The P&WV Hi-Line

[Blane]

As a new member to the forum with a recent interest in the P&WV and a model railroader, I thought an introduction of my railroad concept would be useful.

The idea behind my railway is that the P&WV along with my own proto-freelance railroad didn't merge into the N&W in 1964 but instead merged with the N&W later on towards the 70s. I have not come up with a name for my proto-freelance railroad yet, but it connects with the P&WV using trackage rights over the W&LE from West Virginia. Before the N&W merger and as a condition of the N&W merger, my railway has trackage rights over the entire W&LE system along with the P&WV which gives access to connecting roads other than the N&W. My proto-freelance railroad ends somewhere down south in Appalachia and connects with roads like the Seaboard and the Southern. Trackage rights to an Atlantic deepwater port were acquired when the N&W merged with the VGN which had access to Norfolk, Virginia. The era is late 60s early 70s with coal and bridge traffic as well as older classic FM diesels like the infamous H20-44.

I actually found out about the P&WV and associated railroads by first learning about the history of the N&W. Although I still have an interest in the N&W, it's the railways that were merged into it that also grabbed my attention.

Any comments or thoughts are welcome
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Blane

[jayrod]

Welcome to the BB, Blane. Hopefully, we can help out with facts, figures and pure, unadulterated conjecture. This site is probably the best on-line source for things P&WV.

As time permits, I putz around on my N scale layout that is a freelance coal hauler climbing out of Cherry Valley and connecting with the P&WV west of Hickory. Also have plans to turn an Aristocraft 2-8-2 into a P&WV light mike. Some other fans here are also modelers so I'm sure we can throw our two cents in on any modeling questions.
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Eric Schlentner
Aka, jayrod

[Blane]

Glad to know I'm not the only one modeling this lesser known but very interesting railroad. Smaller railroads like the P&WV are a bit more friendly to modelers as there's less need for compression and it's easier to model more of it in less space. Smaller Appalachian railroads like the Clinchfield, Virginian, and the Western Maryland are of interest to me too. Especially the Virginian because of it's heavy haul railroading and operations. I've done some research into the present Wheeling and Lake Erie and found out it composes AC&Y and P&WV trackage and even has trackage rights. This has made me think about what might've happened if instead of becoming N&W properties these three railways along with my own had their own sort of merger.
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Blane

[jayrod]

P&WV held quite a bit of stock in the Wheeling over the years and at one point, tried to purchase a controlling interest but was thwarted. Early on, the Gould roads were quite incestuous in their relationships. The convoluted story of the Gould empire and how their railroads all fell like dominoes is an interesting read. If you can, try to find a copy of "The Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway - The Story of the High & Dry" by Worley & Poelott.
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Eric Schlentner
Aka, jayrod