Following the Conrail Takeover of the Monongahela Railway in 1993, the East Division's two main lines existing at that time, the River Branch between Brownsville Junction and Prickett Creek Junction and the RC&P Branch between the latter location and Fairview, West Virginia, were consolidated into a continuous line under one name: the Loveridge Secondary. Currently the Loveridge Secondary still exists in its Conrail form between Brownsville Junction and the end of track west of Fairview, although the section between Catawba Junction and Fairvew is currently unused. A single track line for most of its length with four main passing sidings, the railroad is dark territory that relies on the former MGA's Block Clearance System orders given verbally from the Mon Valley Dispatcher. In 1999 Norfolk Southern gained ownership of the line as a result of taking over Conrail, although the majority of trains over the former East Division belong to CSX as a result of a trackage rights agreement between CSX and Conrail prior to the Monongahela takeover. During the same year, the Loveridge Secondary lost its only major source of online traffic when the Consolidated Coal owned Loveridge Mine exploded bringing an end to regular coal shipments, leaving the twice a week Brownsville to Morgantown local and infrequent mine turns to two other mines as the only Norfolk Southern trains below Alicia, PA.
The northern most location on the Loveridge Secondary is the CP BROWN interlocking that controls the signals and switches at Brownsville Junction, MP 0.0. CP BROWN carries the name of the office that remained active at Brownsville Junction until 1989, when Conrail transferred the control of the interlocking to Conrail's divisional dispatching center in Pittsburgh, PA. Brownsville Jct (CP BROWN) is a large wye that marks the end of the former P&LE trackage south of Newell where northbound trains on the Loveridge line can either continue north to Newell over the straight leg of the wye called the Brown Running Track between the south and north switch or head west across the Monongahela River to the Mon Line in West Brownsville via the O Track, with trains from Newell or West Brownsville making use of the wye in a reverse manner. Signalling ends at the south switch of the junction that is manually controlled, with the "dark" block clearance territory beginning at Block Limit Station "BROW", MP 0.2.
The Brownsville Industrial Track, the BIT, diverges from the main track at "BROW" with both tracks continuing south to Brownsville. The BIT, along with the AIT and the LIT, is part of the remaining section of the old #2 main track between BROW and MP 21, where the now abandoned Dunlap Creek Branch diverged from the East Division. The BIT is now usually used as an extended passing siding or a temporary storage location for Grafton or West Division bound trains following the NS - CSX Takeover of Conrail. Below Brownsville at BLS "GLEN" (MP 1.9) is the location where the old MGA engine terminal's roundhouse and shops once stood. Unfortunately little remains today from the MGA era besides the vacant Yard Office and a few shop tracks that are used for storing Alicia Turn power. Half a mile below "GLEN" are the 17th street crossovers (BLS "PORT" at MP 2.5) where the BIT ends and the Alicia Industrial Track diverges south of the 17th street crossing to serve Consolidated Coal's River Barge loading facility in Alicia. This facility is used to dump Consol's coal from trains loaded at mines around the region into barges for shipment to points all across the Eastern United State's riverways. The Alicia Industrial Track ends at MP 3.9, where the East Division returns to one track and continues south to La Belle, Pennsylvania. Near MP 5 is the former location of the East Division's northern coal classification yard at Big Meadow, Pennsylvania, that was abandoned in the late 1970s. Before most of the East Division coal mines closed up in the early 70s, this yard boasted more than 16 tracks that were used to classify hoppers headed north from the Maidsville staging yard to be interchanged with the P&LE and PRR at Brownsville and West Brownsville, respectively. Below Big Meadow is the North End of the La Belle Industrial Track near the "MEDO" BLS and Defect Detector at MP 6.5. This industrial track was also a former main track like the BIT and AIT, although it now services the Matt Canestrale Contracting Mine Rail and River Loader at MP 7.6. La Belle has a unique operation in that it can load both trains and barges with its own coal or unload a coal train into river barges, resulting in La Belle sometimes being a backup for Alicia Terminal when it's overloaded or out of service. The southern end of the La Belle Industrial Track is located at MP 8.6, where the East Division once again returns to a single track line for the next seventeen miles along the eastern bank of the Monongahela River. During the majority of this segment the railroad is often isolated on the river bank, although several small river towns are encountered such as East Millsboro, Isabella, Antram, Ronco and Masontown. Just south of Masontown's industrial track is the railroad's third defect detector at MP 24.6, having been relocated there from Grays Landing.
