GPS Stories

Montour Railroad

Gene P. Schaeffer Stories

	Mifflin Junction The early 1970's. The mines of Pittsburgh Coal. Car loadings. At Montour 4...Montour 10 and Westland. Keep the Montour R.R. quite busy. 12 SW-9's. A few leased SW-1500's helping out. Hundreds and hundreds of coal hoppers. Five...sometimes six road crews. Three...and often four Champion Yard Jobs. Every 24 hours. Day & night. Read More...

	Working After Dark For exactly two years I worked on Section Gang #1 of the Montour R.R. Section Gang #1 worked out of Champion. During those two years on atleast 3 occasions Section #1 worked after dark. After dark could mean you were might of been called out after going off duty. Or something happened during the daylight and you were told to stay. Typically working after dark meant there was a derailment blocking the main track. And a blocked main track meant this was a emergency. And a emergency meant you pretty much had to stay. When working after dark, often a call went out for the lights. Portable flood lights brought out of Montour Junction and set up at the work site. But on some occasions section men simply worked using headlights from the SW-9's. In this scene a derailment between Gilmore Junction and Venice. Loaded coal cars on their sides. Penn Erection called. And a night time call to put the main track back into service. New 115 pound rail to replaced the rail that was destroyed. New ties as the original ties were splintered and buldozed off the right of way. And just as soon as the Supervisor of Track determines when the main will reopen. A crew will be called, with a car load of ballast and empties for Montour #4. And will arrive at the derailment site at the same time the main is reopened. After one last track spike, the empties are cut away from the load of ballast. Which is spread then quickly tamped in places. By the time the crew turns back west. The new roabed will be surfaced with no slow orders.

	Rolling Through Snowden It was the summer of 1977 and the Chessie Steam Special was barnstorming southwestern Pennsylvania local rail lines. On a very rainy Saturday during June, I decied to ride one of the trips from Grant Street Station in downtown Pittsburgh to Benwood, West Virginia. Todays route, via the famous B&O "Pike" would for a brief moment, pass the B&O interchange between the Montour RR and the Baltimore & Ohio at Snowden, which "was" the highlight of the trip. Read More...

	J. Marvin Conley Its a few days after the Fouth of July 1980. I have spent the better part of the morning photographing Montour Extra 75 East...and Montour Extra 75 West, doing a Brookside Turn. Being employed on the Montour RR, first as a Track Laborer, then taking the promotion to "non-agreement" Yardmaster and Relief Train Dispatcher in 1978, a move that allowed me the opportunity to know when anything extra-ordinary was happening on this fascinating little railroad. Read More...