The history of the today's MGA Mine District is a complex story which began in the closing years of the 19th century as the United States neared the climax of its Industrial Revolution. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was rapidly becoming a major city during this time period due to its steel industry requiring huge amounts of coal each day to fire the enormous mill furnaces. Abundant amounts of this cheap resource was found throughout the upper Monongahela River Valley stretching south from Brownsville, Pennsylvania, to the head waters of the Mon River near Fairmont, West Virginia. To help supply this vital ingredient, the Monongahela Railroad was chartered in 1900 with the purpose of moving the large amounts of coal to the steel mills located in the lower Monongahela and upper Ohio River Valleys. Over the next ninety three years the Monongahela survived the hard times of the ever changing and contradictory coal market, while reaching the height of success as its light was finally extinguished under a sea of Blue. Less than a decade later the former MGA rail lines would change hands once again as part of the biggest rail merger in the history of the East Coast, when Conrail was courted and then split between Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation, resulting in the present day Norfolk Southern MGA Mine District.

From the Monongahela Railroad's incorporation in 1900, the line was equally owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the P&LE Railroad, both of which already had branches extending south along the Monongahela River to Brownsville, Pennsylvania, with the P&LE (black) on the east bank and the PRR (hazel) on the west. Construction began on the MRR (red) in 1901 and two years later a twenty seven mile line was opened south of Brownsville, PA, on the east bank of the Monongahela River. The Monongahela expanded a short time later by leasing the Connesllville and Monongahela Railway (purple) which tapped the mines located to the south of Brownsville along Dunlap Creek. On July 1st of 1915, the Monongahela Railway was formed following the consolidation of the Monongahela Railroad with the Buckhannon & Northern Railroad (orange), a line that extended south along the Mon River to several branches around Fairmont, WV, and a connection with the B&O at Rivesville Junction. The Monongahela Railway (MRY) gained more trackage in 1925 by leasing the Scotts Run Railway (brown), a shortline that reached across Mon County from Randall, WV, to Brave, PA. A year later in 1926, the seeds which would ultimately doom the railroad were sown when the B&O Railroad gained a 1/3 partnership in the MRY with the P&LE and the PRR. As part of this deal, the Monongahela gained the following sections of railroad from the involved companies: the Indian Creek and Northern Railroad (indigo) at Lowsville, WV, which served several mines along Indian Creek; the Chartiers Southern RR (green), which owned two short branches on the west side of the Mon River - one located between Besco, PA, and Mather, PA, with the second between Nemacolin, PA, and Cruicble, PA. The PRR also leased two branches (yellow) to the company: the Ten Mile Run Branch located between the connection with the C.S. RR's Besco branch and Millsboro; the Cruicble Branch which connected with the other section of the Chartier Southern. The Pennsylvania Railroad also extended trackage rights (maroon) to the Monongahela Railway, connecting the original line with the new additions gained by the transaction: 1) the Redstone Branch between Brownsville and West Brownsville; 2) South from West Brownsville along the west side of the river to Ten Mile Run Jct at Millsboro. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad extended trackage rights to the MRY from Rivesville Junction up the Paw Paw Branch to the Grant Town mine, although B&O crews worked the mine and brought trains down the Paw Paw or the RC&P to Rivesville Junction for interchange. Still not content with the riverbank, the Monongahela expanded the Chartiers Southern's Besco Branch, later the Ten Mile Run Branch, to Waynesburg in 1930 (gray), ending the consolidation and building blitz of the first third of the 20th century. During the next three decades the Monongahela Railway was primarily centered on its East Division between Brownsville and Fairmont, with the company's main shops located just south of the former. Coal remained the name of the game through this time period with most outbound coal destined for interchange at Brownsville with the P&LE or West Brownsville with the PRR. However, this began to change in the years following World War II, when many of the mines located on the East Division began switching to barge transportation, while others were simply worked out and abandoned, resulting in a drastic decline of coal traffic on the railroad.

