Pennsylvania Railroad - Pittsburgh Area

1937 Map showing railroads and facilities in Pittsburgh in 1855 and subsequent PRR construction.
from a 1948 PRR Board of Directors Inspection of Physical Property..

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1948 Map showing Montour R.R. and Youngstown & Southern Ry.
from a 1948 PRR Board of Directors Inspection of Physical Property..

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MONTOUR RAILROAD

The Montour Railroad is an important feeder line in the Pittsburgh District, connecting with the Pennsylvania Railroad at McDonald, Pa. on the Panhandle Division main line and at Hills, Pa. on the Chartiers Branch, about eight miles south of Carnegie, Pa. It also connects with the P.& L.E.R.R., P.& W. Va. Ry., B.& O.R.R., B.& L.E.R.R. and Union R.R. at various points.

The Montour Railroad is owned 50% by the Pennsylvania Railroad and 50% by the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (New York Central R.R.), having been acquired on December 31, 1946. It is operated as a separate line.

The main commodity handled is bituminous coal,. 22 mines being served, of which seven mines are owned by the Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company. Two coal cleaning plants of Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company are also located on the line, as well as a plant producing Disco (a low temperature coke).

The Disco plant, which is located at Champion, Pa., produces about 70,000 tons of this smokeless fuel annually, but the enlarged plant, costing $3,000,000, located at the same point, will be completed soon, when it is expected production will be increased to 250,000 tons annually.

At Library, Pa., a pilot plant, costing $500,000, is being constructed by Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company and Standard Oil Company of New Jersey for the purpose of conducting experiments in processes for making gasoline and high content gas from bituminous coal. This is preliminary to the construction of commercial plant, costing $120,000,000, to turn coal into gas and gasoline as well as diesel oil and chemical by-products. When this latter plant is completed, it is estimated that it will consume 2 to 3 million tons of coal per year.

The Montour Railroad interchanged to the Pennsylvania Railroad 27,328 cars of coal in 1947 and 9,859 cars in first eight months of 1948. Shipments of Disco delivered to the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1947 amounted to 515 cars and in the first eight months of 1948, 188 cars.

YOUNGSTOWN AND SOUTHERN RAILWAY

The Youngstown and Southern Railway connects with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Columbiana and Youngstown, Ohio. This road is owned 50% by the Pennsylvania Railroad and 50% by the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (New York Central Railroad), having been acquired on December 31, 1946. It is operated as a separate line.

The principal traffic handled is bituminous coal which moves via the Ohio River to Smith's Ferry, Pa. where it is transferred to cars over facilities of the Y.& S. Ry. Practically all of this coal moves to a cleaning plant of the Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company at Negley, Ohio where it is reshipped via Y.& S. Ry. to Republic Steel Corporation, Youngstown, Ohio.

The movement of coal from Smith's Ferry amounted to 1,095,096 net tons in 1947, and 481,545 net tons the first eight months of 1948.