BLS "GRAY" at MP 25.6 marks the northern end of the line's second major passing siding, the 8650 ft long LG Siding at Grays Landing, PA. Until the mid 1990s, LG played the dual role of a mine siding for the Grindstone Coal loader along with serving as a passing track, making for some interesting meets. A few miles below the south end of LG siding located at MP 27.4, BLS "MAR", the East Division crosses over the Monongahela River at MP 30.4 New Geneva and Poland Mines by way of a large steel bridge. On the west side of the bridge is the north end of the short Shannopin siding that once served the Shannopin Energy Mine. This mine closed in the early 1990s due to a poor financial state, although reports have recently rumored the re-opening of the mine by another company. From the south end of the Shannopin siding at MP 31.5, the Loveridge Secondary continues along the shore of the Mon River as it heads upriver through the towns of Poland Mines and Dilliner, BLS "PAUL" (MP 33.0). At MP 35.7 below West Point Marion, the railroad crosses the Mason Dixon line into West Virginia just north of the large Fort Martin Power Plant. Allegheny Power's Fort Martin complex is a sprawling electric generating station that receives its coal from barge, although the NS local regularly picks up covered hoppers loaded with fly ash from the plant for depositing in the Blacksville #1 Mine on the Waynesburg Southern. Several miles further upriver from Fort Martin is the town of West Van Voorhis, WV, that marks the north end of the long MN siding at Block Limit Station "DAVE" (MP 39.2). MN Siding was at one time part of the old #2 main track between Fort Martin and Maidsville, resulting in it having the capacity to hold 140 cars, although a crossing in the middle of MN usually reduces this number to about 115 cars. MN siding is sometimes used as a meeting place between northbound and southbound trains, although more recently it has served as a loading and staging track for trains using the Anker Rail / River Terminal at MP 40.4. Following a lull in operation lasting more than five years, the Anker Mine loaded its first post Conrail train in November of 1999. Immediately south of Anker is the location of the once bustling Maidsville Yard that classified coal coming out of the southern East Division mines until the early 1970s. Currently much of the yard is overgrown and out of service, although there are several sections that regularly see use, mainly the "13" yard track that diverges from the main at JF Switch (MP 40.5) that is used as a passing siding, inaddition to the KJ Mine Track that is used by the Brownsville - Morgantown local to serve a local industry. Consol's Humphrey Mine located in the middle of Maidsville Yard was a major coal loader on the East Division until the mid 1970s when the operation shifted its shipments from rail to barge, an arrangment that continues to the present. The south end of Maidsville Yard and the old double track section is located in Randall, West Virginia at BLS "RAN" (MP 42.0). A mile south of Maidsville is the the town of Granville that at one time boasted two active mines loading trains on a regular basis, although both of the mines had shut down well before the NS takeover.