As the mines along the Monongahela Railway's namesake river began to be worked out during the post war years, the major mining companies of the region began to look for new sources of revenue... and found it under the towns along the Mason Dixon line near Blacksville, West Virginia. A new market for coal was beginning to form as power plants in the northeast and the midwest began to take shape on the drawing boards. By the early 1960s three modern mines were planned around Blacksville to take advantage of the underlying Pittsburgh coal seam... except there was no good way to transport this black gold to the market. The MRY's Scotts Run Branch between Randall and Brave was in the right place but was in no condition to haul tons and tons of coal from these mines around 27 degree curves and over a 4%+ grade to cross from the Dunkard Creek watershed to the Scotts Run Valley. To the north at Waynesburg was the narrow gauge Waynesburg and Washington RR, which was in deplorable shape after being purchased by the PRR in happier climes. On the east side of Waynesburg was the MRY's Ten Mile Branch to Brownsville, in overall good condition due to it's daily use to serve several local mines. The B&O's Old Main Line to Wheeling, WV, was just south of the golden fleece between Mannington and Fairmont, but because of the railroad's declining financial position the B&O was in no shape to construct the final link. When the decision time came to select a route to move the coal, the PRR took the lead and decided to use the Monongahela's line between Waynesburg and West Brownsville. In September of 1966, the PRR formed the Waynesburg Southern Railroad which it leased to the Monongahela, after the PRR had surveyed and purchased large tracts of land between Waynesburg and Brave the previous summer. Construction of the new line began immediately that October with the planned route to be built west from Waynesburg to the western end of the Scotts Run Branch at Brave by way of a 21 mile long 180 degree roundabout right of way. The section of the Scotts Run Branch between Brave and Blacksville would then be rebuilt with eased grades and curvatures, in conjunction with the upgrading of the MRY's Ten Mile and West Brownsville branches which when completed would result in the abandonment of the Scotts Run Branch east of Blacksville #1 to Randall. By July of 1968 the Waynesburg Southern was in operation following the construction of several large cuts and bridges, in addition to the PRR's first tunnel in over thirty years. The grade on the railroad was limited to .05% against loaded trains, mainly on the climb from Wana Junction to the 1415 ft long White Cottage Tunnel at the summit. Overall, 38 miles of rails were laid, including sidings, with over 1/2 a mile of track (3500 feet) located on what amounted to 58 bridge spans. Three new modern mines were being constructed at the same time, Consolidated Coal's Blacksville #1 located at the end of track near Blacksville, WV, Eastern Associates Coal at Miracle Run, WV, served by a 5 mile long branch, and finally Consolidated Coal's Blacksville #2 mine near Wana, WV, located on a loop track for loading. Because of preferential mining laws in West Virginia at the time, all the loaders were located south of the state line while most of the coal was and is mined to the north in Pennsylvania. The first train to load on the MRY's newest additions to its West Division was a Penn Central unit train on July 16th, 1968, at Eastern Associated's Federal -2 mine. Two years later on November 9th, the fruits of victory were finally picked when the first 140 car monster Detroit Edison train loaded at Blacksville #1 and #2. To quicken loading five DEEX units were required to power the two sections of the train to both mines from White Cottage siding with two up front on the first section and three in the middle for the second section. Detroit Edison continued loading its trains at these mines at least once a week, forming a rapid turn around time between the mine loader and its Monroe, Michigan, power station. When all three of the West Virginia mines reached full production, three to six various unit trains were loaded each day, with the success story of the Waynesburg Southern just beginning.

