913 as part of the Connellsville Extension and saw service into the early 1990s to access the Blue Lick mine near Meyersdale. SCOOTER HOVANEC


30 JULY 2015 • RAILFAN.COM


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