Edited by Jerry W. Jordak
The PRR's Erie & Pittsburgh (E&P) Branch ran from New Castle to Erie, PA. Both the E&P and the Pittsburgh Youngstown & Ashtabula (PY&A) Branches were part of the PRR's Erie & Ashtabula (E&A) Division.The line was a north-south artery which basically paralleled the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.
The E&P started at Lawrence Jct, south of New Castle, where it branched off of thePY&A Branch. North of Lawrence Jct., the branch ran through downtown New Castle. After New Castle, the railroad followed the Shenango River north through the towns of Pulaski and West Middlesex. The next important place on the line was at Wheatland, south of Sharon, PA, and about 21 miles from New Castle. At Wheatland was a yard that supported the local industries in Wheatland, Farrell, and Sharon. Sharon was the home of the Sharon Steel works, a Westinghouse plant, National Malleable Castings, and other heavy industry. Sharon was also the location of an interchange with the Erie's Hornell-Chicago main line. Also, the Erie had a branch that paralleled the E&P from Sharon to New Castle. The E&P was located on the west bank of the Shenango River, while the Erie ran on the east side.
North of Sharon, the E&P paralleled the Erie main through Sharpsville, crossed the Shenango Reservoir near Transfer, and crossed the Erie at Bruin Tower, near Shenango. About a mile north at Shenango, the E&P had an interchange with the Bessemer & Lake Erie. Continuing north through Greenville, the E&P crossed the New York Central's Ashtabula-Oil City branch at Jamestown, met a B&LE branch at Linesville, and continued due north through Conneautville, Springville, and Albion to Thornton Junction. The B crossed the E on an overgrade bridge at MP 123.47 about four miles west of Albion Block Limit Station "AR". Thornton Junction, located near Girard, PA, is where the E&P crossed the Nickel Plate's Cleveland-Buffalo main. About 1.5 miles north of Girard Jct., the E&P met the joined the New York Central's Chicago-Buffalo main at Girard Junction. From there, the PRR had trackage rights on the NYC for 14 miles to Dock Jct. in Erie. (Dock Junction is known today as CP 89.) Here the E&P left the NYC and went northeast towards Erie's bayfront. The E&P ended at State Street, where it met the PRR's Northern Division Emporium-Erie main line.
The Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad was chartered in 1858 and was completed in 1864 between New Castle and Girard Junction, with trackage rights obtained from the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern to access Erie. In 1870, the Pennsylvania Railroad leased the E&P for 999 years. While under lease, the company continued to exist, receiving lease payments from the PRR and later the Penn Central. As proof of this, here is a picture of a 1967 E&P stock certificate that I own, along with a closeup of the artwork on the certificate. Reportedly, the picture shows a train passing a tower at Roberts siding, located between West Middlesex and New Castle.
During most of its life, the line hauled coal from the lines south of Pittsburgh to the docks in Erie. The line also supported the heavy industry in New Castle and the Wheatland/Farrell/Sharon area. North of Jamestown, there were few online industries.
Not long after Penn Central was formed, a connection was added at Jamestown that allowed northbound trains to use the ex-NYC Stoneboro Branch to reach Ashtabula. The connection spelled the end of the northern part of the E&P, as the line was abandoned north of Jamestown in the early 1970s. By 1972 the diamond with the Norfolk & Western at Thornton Junction had been removed. After Conrail was formed, the line between the north end of New Castle and Wheatland was put out of service, along with much of the line from Sharpsville to Jamestown.
Six segments of the Erie & Pittsburgh Branch remain today.
The south end of the E&P is still in place in and around New Castle, PA, stretching from MP 47 in Mahoningtown (at the junction with what is today Conrail's Youngstown Line) to about MP 52.5, near the U.S. 422-PA Route 60 interchange. This piece of track is operated today by a shortline, ISS Rail. Not much business remains on this trackage, and often it is used for storing freight cars waiting to be repaired at ISS Rail's car shop.
