History and Background - Real vs. Freelanced

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The Real Allegheny Railroad

Was started by Hammermill Paper (now IP) on the former Conrail Emporium Secondary in the mid-1980's. HP was looking to strengthen their source of pulpwood and chips for their Erie, PA mill. Hence, they purchased and upgraded Conrail's former line from Emporium to Erie, PA line and began running unit "mini" trains of pulp, pulpwood and wood chips from Lock Haven to Erie. Conrail ran the trains with GP38-2's, while the Aly handled local traffic with a hodgepodge of GP40's, CF7's and various lease units. The line had several on line industries including Foamex in Corry; National Forge in Irvine; United Refining, Whirley Industries, Struthers Wells, and others in Warren; Kane Hardwoods in Kane; Penntech Paper and a chemical plant in Johnsonburg; and Straub Brewery and several carbon manufacturers in St. Marys. During the early 1990's, the Allegheny was purchased by Gennessee & Wyoming Industries and became the Allegheny and Eastern. Operations continued in a similar manner right through the Conrail split, however motive power varied.

The bad news: International Paper is closing both its Lock Haven and Erie mills and the mini trains have ceased operations. Local service is still provided by the Allegheny and Eastern, however, the portion between St. Marys and Emporium is out of service.

The Freelanced Allegheny Railroad

Every model railroad should have a conjured up prototypical past...this gives it some sense of purpose and gives us an understanding of why it is the way it is.

Since it's inception, Conrail had little interest in maintaining service on the Emporium Secondary. Maintenance had long since been discontinued and traffic had dwindled to nearly nothing. Conrail filed for abandonment and had discontinued service almost entirely, save a portion between Warren and Corry (to serve United Refining) and St. Marys and Emporium (to serve several industries there).

The transportation department at Penntech Papers was very concerned. They were now left with only CSX for service. Costs of transporting market pulp and chips/pulpwood were going through the roof. Something had to be done. An agreement was reached to lease the line between Johnsonburg and St. Marys to maintain a connection with Conrail. The railroad, called the Johnsonburg Terminal Railway, operated on an as needed basis with an EMD SW1200.

About that same time, Erie Coal & Coke in Erie was busy securing supply contracts throughout central PA. Rail was the obvious choice as a mode of transportation, but there was no direct access at that time. As a result, coal from the eastern part of the state took a routing on Conrail's Buffalo Line to Buffalo then back to Erie. Central PA coal took a variety of routes including CSX via Buffalo and Conrail via Youngstown. There had to be a better way.

A local Congressman saw the obvious... and got Conrail (the abandonment hadn't yet taken affect), Penntech, and Erie Coal & Coke together to discuss resuming operations. Conrail balked at the idea of sinking cash into such a low density line, but offered to sell it to the two parties. After considerable negotiations, Penntech Papers and Erie Coal & Coke agreed to purchase the line and operate it as an independent entity.

For Erie Coal & Coke, coal comes off of CR's Buffalo Line at Emporium and CSX at Johnsonburg and travels to Warren for staging. It is then consolidate and travels in daily shuttle trains to Erie. Lack of yard capacity in Erie necessitates the staging in Warren. It also allows the railroad to keep its six-axle power in the mountainous area south of Warren.

Penntech Paper is the clear winner in this deal. They went from shipping 10 or so carloads weekly from Johnsonburg to St. Marys to unit pulp/chip trains from Lock Haven, as well as inbound chemicals and coal (in dedicated 70 ton hoppers) and outbound finished product. The SW1200 they used for their initial endeavor can still be found in its Johnsonburg Terminal Rwy. colors working as the plant switcher.

Commercial (non Penntech or EC&C) traffic has jumped as well. An agreement with the Bessemer & Lake Erie has created run through ore/coal trains from Erie to Philadelphia and return (ore south - coal north). On line shippers now include GAF in Erie; Foamex in Corry; National Forge in Irvine; United Refining and Whirley Industries in Warren; Kane Hardwood in Kane; and Straub Brewery and Airco Carbon in St. Marys.

This all adds up to a railroad that is much busier than the real one was.