From Granville, the Loveridge Secondary continues south through the greater Morgantown "community" of Westover before leaving the sprawling University metroplex. Several miles upriver from Westover is "DP Switch" at MP 48.5, where the Morgantown Industrial Track diverges from the main track and climbs uphill to the Morgantown Industrial Park on a steep grade near 8%. This park is the southern end of the Norfolk Southern local's territory in recent years, where it will frequently lay over until a crew arrives the next day to take it back north to Brownsville. The largest noncoal shipper on the Loveridge Secondary is also located here, the Dupont Chemical plant, that provides a sufficient number of tank cars each week to keep the local in operation. Below DP Switch at BLS "MOW" (MP 49.1) is the short Hilder Track that is used exclusively by the WIMGO for running around its train before heading north to Brownsville from the Motown Park or vice versa. Five miles south of the Hilder Track at MP 53.7 is Block Limit Station "LOCK" and the Lock 12 defect detector, named after the old Monongahela River lock and dam. This section of the Mon Valley between Lock 12 and Rivesville is relatively isolated save for a few small towns along the track, with the largest community being the lock and dam town of Lowsville. At one time, Lowsville contained a small three track yard south of Indian Creek at MP 59.9, now marked by BLS "ICE". Before its abandonment in the 60s, the Indian Creek and Northern RR connected with the MRY here, requiring the yard for runaround moves on northbound coal along with serving as a staging yard for several mines located in the vicinity at Brady and National during the mid 20th century. Currently all which remains of the Lowsville yard is an out of service siding that is used as a bad car setoff. At MP 63.4 is Prickett Creek Junction, BLS "CRIK", where the East Division's River Branch split into two lines: the Fairmont Branch to downtown Fairmont and the RC&P Branch to Rivesville and Fairview that served several local mines. Near MP 64 is the north end of the recently expanded HITE siding that continues south towards Rivesville under the abandoned Fairmont Branch's large steel Monongahela River bridge. HITE Siding was expanded in the late 1990s by 30 carlengths on either end to allow longer trains to have meets here, mainly the 160 car CSX - B&LE trains, along with serving as a frequent parking spot for trains awaiting clearance to the Loveridge mine. The south end of HITE siding is located at BLS "HITE" (MP 65.7) just east of the small river town and the Allegheny Power Rivesville Station, although this complex does not receive coal by rail. Catawba Junction, situated in the middle of Rivesville at MP 66.4, is the southern end of CSX trackage rights over the Loveridge Secondary with CSX Newell Turns utilizing the straight leg of the wye to reach the CSX Fairmont Subdivision to Grafton. The East Division continues south from Catawba Junction to the south switch of the wye at BLS "ANDY" (MP 66.6) where the main track northern leg and the currently out of service southern leg join. Below "ANDY", the Loveridge Secondary heads northwest up the narrow Paw Paw Creek valley, negotiating sharp curves and near road running trackage which restrict's the railroad's speed limit to 10mph.
As a result, six axle units were banned from this section of the East Division before 1995 which resulted in the four axle MGA Super 7s often being used as the power for Loveridge Turns. The nine mile long Loveridge Running Track begins at BLS "FED" (MP 70.9) and extends to the end of track at BLS "LOVE" (MP 79.6). FED also marks the location of the now razed Grant Town mine, a large complex that provided a good amount of traffic for both the MGA and the B&O Railroad, the original builder of the Paw Paw aka MGA RC&P Branch, until the mine's closure in 1984. Between FED and LOVE, the railroad climbs on a soutbound grade not exceeding 1% to the town of Fairview by following the old West Penn trolley right of way from Grant Town. Consolidated Coal's Loveridge Mine at MP 78 is the southern most shipper on the East Division. Due to a major fire in the mine's depths on June 21st, 1999, Loveridge had been inactive until March 1st, 2001, when limited production resumed to mine approximately 1 million tons of coal. For the next three months Loveridge loaded a train a day on average until May 31st, when the mine was idled again. In late February of 2004, Consol returned Loveridge to full production that should result in over 5 million tons of coal being transported by rail annually. Norfolk Southern has made extensive upgrades to many sections of the railroad to handle this returning tonnage, keeping the MGA's old East Division intact for years to come.
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Photo by Ron Wilson. On the morning of September 7th, 2000, CSX #7525 leads a loaded CSX Turn onto the Loveridge Secondary from the O Track at Brownsville Junction. The train will continue over the northern leg of the wye to the CSX Mon Subdivision and Newell Yard, while the southern leg in the lower left leads to BLS "BROW" and Brownsville. The Monongahela River Bridge was upgraded and repaired in December of 1998 in the expectation of an increase of traffic as a result of the Conrail Takeover.
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Photo by Matt Reese. The WIMG-02's power is laying over on the Spur Track at Brownsville Junction in May of 1999. The BROWN interlocking office in the background was open until the late 1980s, when Conrail closed it and moved control of the interlocking to the Pittsburgh Division Dispatching Center at Greentree.