Following the addition of the Waynesburg Southern, the Monongahela Railway's total trackage began to shrink once again as the last of the mines located along its branchlines began to close shop. The remaining S12s and the group of nine former NYC RF16 Sharknoses (eight A units and one B unit) bought in 1967 continued to soldier on over the two Divisions until 1974 when the last of each class were sold or scrapped following the arrival of the new EMD GP38s. By 1976 the MGA had abandoned the old C&M line, later called the Dunlap Creek Branch, followed by the Chartier Southern's Nemacolin Branch two years later. The section of the old B&N between Pricketts Creek Jct and Fairmont was also abandoned during this era, effectively putting an end to the mine turns originating on the southern portion of the East Division with the exception of B&O interchange traffic at Rivesville and coal coming from the mines on the Paw Paw Branch - in 1952 Consolidated Coal had opened a new mine north of Fairview, WV, on Sugar Run, the Loveridge Mine, requiring the construction of a section or railroad between there and the B&O line at Grant Town, inaddition to the installation of the Catawba Junction wye in Rivesville to allow MRY trains to make through moves between Rivesville Junction and Loveridge. This would be the last major construction on the East Division due to the Monongahela Railway's deteriorating financial state in the late 1970s. Interestingly coal traffic was actually up due to an increase in the demand for utility and then export coal in the early '80s, inaddition to the opening of another 'fast loader' mine at Waynesburg on the Waynesburg Southern Branch in 1977, the Emerald Mine. In 1984 a new branch that would ultimately have a huge effect on the railroad was added to the MGA's timetable, the 14.6 mile long Manor Branch to serve Consolidated Coal's new Bailey Mine. $45 Million dollars were poured into the construction of the Manor Branch by Consol which ended in a loop loading track near Time, PA. At this point the Monongahela Railway reached its final form as shown on the map at right. The original Monongahela Railway on the East Division was still intact on the River Branch (red) between Brownsville and Pricketts Creek Junction, with the RC&P Branch continuing south to Catawba Junction and Fairview. Incidently following the closing of the Grant Town mine in the mid - 1980s, the B&O relinquished its rights to serve any mines between Grant Town and Catawba Junction. To the north between Brownsville and West Brownsville the MGA had trackage rights over the former Redstone Branch, by this time it was Conrail's Monongahela Secondary track, to West Brownsville Junction, and then south over the leased West Brownsville Branch to Ten Mile Run Junction. The Ten Mile Run Branch continued southwest from there to Waynesburg where it connected with the Waynesburg Southern. At Manor Junction a mile further west, the Manor Branch headed geographically north to the mine near Time, PA, while the WS continued south to Miracle Run Junction, where the Miracle Run Branch diverged at a wye and then reached the end of track on the east side of Blacksville. Profits soared for the railroad and in 1991 more coal took to the rails when Dupont Energy opened a second mine on the Manor Branch, the Enlow- Fork operation, which shares the same loadout with the Bailey mine. Unfortunately forces far from the control of the Monongahela's management were preparing to put an end to the 'The Biggest Little Coal Carrier'. On Dec 26th, 1989, the financially distraught P&LE sold it's 1/3 control of the Monongahela to Conrail in exchange for cash, effectively giving Conrail, which already had the Pennsylvania RR's 1/3 share, control of the railroad it had longed desired to takeover since the mid 1980s. CSX held the remaining 1/3 of the MGA through its predecessor company, the B&O, which CSX had taken over in 1987. The stage was then set for the final act in the MGA's saga when a rainy night in December of 1990 closed CSX's FM&P Subdivision with a minor landslide between Fairmont and Morgantown. This former B&O line between Fairmont and Connellsville was reportedly a headache to upper CSX management, due to its many grades which required helpers. It was mainly because of this fact that CSX wanted to gain access to the MGA's river level East Division between Catawba Junction and Brownsville Junction, where the P&LE, soon to be CSX, interchanged. After negotiations between the two carriers, it was decided CSX would sell its share of the Monongahela Railway to Conrail, in return for its desired permenant trackage rights over the East Division. The transaction was completed in 1991 and a year later, the Interstate Commerce Commission gave its approval for Conrail to officially take over the Monongahela Railway on May 1st, 1993. As darkness fell for the last time over MGA rails on the night of April 31st, an era came to a close for a railway that had spanned nine decades and many a hard time, while a new sun, this time a Blue Sun, would rise the next morning overlooking a now lifeless Brownsville Yard...

