The CSX Shortline Subdivision’s roots can be traced back to the West Virginia Short Line Railroad Company that was charted during the early 1890s. The railroad was to build a route northwest from the B&O RR’s main line at Clarksburg through the towns of Lumberport, Wallace, Jacksonburg and Pine Grove to the Ohio River. An additional factor that led to the construction of the WVSL would be its ability to tap the vast area of coal and timber in the rolling hills which had largely been untouched. The line was ultimately completed in 1899 with traffic beginning to flow in 1900. Shortly thereafter the B&O RR stepped in and fully absorbed the WVSL RR, who officially changed the name of the subdivision to the Hartzell Subdivision. During the early years of B&O operation, Clarksburg crews would only run as far west as Hartzell where the B&O built a small yard to stage traffic moving towards Wheeling. Hartzell yard served for a while as the division crew change point between the Monongah Division and the Wheeling Division, but it was eventually eliminated when crews and trains began running on through to Brooklyn Junction near New Martinsville, WV. To aid in moving coal west from the mines in North Central West Virginia, the B&O built the Lumberport-Haywood Cutoff that connected the Short Line with the MR Subdivision that ran between Fairmont and Clarksburg. The cutoff included a bridge over the West Fork River between Lumberport and Haywood allowing westbound trains from Fairmont to head directly onto the Short Line towards the Ohio River, a move that became necessary when the B&O cut its Old Main Line west of Mannington, WV, in the late 1960s. From then on, the Short Line continued to see coal heading back and forth between Clarksburg and Fairmont to points west such as Wheeling and Northern Ohio. Traffic patterns remained relatively unchanged until 1985 when the Parkersburg Branch was removed from service west of Clarksburg. The Short Line Subdivision then became the linkpin of an east-west route connecting the Ohio River and the east, thus creating the through routethat exists today between Cumberland, MD, and Huntington, WV. The next major change took place in January of 1989 when a derailment occurred east of Shinnston on the MR Subdivision resulting in that subdivision’s abandonment shortly afterwards. The coal traffic that had once come from the Fairmont area over the Cutoff was instead hauled east to Grafton down the Fairmont Subdivision, then brought back west across the Bridgeport Sub to Clarksburg and up the Short Line. Since then, traffic and operation patterns have remained much the same. The western end of today’s fifty eight mile Short Line Subdivision begins at Shortline Jct, MP BNA58.0, in Clarksburg where the line use to cut off from the Parkersburg Branch. Today the Junction is eliminated and is only marked with a DTC block sign that reads “Begin / End Short Block” and an eastbound CPL signal. The line then curves north over top of US Route 50 on a green span bridge that was built around 1974. From there, the subdivision snakes north along US Route 19 through the communities of Gore and Dawson to Hepzibah. Just north of Hepzibah is the former Nalco Chemical Plant that received tank cars until the early 1990s. This plant is now closed, but recently a mining chemicals company has started transloading tank cars periodically there. North of here, the railroad crosses the high steel Lamberts Creek Trestle along Rt 19, before turning west towards WV State Route 20 and one of the most important areas on the Short Line: Haywood Junction and Lumberport. At Haywood, WV, the “Short” DTC block ends and the “RobRun” block begins near Haywood Junction’s former trainorder office that is now used by MofW crews. Just west of the block signs is the westbound switch where the Haywood Cutoff diverges from the mainline and connects to what CSX now refers to as the Haywood Industrial Track. The Haywood Industrial is home to the Haywood Power Station and connects with the Robinson Run Industrial Track that runs northwest up Prospect Valley to serve Consolidation Coal Company’s Robinson Run Mine aka Consol 95. As a result, the Haywood IT is the destination for a good number of trains on the Short Line, namely the Robinson Run Turns to Consol 95 out of Grafton and the H724 “Lime Train” local from Brooklyn Junction. In Lumberport at the main crossing is also the site of the Bloom Defect Detector. The track leaves Rt. 20 at Lumberport for a few miles and comes back to the road near Robey. West of here, the line basically twists and turns along Route 20 and Little Ten Mile Creek all the way to Brooklyn Jct. Just west of the Gregorys Run road crossing, the Rob Run block ends and the Dola block begins. A few mile to the east of Wallace is the first major passing siding on the