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Photo by Matt Reese. CSX #7 leads V627-30 with 80 loads of coal south from the yard at Newell, through the straight leg of the wye at Brownsville Junction on April 30th, 2001. The signal on the right marks the beginning of Norfolk Southern's CTC signal system. Most coal from the West Division mines bound for Grafton will not be yarded at Newell as this drag was, but instead be left on either the main track or Brownsville Industrial Track (BIT) at South Brownsville. The two NS units on the left are awaiting a crew to work the Alicia terminal.
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Photo by Matt Reese. The four day a week East Division local, NS C26 formely Conrail WIMG-02, is headed south for Morgantown on July 2nd, 2001, as it passes through downtown Brownsville. The tall brick building in the center of the photo is the old Monongahela Railway's Union Station, which housed the railroad's dispatchers and offices until the Monongahela Takeover by Conrail in 1993.
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Southbound MGA Super 7 #2309 has the point of a lashup of four of the Monongahela Railway's eleven Super 7 units as it passes through Brownsville on a dreary winter day. Photo by Bill Sechler - Matt Reese Collection
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Photo by Matt Reese. Several years before Conrail was split between CSX and Norfolk Southern, what looks to be a "preliminary inspection" is being made of MGA rails as NS #8690 heads south with empties at BLS "GLEN".
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Photo by Matt Reese. Two CSX AC4400CWs are laying over on the runaround track in South Brownville on April 28th, 2001. The power had placed a loaded train at the Alicia Terminal earlier in the day. Only a few yard tracks remain from the Monongahela's once expansive shops and servicing area.
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Photo by Matt Reese. Consolidated Coal's River - Rail Terminal at Alicia, Pennsylvania, MP 3.6, as seen across the Mon River from Denbo. This modern facility was constructed in 1996 and currently transloads coal from hoppers into barges for shipment to distant points throughout the nation's waterways. Generally two or three 105 car trains are dumped at Alicia per week, resulting in approximately six million tons of coal per year. Inaddition to its captive hopper set consisting of black GEAX bathtubs, CSX system roundbottoms have also been known to be used on Alicia Turns.
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Photo by Matt Reese. The Alicia Terminal Switcher, a rebuilt Alco S2, is preparing to test the facility's hopper scales, as evident by the scale car behind the locomotive.
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Photo by Rich Borkowski Jr. Two Conrail SD80MACs, #4111 and #4110, are leading a Conrail train south along the Monongahela River at Maxwell on March 28th, 1996. As apparent from the gravel bed to the right of the lead unit, this section of the East Division was double tracked until the mid 1970s.
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Photo by Matt Reese. The C26 is heading south to Morgantown on July 12th, 2001, as the La Belle Preparation Plant forms a backdrop in the late afternoon sun.
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Photo by Matt Reese. It's rare to see a set of power laying over at La Belle for any amount of time other than a few hours - and even more unusual with these units. Two of CSX's brand new "heavy" AC4400CWs are laying over at the south end of the La Belle Industrial Track on a hazy July day, after placing hoppers at the mine the day before.
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Photo by Matt Reese. Newell Turn E168 is southbound at Masontown, Pennsylvania, with 80 B&LE empties bound for the CSX mines below Grafton, West Virginia. The Grafton Bessemer trains are not a result of the Conrail Split, but are instead a result of the agreement between CSX and Conrail. The large white building to the right is the former MGA freight depot served by the short "Masontown Track" siding, now used by Norfolk Southern Maintenance of Way crews.
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Photo by Matt Reese. A southbound NS work train has taken the siding at Grays Landing for a meet with a CSX Newell Turn in early August of 2001. The Grays Landing Lock and Dam can be seen to the left of the locomotive, while the Cumberland Mine River - Rail Dumper's silo on the opposite side of the river is visible in the distance behind the gondolas.
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Photo by Matt Reese. Two CSX SD70MACs and a SD40-2 are accelerating past the south end of the Grays Landing siding at Block Limit Station "MAR", following a meet with a northbound empty train in early May 2001.