The longest remaining segment runs from MP 66 near Wheatland to MP 73 in Sharpsville. Operated as Conrail's Wheatland Industrial Track, it still serves Caparo Steel (formerly Sharon Steel) at Wheatland and Sharpsville Quality Products (formerly Shenango, Inc. and Shenango Mold) in Sharpsville. The line is accessed from a connection on the north side of Sharon to the stub of the Erie's Ferrona-New Castle Branch, which connects to the E&P near the Sawhill Tubular plant in Sharon (formerly the Westinghouse plant). Also in Sharon, the former passenger station still stands, but it has been converted into Tully's Irish Pub and has a fireless cooker steam engine parked outside.
A piece of the E&P still exists around Victory and Shenango, PA. A connection is made from the parallel Conrail Meadville Line (the former Erie main) at Victory, near the Reynolds Industrial Park (formerly a U.S. Army Personnel Replacement Depot). The connection can be seen from the bridge where PA Route 18 crosses over the ex-Erie main. The track is in place from there north to just short of the former location of Bruin Tower, where the E&P crossed the Erie.
At the former Bruin Tower, the line is still in place from the former diamond with the Erie into the B&LE yard, and is used for interchange between Conrail and B&LE.
A 1/4-mile segment of the main is still used in Erie, PA, near Pittsburgh Ave. and Dock Junction (CP 89 on Conrail's Chicago Line). This is a piece of the E&P which once ran from Dock Junction (where the PRR got off the trackage rights over the New York Central from Girard Junction) to the Erie Bayfront. Today, the track serves as an industrial spur, and is known as the "Pyramid Lead."
Lastly, all bayfront trackage in Erie west of State Street is former E&:P track, as State Street was the dividing line with the PRR main from Emporium to Erie. In addition, the Bayfront Highway in Erie was built on the former E&P right-of-way between Greengarden Blvd. and the Bayfront. Signs of the E&P still exist in Erie--the bridge abutments from the former overpass over 12th Street can be seen just east of the intersection with Greengarden Blvd.
| Int. | Int.
Sta |
Blk
Sta |
Blk
Lim. |
Stations | MP * | Sid.
West |
Sid.
East |
Sid.
Both |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X | X | X-O | --- | Castle | 46.6 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Cherry St. | 47.5 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Oakland | 48.7 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | New Castle | 49.7 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | X | GS (C-Castle) | 49.9 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Pulaski | 60.0 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | West Middlesex | 64.6 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | B-O | --- | Wheatland | 67.4 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Farrell | 68.5 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Sharon | 69.8 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Sharpsville | 73.0 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Transfer | 78.7 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Victory | 81.8 | --- | --- | --- |
| X | X | X-O | --- | Bruin (EL crossing) | 82.0 | --- | --- | 104 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Shenango | 82.8 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Greenville | 84.5 | --- | --- | 21 |
| X-A | --- | --- | --- | Jamestown (NYC crossing) | 90.6 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Westford | 96.2 | --- | --- | 135 |
| --- | --- | --- | X | WF | 96.2 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Espyville | 99.6 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Linesville | 103.6 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Center Road | 107.7 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | X | RK | 110.7 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Conneautville | 111.3 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Springboro | 114.1 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | X | AR (C-Bruin) | 120.4 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Albion | 120.4 | --- | --- | --- |
| X | X | X-O | --- | Thornton Jct. (NKP crossing) | 127.6 | --- | --- | --- |
| X | --- | --- | --- | Girard Jct. | 129.2 | --- | --- | --- |
| X | --- | --- | --- | Dock Jct | 143.0 | --- | --- | --- |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | Erie (Northern Region) | 146.0 | --- | --- | --- |
Al Buchan is leading a project to write a book on the Erie & Pittsburgh. For more information, or if you have any material to contribute, please contact Al at abbuchan1@home.com.
Copyright 1996 - 2008
Last modified: November 24 2007.
Keystone Crossings has served 4818612 pages since June 1, 1997.