subdivision: the 5000 ft Irving Siding where the “Dola” Block ends and the “Hart” Block begins. West of Wallace the track once again leaves Route 20 and dives into Hartzell Tunnel, the first of three tunnels on the subdivision and also the top of the ruling grade on the line. The track returns to Rt. 20 at Folsom, where the line crosses the road on a concrete bridge that still sports the B&O Logo. The “Hart” block continues west to the end of the second siding on the Short Line, the 6100 ft passing siding in the town of Jacksonburg. The “Tyler” Block begins here and marks about the halfway point on the Subdivision. West of Jacksonburg is the first of two CNG Transmission Pump Stations where the subdivision twists through the stations and across a bridge, but there is no siding here. At the town of Pine Grove, the old passenger station still stands in gray paint serving as the home for the CSX MofW force in the area. A few miles west of Pine Grove is the second CNG Pump Station at Galmish, where LPG is loaded into tank cars on a two track siding. This station is usually worked by the H720 “Galmish Turn” local out of Brooklyn Junction on a varying basis. The third and final major siding on the Short Line is located east of Reader, WV - the 5500 ft Allen Siding where the “Tyler” block ends and the “Bard” block begins. West of Reader the Short Line Sub dives into two more tunnels near Porters Falls. These bores are very close to one another resulting in the nickname of “Twin Tunnels” - this is quite apparent when a train pops out of the first tunnel and heads straight into the second one. Unfortunately, the tunnels are largely inaccessible by main roads. The “Bard” Block ends at MP BNA2.6 where the Brooklyn Jct Yard Limit and the Short Line Running Track begins. A small siding called Roberts is located just east of the state Route 2 road crossing, although it is not often used to pass trains due to its small length. As a result, it is typically used to store LPG tank cars bound for CNG at Galmish.
Today’s operations over the Short Line Sub consist of about 4 to 8 movements a day depending on the section of the line. The regularly scheduled freights for the region are Q316 (EB) and Q317 (WB), with Q316 generally leaving Brooklyn Jct between 3 AM and 6 AM and arriving in Clarksburg between 6 AM and 9 AM, although this depends on the departure time from Brooklyn. Its counterpart, Q317, typically heads west by Clarksburg between 1 AM and 4 AM and often meets Q316 on the Short Line or at Brooklyn. The other through trains are AEPX coal trains running between the American Electric Power Plants at either Brilliant, OH, Cresap, WV, or Relief, OH, and coal mines on the Cowen Subdivision to the south of Grafton.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. CSXT #8531 leads eastbound Q316 across the green railroad bridge over US Route 50 on July 30th, 1998. The rail on the lower left is part of the former Parkersburg branch between Short Line Junction and Wilsonburg which had been formally abandoned in 1985, but wasn't removed until 1999.
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Photo by Rich Borkowski. In a reverse view, westbound Q317 is crossing the same bridge on a overcast winter day.
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Photo by Rich Borkowski. #8043 is passing the old semaphore at Short Line Junction, in 1998. Within a few months following this photo the semaphore would be retired by CSX and replaced by a more modern "approach" signal.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. CW40-9 #7891 and two other units making up the Robinson Run Helper are being pulled west through Gore, WV, bound for Consol 95 mine northwest of Haywood.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. Two General Electric AC units lead a westbound loaded Haywooder across the Lambert Creek Trestle in April of 1997.
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Photo by Rich Borkowski. A former Conrail SD50 is heading west through Lumberport on a rather late Q317. The stacks from the Haywood Power Station can be seen in the background, while the old MR Cutoff, now the Haywood Industrial Track, can be seen diverging from the Short Line main track in front of the train.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. CSX #6644 and another unit are pulling a eastbound passenger excursion through Lumberport at Haywood Junction in this October 1992 photo.
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Photo by Jerry Doyle. The headend units of this Haywooder are being pulled east under the Route bridge by the train's Helper, bound for the Harrison Power Station. The two tracks on the far left were used to store coal hoppers during the B&O years, while the third is the Robinson Run Industrial Track followed by the Haywood IT.