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Photo by Matt Reese. On July 26 2001, the C26 local is crossing Georges Creek at New Geneva, as the evening sunlight slowly begins to fade in the Monongahela Valley.
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Photo by Matt Reese. Newell Turn E037-10 storms over the Monongahela River near Poland Mines, Pennyslvania, with 80 empties bound for Bailey Mine via Brownsville. As evident, the bridge's piers were originally built to support two tracks. However, the MRY's double track mainline which existed until the early 1970s between Brownsville and Cats Eye Junction, just north of Masontown, was never extended farther south. In the background, the Kirby Mine's barge loading facility can be seen.
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Photo by Matt Reese. Norfolk Southern GP38-2 #5254 has cut off from its work train carrying MofW equipment at Shannopin Mine and is moving pass the loadout to the south switch of the siding. Shannopin ceased operations in 199x, although recent rumors indicate several coal companies are interested in using the loadout for coal loading. As of the fall of 2001 however, Shannopin remains inactive and slowly rusting away.
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Photo by Matt Reese. CSX Newell Turn V975-25 is crossing into West Virginia from Pennyslvania at the Mason Dixon Line on a late winter day in January of 2000. The Point Marion Lock and Dam can be seen in the background with a partially frozen Monongahela River.
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Photo by Rich Borkowski Jr. A southbound Conrail Loveridge Turn is heading south on MN siding for a meet at Maidsville with a NB CSX Newell Turn on October 16th, 1998. MN Siding has been rarely used for meets in recent times, with most dispatchers preferring the '13' track in Maidsville Yard.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. After several years of inactivity, Anker Coal's River Rail Terminal at Maidsville, West Virginia, loaded a handful of CSX trains between November of 1999 and August of 2000. The second such train, U834-07 is seen here flood loading at the mine on an overcast Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1999. Unlike at Loveridge, CSX Turns to Maidsville used a NS loading crew to load the train, with Grafton crews moving the turns to and from the mine.
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Photo by Matt Reese. A southbound PEPCO drag is passing through the Maidsville Yard near JF Switch, the north end of the Maidsville passing siding. Maidsville was once a bustling coal yard with more than 15 tracks, until river barges took away most of the traffic in the 1970s. Most of the tracks have since been taken up, save for two out of service yard tracks, MN siding which has been used to occasionally flood load trains at Consolidated Coal's Humphrey Plant and Anker Energy's River - Rail Terminal over the years and the 13 yard track between JF Switch and BLS "RAN" used for passing trains.
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Photo by Matt Reese. In this scene, Maidsville Turn U834-25 has just derailed near the MN siding switch in the Maidsville Yard on July 25, 2000. After being recrewed by a NS "loader" crew at BLS "RAN", the train was being moved onto the siding serving the Anker River Rail Terminal's loadout when several old rotted ties gave way allowing the rails to spread, putting both locomotives and one hopper on the ground. NS MofW forces have already begun to converge on the scene, in an attempt to get the first Maidsville Turn of 2000 back on track.
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Photo by Matt Reese. N10-22 is awaiting a northbound Loveridge Turn at Block Limit Station "RAN", the south end of Maidsville siding
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Photo by Matt Reese. CSX train V980 is heading south to Grafton through the hometown of West Virginia University, Morgantown, with 80 hoppers filled with coal from the West Division's Bailey / Enlow Fork loader. Southbound loaded drags on the East Division were a rarity below La Belle until the Conrail Takeover.
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Photo by Matt Reese. An Norfolk Southern Loveridge Turn is splitting the crossbucks at the Morgantown Lock and Dam Xing as it heads south to load at the mine. This train's power is representative of what NS generally assigned to its Loveridge Turns, with two modern six axle units being the most common.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. The Brownsville - Morgantown local, Conrail symbol WIMG-02, is laying over at GE in the Morgantown Industrial Park on July 10th, 1998. This industrial park is reached via a steep grade from the mainline in the river valley below and is restricted to four axle power.
