The Brilliant Branch, also known as the Brilliant Cutoff, is a railway line in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
and
Aspinwall, Pennsylvania
Aspinwall is a borough on the Allegheny River in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. In 1900, 1,231 people lived in Aspinwall, and that number rose to 2,592 in 1910, and 3,170 by 1920. The popu ...
. It connects the
Pittsburgh Line
The Pittsburgh Line is the Norfolk Southern Railway's primary east–west artery in its Pittsburgh Division and Harrisburg Division across the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and is part of the Keystone Corridor, Amtrak-Norfolk Southern's combine ...
to the
Conemaugh Line
The Conemaugh Line is a rail line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Conpit Junction, Pennsylvania (west of New Florence) northwest and southwest to Pittsburgh, following the C ...
and to
Allegheny Valley Railroad
The Allegheny Valley Railroad is a class III railroad that operates in Western Pennsylvania, and is owned by Carload Express, Carload Express, Inc.
AVR acts as a feeder line connecting its many and varied customers to Class I railroads such as ...
's Allegheny Subdivision.
History
The line was built in 1903–04 by the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
(PRR) as a
cutoff to avoid the busy
Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
and its yards.
After the collapse of the
Penn Central Transportation Company
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...
(the PRR's successor company) in 1976, the Brilliant Branch was abandoned.
In 1995, the Brilliant Branch (aside from the southernmost
wye section) was leased and/or purchased by the fledgling
Allegheny Valley Railroad
The Allegheny Valley Railroad is a class III railroad that operates in Western Pennsylvania, and is owned by Carload Express, Carload Express, Inc.
AVR acts as a feeder line connecting its many and varied customers to Class I railroads such as ...
(AVRR). The segment south of the
Brilliant Branch Railroad Bridge
The Brilliant Branch Railroad Bridge is a truss bridge that carries Allegheny Valley Railroad's Brilliant Branch across the Allegheny River between the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Highland Park and the borough of Aspinwall, Pennsylvania.
History
...
was used as AVRR's main link from the
Pittsburgh Line
The Pittsburgh Line is the Norfolk Southern Railway's primary east–west artery in its Pittsburgh Division and Harrisburg Division across the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and is part of the Keystone Corridor, Amtrak-Norfolk Southern's combine ...
to its Allegheny Subdivision along the south shore of the
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into ...
. The Brilliant Branch Bridge was subsequently repaired and was used by AVRR to access the AZCON scrap yard on the north side of the river. In 2003, a segment of the
P&W Subdivision
The P&W Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation, the Allegheny Valley Railroad (AVR), and the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad (BPRR) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Rankin north through Pittsbu ...
was leased by AVRR and became their main link between the Pittsburgh Line and the Allegheny Subdivision, leaving the Brilliant Branch to be used for local traffic only.
In 2015, the AZCON scrap yard, the last remaining customer on the line, closed.
In 2016, the line was used as a detour from AVRR's usual route over the P&W Subdivision between the Allegheny Subdivision and the Pittsburgh Line while a trestle on that route was repaired.
The line was to be used as a detour again during another phase of the trestle repair in 2019.
Current status
There is no regular traffic on the line as of 2019, aside for at the wye on the south end of the line which is used to turn around
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
s's daily
''Pennsylvanian'' trains.
There are proposals to turn the Brilliant Branch into a rail-with-trail or rail-to-trail.
See also
*
Brilliant Cutoff Viaduct
*
Brilliant Branch Railroad Bridge
The Brilliant Branch Railroad Bridge is a truss bridge that carries Allegheny Valley Railroad's Brilliant Branch across the Allegheny River between the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Highland Park and the borough of Aspinwall, Pennsylvania.
History
...
References
External links
{{commons category, Brilliant Cutoff
PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD, BRILLIANT CUT OFF, SOUTH WYE
Pennsylvania Railroad lines
Pennsylvania Railroad Through-freight Lines
Railroad cutoffs