The Pittsburgh and Western Railroad was a nineteenth-century,

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railroad connecting

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

with coal supplies and the oil field around

Titusville, Pennsylvania Titusville is a city in the far eastern corner of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,601 at the 2010 census and an estimated 5,158 in 2019. Titusville is known as the birthplace of the American oil industry and fo ...

. Its right-of way formed the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad west from Pittsburgh. It was reorganized in 1889 under Malcolm A. McDonald. The railroad constructed another

line from Callery Junction to Foxburg, Pennsylvania. This line would later become known as the Northern Subdivision of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). In 1883 the railroad took control of the line from Foxburg to Mount Jewett after the Pittsburgh, Bradford and Buffalo Railroad had financially flopped. The railroad would later merge with the Bradford, Bordell and Kinzua Railroad, and the Big Level and Kinzua Railroad. These mergers would prove to be ineffective; by 1902 these joint railways were in financial ruin. The Bradford, Bordell and Kinzua Railroad handled significant interchange traffic with standard gauge lines by use of truck exchange. Cars were hoisted at interchange points and

trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

were rolled out and replaced with new ones of the appropriate gauge. On at least one occasion, the blocking used to adapt a standard-gauge car to narrow gauge trucks failed, leading to a fatal accident. In 1902, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) took control of the P&W. By 1911, the P&W was dissolved, and the B&O took over all operations. That same year, most of the narrow gauge was converted to track. The B&O would continue to operate the line until 1982 when it was acquired by Sloan Cornell of the

Knox and Kane Railroad The Knox and Kane Railroad (K&K) was a short-line railroad in Pennsylvania that operated between Knox, in Clarion County, to Kane and then on to Mount Jewett, in McKean County. History Early years The track and right of way was bought fr ...

. Trackage between Ribold and

Butler, Pennsylvania Butler is a city and the county seat of Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located north of Pittsburgh and is part of the Greater Pittsburgh region. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 13,502. History Butler was n ...

, as well as the Petrolia Branch is used by the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad. The Clarion Junction-Kane section ceased operations in 2006; it was abandoned in 2008 when the

was sold at auction.

See also

References

Further reading