Keating, Pa.

Any track diagrams of the connection of the New York Central's West Branch Valley line with Pennsylvania's Buffalo line?

From the Multimodalways site: http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/rail ... 1-1976.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Conrail 1/1/76 it says on it. I didn't think CR started until April 1976, but this must have been in the planning stages.
See page 21 (handwritten numbers on upper left).
JS

Circa 1970 I rode the Harrisburg Day Express from Buffalo, N.Y. to Harrisburg, Pa. One E-8 pulling one coach. Had a high speed reverse move from Williamsport back to the main line on the other side of the river. Never suspected some 25 years later I'd be moving out to Western Pennsylvania. Never knew the Water Level Route had so much mountain railroading. Never knew the Central had so much trackage rights over the Pennsy, or, in later years, the Pennsy over the Central, or that both would jointly operate the Cherry Tree & Dixonville Railroad. So much has changed between then and now, some good and some not so good.

But, thanks for the track diagram.

Up to the early 60's, if the on-line topos are accurate, there used to be a PRR through route through Williamsport, crossing back to the south side of the river at Allens (just east of South Williamsport) and rejoining the main. Guess that went out around the PC era so you had to back up in 1970. It is not shown in the 1975 track charts I posted. You can still see the piers in the river.

It was that way in 1961--I think the bridge south of Williamsport washed out, leaving Wmsport effectively at the end of a wye. As I recall, trains in both directions headed in and backed out, not wyeing but continuing in the same direction.

The connection at Keating for the NYC to go north on the PRR was an essential part of the Penn Central merger and dates to that event.
As to Williamsport, at least in 1967, the Buffalo Day Express headed around the connection at Linden to Newberry tower where it wyed and backed the last mile or so into the station.