Following the Conrail takeover things began to change almost immediately on the Monongahela. Locomotive servicing which had been undertaken at Brownsville since the first years of the MGA's operation were moved to Conrail's Shire Oaks yard on the Mon Line. The MGA Dispatchers were likewise moved away from Brownsville, this time from the old Union Station to the modern Conrail complex at Greentree near Pittsburgh. Power wise, the Super-7s began to slowly move away from their old haunt while a few were kept on as dedicated helpers on the Manor Branch. Conrail also did away with the MGA East and West Divisions, instead moving the Monongahela lines into the Pittsburgh Division. The East Division was renamed the Loveridge Secondary while the West Division's Ten Mile and West Brownsville Branches were consolidated into the Mon Line with the Waynesburg Southern, Manor and Miracle Run Branches retaining their old designations. In the mid 90s Conrail began to improve the consolidated Mon Line with the addition of CTC signals, replacing the classic MGA block names such as PETE and HOME with more Conrail signal designations of CP-82 and CP-80. The flood of coal remained constant from the West Division's mines with Blacksville #1 being the only mine to shutdown since it's opening. The former East Division continued to wither like an old vine below Brownsville, save for the few overhead CSX trains and several Loveridge mine turns each day. The Conrail era began to dim in 1997 when CSX opened the bidding on the MGA's successor followed a short time later by Norfolk Southern. After months of escalating prices, an agreement was struck between CSX and NS for the division of Conrail, with NS gaining 60% of Conrail stock and equipment while CSX would receive the other 40%. It was decided by the two corporations that the lines of the former Monongahela would be placed under Norfolk Southern control with a condition: CSX would have equal access to all present and future shippers on the railroad, resulting in a unique situation of direct competition between the two companies for the MGA mine business. Following several postponements of the merger date, Day One finally took place during Memorial Day Weekend on June 1st, 1999. When the mines began to load again on June 2nd, another new era had began on the former rails of the Monongahela Railway. As a result the MGA lines were classified by Norfolk Southern into a seperate railroad district to serve the equal access area, labeled the MGA Mine District. NS trains continue to operate from the yard at Shire Oaks while CSX has set up an entirely new operation to serve the Monongahela. The former P&LE Yard at Newell was rebuilt as a five train staging yard with Norfolk Southern crews taking over the CSX trains between Newell and the mines. Currently as many as thirty trains a day move across the MGA Mine District and with the expectations of new mines and additional traffic, it appears that the present day form of the Monongahela Railway will survive well into the future.

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Photo by Kevin Scanlon. Monongahela Railway RF16 Sharknoses #1216 & 1205 in the South Brownsville roundhouse in March, 1973.

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Photo by Kevin Scanlon. Monongahela Rwy RF-16 #1205 parked outside the South Brownsville roundhouse. August, 1973.

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Photo by Kevin Scanlon. Monongahela Railway S-12's and caboose in South Brownsville yard in 1973.

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Photo by Kevin Scanlon. The Monongahela Railway shop at South Brownsville with an S-12 up on the crane. As Kevin writes: "the shop foreman let us, a couple of sixteen year-olds, sign releases and wander through the shops taking photos." How things have changed!

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Photo by Kevin Scanlon. Monongahela Railway S-12's # 406 & 400 at South Brownsville in April, 1974.

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Photo by Kevin Scanlon. Monongahela Railway South Brownsville ready tracks in June, 1974.

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Photo by Kevin Scanlon. Monongahela Railway #403 in August, 1973 near South Brownsville.

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Photo by Kevin Scanlon. Monongahela Railway #402 is southbound with empties near Big Meadow Run Yard in August of 1974. The MRY was not CTC during this era, but instead used a system of interesting block limit signals.

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Photo by Kevin Scanlon. Monongahela Northbound near Big Meadow Run Yard in 1973. Big Meadow Run Yard was the main classification point for northbound coal off the MGA's East Division mines farther south. The coal would be blocked into groups bound for either the PRR or the P&LE at Brownsville.

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Photo by Kevin Scanlon. Monongahela Railway northbound with caboose and a coal train near Big Meadow Run Yard in 1973.

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Photo by Terry E. Arbogast. A shark lashup consisting of only an A and B unit is passing over a dirt road crossing near West Van Voorhis, West Virginia, as the southbound Maidsville Turn approaches the yard, located a mile further south.

