Glenwood Tower Closes
By Wade H. Massie
Yet another manned interlocking tower has ceased operation. CSX's WJ Tower (Glenwood Jct.) closed on Oct. 1, 2003. The present tower was built in 1908 and was a typical two-story frame Baltimore and Ohio tower located in Pittsburgh, PA, next to the Monongahela River. Standing guard at milepost 323, along the P&W Subdivision at the east end of Glenwood yard, the tower controlled movements on the P&W and also the W&P sub where the latter entered the yard. The P&W sub begins in Rankin, four miles east of WJ, and continues on to West Pittsburg (correctly spelled without the 'h'), about 56 miles to the northwest. The W&P begins at Glenwood Jct. and runs southwesterly, ending 33 miles later in Washington, PA. The current W&P is the remnant of a through line that ran to Wheeling, WV, 62 miles away.
Sandwiched between the P&W sub and the leads to the yard, WJ was a key junction on the B&O for many of its 95 years of service.
Throughout the B&O era, Glenwood Jct. remained a busy point on the railroad, despite the fact that many B&O trains used trackage rights on the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie, whose main line ran on the opposite side of the river. The P&LE trackage rights, which began in 1934, were primarily used by passenger trains on the mainline and priority through freights that did not have yard work in the Pittsburgh area. The trains that did pass through WJ's plant were numerous and varied, however. Freight trains from all directions converged upon Glenwood. Commuter trains to B&O's downtown Pittsburgh station plied the line between Pittsburgh and Versailles. These trains passed through the heart of the American steel industry, giving passengers a view of several large steel mills along the Monongahela River. The commuter trains ceased operations in the late 1980's due to a large decline in ridership. Many of the once bustling steel mills had also shut down by this time.
In addition to the commuter trains, there was also passenger service on the W&P line which ran to Wheeling, WV. Passenger service on the W&P ended in the 1950's.
Many freight trains served Glenwood Yard, which was the largest B&O facility in Pittsburgh and also featured a locomotive shop. Freights from Buffalo, NY; Willard, OH; Wheeling, WV; and Connellsville, PA, would all work in Glenwood. Just west of the yard, Jones and Laughlin Steel operated a huge mill which provided a seemingly unending supply of traffic for the B&O. Glenwood served as a collection point for freight from other B&O yards in the area, and industrial traffic was strong throughout the region. With countless carloads from the mills, the trains were plentiful as they passed WJ.
The 1980's brought great change to the area and little of it was for the better. The recession had forced the closing of many steel mills throughout Pittsburgh. With the mills gone, much of the local traffic base had eroded. The J&L mill became an LTV Steel property and much of it was shut down. LTV retained the coke plant and unit trains of coke were sent west from Glenwood until the coke plant finally shut down in 1998. The W&P was severed as a through line to Wheeling in the mid 80's, and service was cut back to a tri-weekly local to Washington. This was a far cry from the W&P's important status as a secondary mainline.
In its final years, WJ normally saw only a fraction of the trains that once ran past the tower. After the LTV coke plant shut down in 1998, local traffic declined accordingly, as the coke plant usually produced one loaded train every day. Through freights were also greatly reduced, but there were exceptions to this, however, as the P&W would see heavy traffic if there was a derailment or track work on the P&LE which CSX acquired in 1992. Recent major track work on the P&LE in 2002 and 2003 provided a short-lived increase in traffic past WJ. When the tower closed, the only trains normally passing the tower included a few local freights; Amtrak trains 29 and 30, the Capitol Limited; and the occasional through freight.
CSX now plans to lease to the Allegheny Valley Railroad the lower P&W sub from Glenwood MP 322.8 to Glenshaw MP 7.5. The AVR will also lease the W&P from Glenwood to the end of track, near Washington. The upper portion of the P&W is slated to be leased to the Buffalo and Pittsburgh. CSX filed a petition to discontinue service on the middle portion of the line between Glenshaw and Bakerstown (see STB notice, below), but late word has it that the Buffalo & Pittsburgh has now offered to lease that portion of the line from CSX as well. Because CSX is only leasing the P&W and not selling it outright, it is possible that through freights may pass WJ once again, but most likely only in the event of a derailment on the P&LE sub.
Shortly after the closing of WJ, some of the classic B&O signals in the area were eliminated. This coincides with a project on the P&LE sub to rewire signals to provide Seaboard-style aspects. Signal fans take note: P&LE signals are still in use in the McKeesport area and B&O signals can still be photographed along the P&W, beginning at Marion Jct. and Laughlin Jct., about two miles west of WJ. Active interlocking towers remain at Connellsville, PA, to the east and Newton Falls, OH, to the west.
The tower remains standing, but the "Glenwood" signs on the east and west sides of the tower have been removed. WJ now joins the ranks of its abandoned neighbors across the river, the former P&LE Becks Run tower and the old PRR Beck tower. This area now has the distinction of being home to three abandoned towers within a two-mile radius. One has to wonder how many other locations can boast such an interesting characteristic. It would be wise to get your photos of WJ sooner, rather than later. Recent history has shown that CSX doesn't usually waste much time before razing old towers.
Like much of the antiquated infrastructure around it, time has finally caught up to WJ. B&O F7s will never again haul ore and limestone to the J&L mill, and Budd cars won't be shuttling commuters to downtown Pittsburgh any time soon. But there is hope for the future with the upcoming transition to the AVR. Perhaps their customer-oriented service will increase business on the W&P and lower P&W subdivisions.
Farewell, WJ.
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STB DOCKET No.AB-55 (Sub-No.644X) [excerpted]
CSX Transportation Inc. (CSXT) has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F-Exempt Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service to discontinue service over an approximately 11.2-mile line of railroad, extending between milepost BG 7.2 at Glenshaw and milepost BG 18.4 at Bakerstown, in Allegheny County, PA.
CSXT has certified that: (1) no local traffic has moved over the line for at least 2 years; (2) any overhead traffic on the line can be rerouted over other lines; (3) no formal complaint filed by a user of rail service on the line (or by a state or local government entity acting on behalf of such user) regarding cessation of service over the line either is pending with the Surface Transportation Board or with any U.S. District Court or has been decided in favor of complainant within the 2-year period; and (4) the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7, 49 CFR 1105.8, 49 CFR 1105.11, 49 CFR 1105.12, and 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(1) have been met.
Provided no formal expression of intent to file an offer of financial
assistance (OFA) has been received, this exemption will be effective on
November 18, 2003, unless stayed pending reconsideration. . .