Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad
File:BPRR 203 in the snow 105635575.jpg | |
Reporting mark | BPRR |
---|---|
Dates of operation | 1988 | –present
Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Length | 411 miles (661 km) |
Headquarters | Rochester, New York |
Website | B&P |
The Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad (reporting mark BPRR) is a Class II railroad[1] operating in New York and Pennsylvania.
The BPRR is owned by Genesee and Wyoming Industries. Its main line runs between Buffalo, New York and Eidenau, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. Here, connections are made to the city center via the Allegheny Valley Railroad. The system runs largely on former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) lines. The entire BPRR system is 411 miles (661 km).
Major commodities carried include paper, petroleum products, chemicals, coal, steel, and sand.
Main line
The Buffalo-Eidenau main line passes through Salamanca, NY, Bradford, PA, Johnsonburg, PA, DuBois, PA, Punxsutawney, PA, and Butler, PA. Principal rail yards are located at Butler, Punxsutawney (Riker), and Buffalo, with support yards for local industry at other locations.
B&P initially used the direct former B&O/BR&P main between Buffalo and Salamanca, but during the 1990s a failing bridge at Springville, New York forced the railroad to detour its trains north of Ashford Junction via the former Rochester & Southern track to Machias Junction, New York, thence north on Conrail's/Norfolk Southern's ex-Pennsylvania Railroad Buffalo Line to Buffalo. Buffalo & Pittsburgh now is the sole user of the ex-PRR south of CP-GRAVITY in Buffalo.
Other lines
BPRR operates two key secondary lines. One runs between Erie and Johnsonburg along the former Allegheny and Eastern Railroad. Another is made up of former Pittsburg and Shawmut Railroad tracks, running from the Armstrong Power Plant in Reesedale to Freeport, Pennsylvania. The B&P also operates on the Low Grade between DuBois and Driftwood that was formerly used by the Pennsylvania Railroad, then Conrail. A portion of the former B&O Northern Subdivision is used to provide access to Petrolia, PA.
CSX Transportation also leases the P&W Subdivision to the B&P between Allison Park and the New Castle Yard in West Pittsburg, just outside New Castle, PA. Though the B&P ends in Allison Park, the railroad rarely traverses the line down to the borough. Instead, it transfers its goods to the AVR either in Evans City or Bakerstown depending on the amount of freight it has. Other owned and operated branch lines travel to Homer City, St. Marys, and Brookville, Pennsylvania, as well as to the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.
History
Operations began in 1988 over mostly former Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (formerly Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh) lines. In the early 2000s, the BPRR merged other GWI railroads into it. These lines include the Allegheny and Eastern Railroad (ALY), Pittsburg and Shawmut Railroad (PSR), and the Bradford Industrial Railroad (BR).
Around 2005 the Indiana Subdivision, which had been out of use, was rehabilitated to serve the Homer City Generating Station. Shortly after this, the Ridge Subdivision, which had seen a Norfolk Southern Railway coal train run-through to Shelocta was sold off to NS.
In 2006, the railroad was honored as the Regional Railroad of the Year by industry trade journal Railway Age magazine.[2]
References
- ↑ Surface Transportation Board, GENESEE & WYOMING INC.--CONTROL EXEMPTION--COLUMBUS AND GREENVILLE RAILWAY COMPANY, THE CHATTOOGA AND CHICKAMAUGA RAILWAY COMPANY, AND LUXAPALILA VALLEY RAILROAD, INC., May 15, 2008
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
Preceded by | Regional Railroad of the Year 2006 |
Succeeded by Florida East Coast Railway |
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles that mention track gauge 1435 mm
- Transportation in Buffalo, New York
- New York railroads
- Pennsylvania railroads
- Regional railroads in the United States
- Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
- Spin-offs of CSX Transportation
- Companies operating former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad lines
- Companies operating former Erie Railroad lines
- Companies operating former Pennsylvania Railroad lines