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A GP38-2 and SusieQ GE make up the Robinson Run Helper on this day, as they pull the train towards the mine near MP 2 on the Robinson Run IT. Helpers on Robinson Run and Haywood Turns are a necessity due to the required reverse move off the Short Line onto the Haywood Industrial Track at Lumberport.
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Photo by John Plishka.
A CSX SD70MAC sits underneath the Consolidated Coal's Robinson Run loadout during the last big snowfall of 1999 to hit northern West Virginia. One of the mines biggest stockpiles of coal, over 400 thousand tons, is obscured by the snow behind the train. 100 car trains or more are usually loaded in about six to eight hours.
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Photo by Jerry Doyle. The entire complex of the Robinson Run Mine can be seen in this view looking north, as an empty train is flood loading at the loadout.
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Photo by Chris Strogen.
Q316 is rolling east over Ten Mile Creek in Lumberport on July 20th, 1998. Until the 1980s the Bloom Passing Siding was located here, but was eventually removed due to as a result of a road crossing splitting the siding in half and limiting its effectiveness.
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Photo by Chris Strogen.
On March 3rd, 2000, Q317 is passing through Dola towards Brooklyn Junction. At one time, Dola was the location of several major coal mines which provided many carloads for the B&O up until the late 1970s. The short stub siding in the foreground is used for the storage of MofW equipment.
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Photo by Chris Strogen.
On a late summer evening in June of 199, the H724 Haywood Turn is captured heading east at the Irving passing siding. This six day a week local originates at the Brooklyn Jct yard in the mid-afternoon and is responsible for working the Harrison Power Station.
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Photo by Rich Borkowski. Q317 is ascending the moderate westbound grade to Hartzel Tunnel at Wallace, West Virginia.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. The eastbound Lime Train is crossing Rt 20 at Folsom, struggling to climb the stiff 1% grade to Hartzel with the heavily loaded covered hoppers.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. A repainted Conrail SD60M is on the point of Q316 as it rounds one of the many curves near Smithfield.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. Led by a slug set, the H724 Haywood Turn is following the South Fork of Fishing Creek near Smithfield in April of 2001. Lime is loaded in the covered hoppers near New Martinsville, which is used in the scrubbers at the Haywood power plant to reduce emissions.
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Photo by Chris Strogen.
The Collis P. Huntington Excursion is passing through Jacksonsburg in October of 1992. The track on the right is the 6100 ft long Jacksonsburg siding, the middle siding on the Short Line.
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Photo by Chris Strogen.
CSX #7890 and another locomotive are crossing over the South Fork of Fishing Creek at Hastings. This AEPX drag is bound for the Mitchell power station north of New Martinsville, WV.
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Photo by Rich Borkowski. Seen from a hillside high above the railroad, Q317's power is crossing the South Fork of Fishing Creek near Hastings.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. Q317 is passing the CNG natural gas pumping station at Galmish, West Virginia. This plant is usually worked by a Galmish Turn out of Brooklyn Junction on an as needed basis.
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On a late April day in 2001, the H720 Galmish Turn is switching tank cars the CNG plant at Galmish. The covered hopper behind the unit is a "spacer" car used to provide some protection for the locomotive and its crew from the hazardous material contained in the tank cars.
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Photo by Rich Borkowski. Five units are the power on this days Q317, as the train passes the 5500 ft long Allen siding.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. Coal loaded on the WV&P Subdivision is passing through the town of Porter Falls in July of 1994, bound for the Willow Island Power Station on the Ohio River.
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Photo by Rich Borkowski. A T816 AEPX drag is rounding the north leg of the Brooklyn Junction wye at New Martinsville, West Virginia. The Short Line Subdivision ends at MP BNA0.0 here, where it connects with the Ohio River Subdivision.
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It's Chessie units as far as the eye can see in this 1986 view of the Brooklyn Junction yard.
[ Click here for the timetable of the Short Line Subdivision ]
After entering the Bridgeport Sub at Clarksburg, Q316-29 releases two Short Line DTC blocks back to the CJ dispatcher as the dispatcher tries to find out what units the train really has up front.
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Robinson Run Turn U878-05 receives two Short Line DTC blocks and then later releases them after getting in the clear on the Haywood / Robinson Run Industrial Track at Lumberport. A Condensed Clip
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