B&O West End?

[Anonymous]

What is the B&O West End? Where is it located and what makes it special. I have seen it mentioned a lot on this forum, so I assume it is special. Is there an East End too?

keep asking keep learning

[JoeKoh]

Terry
the west end of the B&O is from cumberland md to grafton w va.Hard running mountain railroad. The B&O had to build it because the PRR bullied its way around.The east end is cumberland to harpers ferry where it all comes together.to learn more I would recommend west end and east end by Banard Roberts.both are a good read.
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

How steep are the grades? Do they still use the west end?

keep asking keep learning

[Anonymous]

The heart of the B&O was Cumberland Maryland. The Cumberland Division covered 200 miles of heavy mainline from Weaverton(Brunswick)Maryland to Grafton, West Virginia. THe 100 miles of trackage east of Cumberland was named East End and the trackage west of Cumberland was the West End.
On the west end was found one of the nation's toughest grades and operating condtions mixed with a high number of heavy coal , freight and passenger trains. The largest and most powerful B&O locomotives were used on this division. The tradition continues today with extra heavy duty GE and EMD locomotives.

[kevarc]

The west end was the B&O lines in west of Grafton.. The line to Grafton from Cumberland was the mountain sub and not really considered part of the west end by some..

Look for the May 1991 Trains, it has a really good story on it.

A good website is http://www.wvrail.railfan.net/index.html

[Anonymous]

The Mountain Subdivision of the Maryland Division was created by Chessie System Railroads. It covered basically what was known as the West End of the B&O Cumberland Division. The Maryland Division was divided into the Cumberland Sub, Shenandoah Sub, Hampshire Sub and Mountain Sub. The Mountain sub started at Williams Street in Cumberland and joined the Pittsburgh Division in Grafton.

[Modelcar]

...Have a question on the {old}, B&O west of Grafton.....? I seem to have confusion on whether a line still exists from Grafton west and then northwest to Wheeling, Wv. I understand the old B&O line has been cut that ran to St. Louis. Can someone straighten this out....Thanks.

[cpbloom]

I have a question too? At Cumberland which did the B&O build first, the line to Grafton, or the line nortthwest to Pittsburgh and beyond?

[Modelcar]

....I really can't say for sure but it would seem since Pennsylvania in the early days would not allow the B&O to lay any track in Pennsylvania that might threaten the Pennsylvania RR...It most likely was the route through Grafton.

[Modelcar]

...Is that then the line that was built up to Wheeling, Wv. and if so, does it still exist....?

[cnw4001]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar

...Have a question on the {old}, B&O west of Grafton.....? I seem to have confusion on whether a line still exists from Grafton west and then northwest to Wheeling, Wv. I understand the old B&O line has been cut that ran to St. Louis. Can someone straighten this out....Thanks.

The line runs from Grafton through Clarksburg to New Marinsville (Brooklyn) and then up the Ohio River to Benwood. Tracks still exist from Benwood into the southern part of Wheeling but they are now owned by the City of Wheeling. At Benwood the Wheeling and Lake Erie takes over the line crossing the Ohio River and north to Mingo Junction where it heads west on the old Pittsburgh and West Virginia.

The line west from Parkersburg toward Athens, Cincinnati and west is severed in a couple of
locations. West of Parkersburg it only goes to a couple of chemical plants and in the direction of Marietta towards a coal mine. No connection through Athens to Cincinnati for a number of years. At Cincinnati the St Louis line is now operated by a short line and it ends either at Lawrenceburg, Indiana or someplace near there. No more Cincinnati-St Louis along the Ohio river.

You may have heard CSXT has the Mountain Sub out for bid and soon the CSXT will, as I understand the offering, end at Cumberland instead of continuing to Grafton. They will retain their line to Pittsburgh.

[Modelcar]

...Thankyou for all the update info cnw4001. Sounds like the old B&O is really cut up as it heads west through Wv. and west, etc. That's pretty sad for the once proud and original route. I understand the route through my home state of Pennsylvania is still doing well I suppose. Kind of ironic since years ago Penna. didn't want them to build in Penna. that would take business away from the Penna. RR and now it seems the CSX line to Pittsburgh is going to be the last one to stay in business. I wonder what happened that caused the St. Lewis route to collapse like that.....?

[JoeKoh]

CNW4001
thats why csx wanted the nyc marion line to St Louis. CSX cut the B&O connection.
stay safe
Joe

[kevarc]

The B&O line was cut long before the CR split.