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Photo by Terry E. Arbogast. Three Baldwin RF-16 diesels #1216, #3708, and #1210 are covering the rails with sand as they begin to pull a loaded drag over Indian Creek at Lowsville, West Virginia in July of 1969.

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Photo by Terry E. Arbogast. In a view from the Fairmont Branch's Mon River bridge, three sharks are heading south on HITE siding to place their caboose on the south end of the coal loads before moving the train north to Maidsville. The wood shanty at the lower left is HT "Tower", used by crews to call the dispatcher for orders.

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Photo by Terry E. Arbogast. The same set of Baldwins seen in the above photo are shoving a caboose across the tall Hickman Run trestle in Fairmont, WVa, during May of 1969. This move was part of the MRY's evening "coal train" which worked north out of Fairmont making pickups of loaded cars off HITE Siding and the small yard at Lowsville.

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Photo by Terry E. Arbogast. Three sharks are laying over at East Fairmont, awaiting a crew to take them north to Maidsville after picking up loads at either HITE siding or Lowsville Yard. The red brick building to the right is the Monongahela's freight depot, which survives to the present in another form. The green building in the background is the MGA's Fairmont station.

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Photo by Terry E. Arbogast. On a foggy winter night in 1969, #1210 and #3708 idle in the darkness at East Fairmont.



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Photo by Kevin Scanlon. The MGA's fleet of twenty seven Baldwin S12s was the companys original attempt at dieselization in late 1952 and 1953. These hardy locomotives were the backbone of the MGA's drag service until the final units' retirement in 1974. In this photo, S-12 #403 is parked outside the S. Brownsville shop in March of 1973.

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Photo by Kevin Scanlon. An unexpected jump in coal traffic in 1967 found the MRY in short supply of power, resulting in the company purchasing seven NYC RF-16A and one NYC RF-16B for a price of $6000 each. These units were therefore dubbed expendable and although no more than three units were in service at one time, as each locomotive would suffer a mechanical failure, another unit would be started up and put in it's place. The Sharks operated almost exlusively on the East Division until the final ones were sold in 1974. Monongahela Rwy. #1216 & 1205 at S. Brownsville. 1973

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Five GP38s, #2000 to #2004, were purchased new from EMD in 1969, to replace the falling S12s and remaining Sharks. These units remained in service on the MGA until mid 1990, when they were traded into GE for their new Super 7s. Photo by Bill Sechler, Matt Reese Collection

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The MGA's fleet of eleven Super-7's, Super 7-23Bs #2300 to #2310, were the mainstay of the MGA between 1990 and 1993. These units were purchased new from GE, following their rebuilding from Western Pacific U23Bs. Currently all eleven remain in service under CSX and NS, with one or two occasionally showing up the WIMGO. Photo by Bill Sechler, Matt Reese Collection

Select a Page Home Introduction and Regional Information Grafton, West Virginia's Yard and Terminal CSX's Mountain Subdivision CSX's Fairmont Subdivision CSX's Bridgeport Subdivision CSX's Short Line Subdivision CSX's Cowen Subdivision and Region CSX's Thomas Subdivision and Region CSX's Kingwood Subdivision CSX's Georges Creek Subdivision CSX's former Belington Subdivision CSX's former Tygart Subdivision CSX's former Laurel Subdivision CSX and Norfolk Southern's MGA Mine District Main Page ---- Loveridge Secondary - Brownsville to Fairview ---- Mon Line - West Brownsville to Waynesburg ---- Waynesburg Southern - Waynesburg to Blacksville ---- Manor Branch - Waynesburg to Bailey Mine ---- The History of the Monongahela Coal Fields Regional Mine Switchers Elk River Railroad Beech Mountain Railroad West Virginia Central Railroad West Virginia Northern Railroad CSX's Allegheny Division - Western District Timetables Norfolk Southern's MGA Mine District Timetables Trackside Guides to the Region The West Virginia Railfan Message Board Railroad Books The B&O's Monongah Division Book Series Website Information & Contributing Sign the Guestbook? Railroad Related Internet Links

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