Abandoned B & O Railroad Spur Fayette Central RR Part 2 Bowest - Dunbar PA

[SittingMooseShaman]

@busguy100...perhaps. However, in the long-run...rail wins, due primarily to the more efficient nature inherent to trams. America had the majority of trams removed as a means of encouraging citizens to buy automobiles in the post WW2-era. There were quite a few inquiries over Congressional/US auto-makers' 2-way payola of bribery and graft concerning this activity- which had effectively, destroyed Americas' intra-city tram systems- Europe&Japan tho' many tram sys' were bombed-out- They rebuilt!

[SittingMooseShaman]

@Boss302fan...(sigh) you're right. Alas, sometimes I wax too optimistic after watching the trains of Japan, Europe and the other rail-oriented countries... We went the automotive route. Thus, the U.S. evolved to the auto; City and country... And I just gotta vent. I mean, Seattle and Portland have a good thing going- However, the politics involved- as where I live in Western New York- is pathetic... Even when the money was around! "Gone, Just Like A Train" as Bill Frisells' forlorn piece goes...

[busguy100]

@SittingMooseShaman Seattle and Portland have spent Billions on there light rail that could have been busways for much less

[MrLehnerd]

I wonder with all the non used Rails why can't the Rail roads owners remove n recycle over n use for New Tracks again.....if need if a train derails off n need replace bad Rail road Rails!

[SittingMooseShaman]

... no matter what the communists & socialists within the 'green' movement say to the contrary: Rail roads make America run!! And if y'ins want that good ol' American restoration work there in town to blossom & be seen; Them tourist trains are the kingpin- not everyone is able to walk or ride those nice trails- However, they can ride the train; Folks love trains! First, the weekends/holidays. Then all week long- The RR'll have to put in block-control & a station w/siding as the revenue comes in!

[Boss302fan]

@SittingMooseShaman Unfortunately most tourist trains in the USA are always on the verge of going out of business. Especially in today's economy. Keeping up tracks and equipment is very expensive. Another issue is that so many of the volunteers who keep these things going are fading away and not many young people are interested in taking over. Sad but true.

[arlingtontrains7]

sideing at 1:24 looks old and unused?...

[meccaturbo]

Abandoned tracks in this area are due to one very unfortunate reason: the Chessie System. The C&O was a fine railroad, but they really screwed up the WM and B&O when they took them over and formed the Chessie System. Comparatively speaking, the Norfolk Southern family of railroads (N&W and Southern) were not abandonment-happy the way the Chessie System was.

[charlieb640]

@meccaturbo Actually the NS abandoned or sold off a great deal of mileage through the Thoroughbred program. CSX (Chessie) did what they needed to do during those days...get out of antiquated work rules by selling lines off to operators not burdened down with wages and rules that should have gone by the wayside eyars ago.

[meccaturbo]

@charlieb640 I don't agree about Chessie....most railroads are glad they kept some of their extra mainlines whereas Chessie very foolisly abandoned them. For example, the WM mainline crossing the Alleghenies was very valuable in that it was a less steep crossing than the B&O's - and yet they abandoned it. That was very shortsighted of them. Chessie's abandonment of the ex B&O St. Louis line across northern WV is considered by many to be one of the dumbest railroading decisions ever made.

[meccaturbo]

@charlieb640, perhaps you don't realize that the WM was built much later than the B&O and had much less severe grades and wider clearances....and Chessie did not consider things from a proper engineering standpoint when they abandoned the WM. Thus, today's CSX has to deal with the much steeper Sandpatch Grade when they could have been running trains over the more gradual WM Connellsville line. This wastes fuel.  I'm sorry, but that's just poor decision making.

[charlieb640]

@meccaturbo I have no idea what you're talking about in regard to which line was abandoned in favor of the other. Certainly some very bright people aware of tonnage, customers served, revenue per ton mile and so forth were involved in those decisions. Doesn't matter though. I was only responding to the comment about NS abandonments vs CSXT. I was involved in both programs and total mileage for each carrier wasn't that different.

[meccaturbo]

@charlieb640, you're not talking about the same era I am. You're talking about NS vs CSX. The NS and CSX predecessor railroads operated very differently. Chessie abandoned a LOT of track, whereas N&W and Southern did not. Chessie's decisions were not made by "very bright people". It's universally regarded in the RR industry that many of Chessie's abandonments went too far.

[meccaturbo]

@charlieb640, furthermore, those decisions were not simply made on tonnage, revenue per ton, etc.....CSX predecessor Chessie was known in the industry for abandoning track even in cases where the cost savings was questionable. If you study the management of NS vs CSX, you will see that NS and its predecessor RR's have always been better managed than CSX and its predecessor RR's.

[charlieb640]

@meccaturbo I was in management on NS and very involved in line sales. However, I will concede that I know little (or care little) of what went on prior to my involvement when roads such as CO, BO, SCL, SOU etc were around.

That's pretty much ancient history and doesn't really interest me. So given lack of first hand knowledge and interest I'll concede the point. However if the topic turns to more relevant rail rationalizations I am far more knowledgeable.

[meccaturbo]

@charlieb640, I just admire NS's way of doing things more than CSX's....consider the Saluda Grade, for example....NS didn't abandon it, they just shut it down and "railbanked" it instead of tearing up the tracks. That's smart. CSX and predecessors have not been as smart.

[charlieb640]

@meccaturbo Since I was involved with both "modern" CSXT and NS abandonments and line sale programs I will have to disagree with you on this one. Saluda is its own exception.

As I said above, I can't comment on ancient history. Just don't know.

[meccaturbo]

@charlieb640, ok. If you're interested, which you may not be, look up what happened to (1) the B&O's St. Louis line and (2) the Western Maryland Railway. These are just two examples of CSX predecessor Chessie abandoning trackage for questionable reasons. No similar examples exist on NS predecessors, with the exception of the former Conrail, parts of which were abandoned for different reasons.

[Marillionmad]

Before Doctor Beeching, in Britian, we had the largest Rail Network in the world. Quite impressive for such a small island

[QuebecCentral]

tracks still in good shape ! !

[broadwaybabe99]

B & O Western Maryland and Pennsylvania Ran Next to each other through here at the turn of the century. Bowest had 10-12 tracks across and was a major rail yard--all gone today

[meccaturbo]

Bowest interchange activities included 2 other railroads as well....P&WV (later part of N&W) and P&LE (a subsidiary of NYC at the time).

[microbusss]

looks like this track was doubled once

[Deputydog1956]

What kind of power was pushing this caboose?

[xxxDeath9572xxx]

Hes Currently on a Budd Car.

[mlavender480]

It's no longer CSX, it is now operated by the Southwest Pennsylvania RR out of Scottdale. Former B&O FM&P line, runs from Greene Jct. to Uniontown.

[railwayking2001]

That Caboose on that train is an ex Conrail Caboose.They were built by Penn Central from old 40ft Boxcars.They were transfer cabooses.

[theqman1956]

Yes--This is now an active CSX Spur that connects to the main line in South Connellsville PA, and runs through Dunbar and onto Uniontown. They get special permission to run tourist trains on weekends, but are not allowed to enter the mainline at anytime. This is the Old B&O Spur.

[BaDeeRich]

Still in use?

[BaDeeRich]

What tracks are these? location and railroad