The P&WV Hi-Line

[PWVJer]

Sat. AM. Clairton Branch work, 90% of the 5-mile branch
has had all worn ties replaced. S.H. ribbon-rail laying next to
many hard curves. MOW equipment staged at
Rt. 51 X-ing
and at Clairton Yard area. Stub siding near Rt. 51
has been cleared, and all worn ties & old switch marked for replacement.
Some ROW fill-ditching-drainage-culvert
issues at about M.P. 3.75 and 3.9 remain, and need work. Clairton Yard/Tunnel,
main branch line has almost all new ties replaced. Running & yard-lead
tracks have about 1000 or so ties staged on the rail heads. Yard-end of the
Ravensburg tunnel to get additional drainage & pre-surface work.

In general, after walking most of the branch my guess, if the WLE "had"
to really move a Coke-train, they could. However, with very restricted
speed & power considerations. Lots of over-all surface, ballast, ROW grooming
and ditching remain....


______________________________________________________

AVR/WLE Bruceton interchange siding. All ROW pre-surface work finished. Piles of new tie-plates,
three(3) new switches, spikes, and rail-clips staged near the AVR main
(Bratti-Bros. lot.)
No tie-stack-bundles yet. All the new rail staged near the Curry Hollow Bridge has been
Ther-Mite-Weld* and now long ribbons of rail are staged on the entire
ROW. Both the main-line & siding will get CWR.
New north-switch area is now marked for placement. The Whitehall tunnel,
and exit main line approach to this switch also has new CWR staged on ROW.

... shot 31 Nikon-images this A.M. Will get with JR and place in the
Hi-line photo sharing file as soon as time permits.

[Rich_S]

Any further updates on the Clairton Branch?
_________________
Regards,
Rich S.

[PWVJer]

...a bit more work was done last week, I took a bunch additional shots.
More yard/tunnel/NS connection work. Several creek wash-out-erosion areas
look to soon be addressed.(very near the PAT Park & Ride lot).
AVR...as of thurs-nite all equipment and CWR materials (less ties)
staged near/on the new siding. Heavy New Ballast to top of rail-head, is now on
the AVR main from Whitehall tunnel to Bruceton X-ing.
Will try for more images this week-end. Our plan to post all
very soon.