Operations on the Bedford Division, 1987
The passing sidings that existed in 1945 have been retained by Pennrail, largely for a place for the local to get out of the way of a through train. Buffalo Mills, Bedford, Cessna, Imler, Claysburg and Brooke's Mills have been retained, though at this point, it is primarily Buffalo Mills and Cessna, with Bedford having been upgraded to a small yard, and Claysburg being mostly used for switching purposes.The traffic on the line at this time features several through freights a week, along with a daily local from Hollidaysburg to Bedford. The bulk of the traffic is out of Claysburg and Sproul.
Usually any yard job in Bedford is handled by the local crew, usually with a single GP38-2.
The through trains run on to Hollidaysburg, where they are turned over to a Conrail pilot to get them on to Tyrone and the Pennrail Bald Eagle Division.
Pennrail Bedford Division "station" points:
|
(Hollidaysburg) Morrison's Cove Junction Brooke's Mills Claysburg |
Sproul Cessna Dunning's Creek Junction Bedford |
Buffalo Mills Hyndman (Cumberland) |
These were compiled by crossing the CT 1000 list with 1970s era traffic estimates. Not that many points, as not that many sidings or industry by the Pennrail era. Most of the appeal of the southern portion are the various bridges across Little Wills Creek and Wills Creek, which flows down to the North Branch of the Potomac at Cumberland.
Some historical Links to portions of the line (with ancestral detail I won't repeat here):
- mtnsub.org's 'The Narrows' page
- Some photos along Little Wills Creek
- Blair & Bedford & Broad Top RR's Everett RR Page
Does the Division include the Mt. Dallas branch or not?
It is pure speculation as to the traditional Pennrail Theory whether the Mt. Dallas branch was included in Pennrail, and if so, whether the Everett was never cut-off as it was in real life by Conrail in 1982. This could go one of three ways:
1. Mt Dallas branch got abandoned prior to PR takeover
2. Everett Railroad assumed control of Mt Dallas Branch, interchanging with PR at Dunning's Creek Jct/Bedford
3. Pennrail assumed control of the Mt Dallas Branch with the Everett interchanging with PR at Mt Dallas.
It would make for more traffic if the interchange operation still existed in some form, but some consultations with some of the early theory-mongers is necessary.
The same can be asked about the Morrison's Cove line beyond Brooke's Mills
No answer here either. The real-life modern-day Everett operates this line, in addtion to the Hollidaysburg-Brooke's Mills segment, and the Brooke's Mills to Sproul segment of the Bedford Branch.The Bedford Division at the height of predecessor PRR
While working on the plan for the Pennrail era on the line, started with research from earlier days, such as the 1945 peak on the line in PRR days:From pages 176, 177 of the PRR CT1000 from 1945:
5115 ..... Brookes Mills, Pa. (Jc. Morrison's Cove Br.) || # .0
{ Brookes Mills, Pa. (Passing) || 0.2
4070 { " (Standard Oil Co. No. 3) + 1.1
4071 ..... East Freedom, Pa. (Station)# 1.5
{ Claysburg, Pa. (General Refractories Co. No. 6)+ 5.4
{ " (Station)# 6.1
4072 { " (L. H. Diehl)+ 6.2
{ " (Passing) || 6.3
4074 ..... Sproul, Pa. (General Refractories Co. No. 7)+ 7.4
4075 ..... Queen, Pa. # 9.2
4078 ..... Imler, Pa. (Passing) || 13.0
4080 ..... Osterburg, Pa. # 15.7
4081 ..... Reynoldsdale, Pa. # 18.1
4082 ..... Fishertown, Pa. (Station)# 20.3
4084 ..... Cessna, Pa. (Passing)|| 22.0
4085 ..... Cessna, Pa. # 22.6
4090 ..... Younts, Pa. 27.3
4092 ..... Dunning's Creek Junction* 30.5
dist MD Dist BM/5115
4092 ..... Dunning's Creek Junction (Junction Mt.
Dallas Br.) 6.9 30.5
4147 ..... Lutzville, Pa. 3.3 34.1
4146 ..... Ashcom, Pa. (New Enterprise Stone &
Lime Co. No. 2)+ 1.7 35.7
M D ..... Mt. Dallas, Pa. (Junction H. & B. T.
M. R. R.) || # 37.4
{ Bedford, Pa. (Kund Cabinet Co.)+ 7.3 30.9
{ " (Davidson Bros.)+ 7.8 31.4
{ " (Public Delivery & H.C. Metzger
{ Supply Co. +) 7.9 31.5
{ " (Blackburn-Russell Co.+ and
{ Freight House) 7.9 31.5
{ " (W.R. Lysinger and May & Bigley)+ 8.0 31.6
{ " (Bedford Milling Co. and Bedford
4152 { Farm Bureau Cooperative, Inc.)+ 8.0 31.6
{ " (Station)# 8.0 31.6
{ " (Calton Heckerman and Sinclair
{ Refining Co. No. 5) 8.3 31.9
{ " (Public Delivery) 8.3 31.9
{ " (Supplee-Willis-Jones Co. No. 2)+ 8.3 31.9
{ " (The Texas Co.)+ 8.4 32.0
{ " (Petroleum Economy Products Co.)+ 8.5 32.1
4155 ..... Wolfsburg, Pa. 10.8 34.5
4155A .... Atlantic Refining Co. No. 9+ 11.5 35.2
4156 ..... E. R. Baldridge & Co. No. 2+ 11.7 35.4
4160 ..... Manns Choice, Pa. (Station)# 15.9 39.5
4165 { Buffalo Mills, Pa. (Station)# 21.1 44.7
{ " (Passing)|| 21.3 44.9
4169 ..... Madley, Pa. 24.8 48.4
4169A .... Leap Ganister Rock Co.+ 25.2 48.8
{ Hyndman, Pa. (Station)# 31.0 54.6
HY { " (Junc. B. & O. R. R.) 31.2 54.8
{ " (Penna. Post & Lumber Co.)+ 31.2 54.8
{ State Line, Pa. # 38.4 62.0
4182 { " (Shops) || 38.6 62.2
{ " (Jc. Cumb. & Pa. R. R.) || 38.7 62.3
CU { Cumberland, Md. (Jc. Western
W { Maryland R. R.) 38.4 62.0
M { " (Pennnsylvania-Maryland
R { State Line)* 38.6 62.3
R { " (City Jc., B. & O. R. R. Conn.)# 44.1 67.7
{ " (Station)# 45.0 68.6
{ " (Ridgely Yard) 46.0 69.6
Where the following legend applies:
* No siding
+ For individual use
|| Siding -- No carload delivery
# Telephone Office
transcribed by Rob McKeever, May 2005