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Photo by Rich Borkowski Jr. The WIMG-02 is idling at the Morgantown Industrial Park as it awaits the arrival of a Waynesburg crew to take it back north on this snowy winter day. The WIMGO's designation has since been changed to the C26 Norfolk Southern symbol and has been termed the "Waynesburg local".
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Photo by Matt Reese. Two General Electric ACs lead another train of Bailey coal south through the former yard near Lowsville, West Virginia. Until the 1970s, Lowsville was used as a staging yard to work several local mines. When these mines closed, the yard fell into disuse resulting in the removal of three of the four tracks in the early 1990s. The remaining track is listed as a 4150 ft long passing siding, although it has been out of service for almost a decade.
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Photo by Matt Reese. In a view charactristic of the Loveridge Secondary, a southbound loaded Newell Turn is passing through the timetable location of Jordan, as the thick morning river fog begins to lift in the Monongahela Valley.
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Photo by Matt Reese. A southbound Norfolk Southern Loveridge Turn is heading into HITE siding at its north end near BLS "CRIK" on May 17, 2001, for a meet with a CSX Newell Turn. The overgrown embankment on the left is the abandoned right of way for the branch to Fairmont. After crossing the mainline and the Mon a short distance to the south, the line turned inland and ended roughly five miles further at East Fairmont. The East Division's only tunnel was located on this branch, although it has been abandoned for more than twenty years.
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Photo by Matt Reese. CSX Newell Turn, N102-16, with #77 and #269 have eighty five loads of Florida bound coal in tow as it passes the Allegheny Power Plant in Rivesville, WV, on the evening of June 17th, 1999.
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Photo by Matt Reese. Catawba Junction in Rivesville, is the southern extent of the CSX trackage rights established in 1989. The wye here allows the Loveridge Secondary to turn geographically northwest up the Paw Paw Creek "hollow" to Loveridge, while the south and straight legs of the wye connects with the CSX Fairmont Subdivision to Grafton. On June 28, 2001, four CSX ACW44s guide a Grafton bound train through the south leg of the Catawba wye.
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Photo by Matt Reese. A Norfolk Southern N10 Turn is headed south to Loveridge near Grant Town at MP 69. This scene is representative of the Paw Paw Branch between Rivesville and Grant Town, where the track and road are often situated side by side up the narrow valley.
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Photo by Matt Reese. CSX Loveridge Turn, V794-04, is heading south near Grant Town around the former site of the Federal #1 mine on April 4, 2001. Federal #1 was the main reason the Paw Paw Branch between Rivesville and Grant Town was constructed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad during the mid teens of the 20th century, resulting in B&O crews working the mine until its final loadings in 1984. When construction began on Loveridge in the early 1950s, the Paw Paw Branch was extended by the MGA along the right of way of an abandoned trolley line to Fairview.
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Photo by Matt Reese. The B296 Helper on this southbound CSX Loveridge Turn is climbing the moderate grade through the town of Fairview, West Virginia, less than two miles from the mine. As with all the Loveridge Turns which originated in Grafton, West Virginia, a single locomotive was placed on either end of the train to allow it to make a reverse move at Catawba Junction instead of a lengthy runaround move on HITE siding - the leg of the Catawba wye between Grafton and Fairview was out of service. Once at the mine, #155 on the Loveridge Helper will be cutoff and placed on the north end of the train before flood loading.
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Photo by Matt Reese. On May 26, 2001, Loveridge Mine loaded its last CSX train of 2001. The V989 is seen here shortly after going on the law, due to a crew shortage in Grafton.
The Catawba Junction Defect Detector in Rivesville, WV, with road crossing horn sound effects left in.
The Lock 12, West Virginia, Defect Detector
CSX #8603 calls in and receives a block clearance from the NS Mon Valley Dispatcher before setting off the Maidsville, WV, Defect Detector.
CSX #7698 receives a Block Clearance from the former Conrail Mon Valley Dispatcher.
Two CSX Newell Turns, northbound E037-29 and southbound V980-28 pass in the Maidsville yard on January 29th, 2000.
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