former PRR

I am new to the NS board so bear with me. When Conrail was broken up didn't NS get the former PRR mainline from Pittsburg to Chicago? If NS is using it how trains a day use it. and If they do not what happened to that amiline form Pittsburg to Chicaog? Thanks Bob Rabie

NS got the former NYC/LS&MS line from Cleveland to Chicago. The PRR main you speak of is owned by CSX and a big part is leased to Rail America's Chicago, Fort Wayne, and Eastern from Gary, IN to Crestline, OH. From Gary to Hammond, the ex-PRR is still CSX but it's darn quiet. From Hammond to Chicago, it parallels the ex-NYC and was rationalized by PC so that the actual tracks were only on one of two parallel alignments (varies from place to place between ex-PRR and ex-NYC). That main is under NS control as part of their former NYC property. CSX primarily uses their ex-B&O line to access Chicago.

IIRC, the split was designed to give 3 main tracks to both CSX and NS. The Ft. Wayne Line had been reduced to single-track, and NS already had the former NKP which was signle-track.
NS got the PGH-CLE-TOL-CHI route (all double-tracked).

CSX had the former B&O (largely restored to double-track) and got the Ft. Wayne Line for the 3rd track.

How much use the carriers made of the routes was up to them.

Tadman wrote:NS got the former NYC/LS&MS line from Cleveland to Chicago. The PRR main you speak of is owned by CSX and a big part is leased to Rail America's Chicago, Fort Wayne, and Eastern from Gary, IN to Crestline, OH. From Gary to Hammond, the ex-PRR is still CSX but it's darn quiet. From Hammond to Chicago, it parallels the ex-NYC and was rationalized by PC so that the actual tracks were only on one of two parallel alignments (varies from place to place between ex-PRR and ex-NYC). That main is under NS control as part of their former NYC property. CSX primarily uses their ex-B&O line to access Chicago.

And from Crestline to Alliance, the ex-PRR is owned and operated (sparingly, as far as I know) by NS. NS has rights over the parts operated by CFE all the way to Chicago too, but I don't think they use it much since they have the parallel NYC and Nickel Plate routes.

The section between Alliance and Bucyrus has a decent amount of traffic, albeit far below what it was. It's main use seems to be a shortcut for Pitt-to-N&W coal trains to bypass Cleveland and Bellevue.