The P&WV Hi-Line

[PWVJer]

This past week-end your Hi-Line staff has been very busy.
About 700 pages or so of AFE/AFR reports from 1957,58',59'. and
60' have been cleaned, scanned & adjusted.
Also 400 pages or so ...
The Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway Company
Office of the General Superintendent
General Notice Bulletins from 1950 to 1963
Some very interesting and suprising information on the day-to-day operations
on the P&WV. The line drawings at Mingo Jct., Bridgeville's
American Cyanamid Plant, and Monessen Yard & "Y" are included.
Really neat & detailed stuff!
GPS, just continues to send-over more, & More, & MORE,
Archive File materials.

We hope to post/archive these very soon!

JR/JZ.

[PWVJer]

Recently GPS has sent over another great batch of original "Archive Material" (including several large binders)
of P&WV/WM/P&LE combined traffic operations, procedures, conditions and proposals Circa:
Dec.1930 to Dec. 1965(N&W era.).
These letters, reports, & notes are all originals, and include many great details
that covers C'ville/Bowest/Dickerson Run inter-change operations in the P&WV era. and(early N&W days)
Traffic-Power-Crew operations on the East-end(C'ville Div.) information that few
P&WV/WM/P&LE fans may have never seen, read, or know about.
Just a stunning, interesting read on early Alphabet Route operations!

A small sample:

P&WV request for/to engines taking coal, water,
other supplies and turning the engines on the Wye at Bowest Jan.27, 1931.

Proposed use by WM Railway of P&WV FM Locomotives between
Bowest & Cumberland, Oct.27, 1953. Operations report:
2(two) P&WV 2000 HP Diesel Units. Bowest to Cumberland and return.

Alpha-Jet time & cost issues. Including letters, notes & suggestions to/from
the RDG-WM-P&WV-NKP companys on how to improve/increase traffic operations.

WM reports of dead or failed N&W units after being received at Bowest.
May.6 1969,--- May 26, 1970-- N&W Locomotives receiving Terminal Attention
at Bowest detailed list & dates.

Another "Great Save" of local R.R. History by GPS.

[Rich_S]

[quote="PWVJer"]
Proposed use by WM Railway of P&WV FM Locomotives between
Bowest & Cumberland, Oct.27, 1953. Operations report:
2(two) P&WV 2000 HP Diesel Units. Bowest to Cumberland and return.
[/quote]

It's funny you mention this as I just received a DVD from Clear Block Productions titled "Vignettes of the Western Maryland, Volume 1" and the DVD shows 4 H20-44's (The video is not clear enough to read numbers) pulling an Eastbound train past the WM's Cumberland Station.

How often did P&WV power run through to Cumberland?

Regards,
Rich S.

[PWVJer]

At this point we are not really sure of the circumstances of these power arrangements.
Archive Files related to these P&WV FM power
visits on the WM in the late 50's, early 60's seem to point to:
... No strict set of power arrangements, only
current, specific, real-time-need factors such as:

Crew & Power (WM & PWV) availibility, the volume of AJ-traffic, and most important:
The Time combination!
How best to save time, and the keep these very important
Alpha-Jet* train movements on a strict performance schedule.

Maybe some WM historian can help add the hard, true facts.