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Welcome to mr.mtnsub.org - The raison d'etre for this web site is to present information on both the real Pittsburgh Subdivision as well as my HO scale model railroad that is based on it.
Today's Pittsburgh Subdivision forms a vital part in CSX's main line between the Midatlantic States and Chicago. Running
west from Cumberland, trains run on the Keystone Subdivision (home to the famous Sand Patch grade) all the way to Sinns, located
southeast of Pittsburgh, where the Keystone Subdivision ends and the Pittsburgh Subdivision begins. The Pittsburgh Subdivision
runs through suburban and urban Pittsburgh and on the north side of town gives way to the New Castle Subdivision.
The part of the Pittsburgh Sub I am mostly interested in is the east end, between Sinns and Braddock. The line is double track all the way to the Braddock interlocking, where it becomes single track for the 7.5 mile stretch to J&L Tunnel; from there on west it is again double track. This stretch of railroad is what remains of the old Pittsburgh & Lake Erie, which was merged into CSX in 1993.
The railroad still displays traces of its heritage; for example, most signals are still of the old P&LE searchlight type.
The area around McKeesport and Braddock still hosts a good deal of what's left of Pittsburgh's steel industry, including the last still active blast furnaces located at United States Steel's Edgar Thompson Works at Braddock. Almost all the local traffic originating or terminating on the Pittsburgh Subdivision is directly related to the steel industry - coils, scrap, tubes, coal, coke are among the major commodities carried.
Apart from local traffic, served by local jobs based out of CSX's yard at Demmler/Riverton, traffic is collected from a number of connecting lines. Firstly, CSX's own Monongahela Subdivision (also ex-P&LE) branches off the Pittsburgh Sub at McKeesport and runs toward the Monongahela coalfields south of Newell, connecting with the shared assets area of the old Monongahela Railway. Secondly, the Union Railroad interchanges within Demmler yard limits. Third, a local based out of Demmler transfers blocks of interchange traffic between CSX and the Allegheny Valley Railroad at Glenwood yard.
Lastly, the Pittsburgh Subdivision carries a large volume of overhead traffic between the Midwest and the East, with up to two dozen through freights in a 24 hour period. Several of these trains work at Demmler yard, picking up and setting out traffic from and for the locals and interchange. Some trains start or terminate at Demmler yard, most notably coke extras that transport the output of the huge USS coke works at Clairton (also interchanged via the Union Railroad). See the section on train operations below for more information.
On the right, there is a map of the area, courtesy of Carsten Lundsten. Click on it for a larger image. You can also follow this link to a Google Maps interactive map that calls out features along the right of way.
Braddock interlocking in real life with a westbound autorack train. |
Braddock interlocking under construction in 1:87. |
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The Prototype Info Page explains more about the prototype physical plant and operations, including customers and interchange connnections. |
The Model Info Page has more information about my general view on model railroading and what the layout is supposed to be. More up-to-date information is available via the web log below. |
You can follow the layout construction progress and anything else that is happening on my workbench in this weblog.
I am located in eastern Belgium, close to Aachen. Feel free to drop me a line at <mr@mtnsub.org>.