B&O Narrow gauge - Pittsburgh & Western

Hello all,

Where can I find information on the narrow gauge equipment that the B&O had?

Thanks.

"Pittsburgh and Western Railroad from 1902. This was originally a narrow gauge system which was standard gauged from 1883 to 1911. It formed the main B&O line west from Pittsburgh. " "1883 B&O completes Wheeling-Pittsburgh route by acquiring narrow-gauge Pittsburgh Southern between Washington, Pa., and Pittsburgh, rebuilds it to standard gauge; PS renamed Baltimore & Ohio Short Line in 1885, merged into the WL&B in 1887

1877 12 19 Pittsburgh, Castle Shannon & Washington begins operation on 4.6 mile narrow gauge line.
PITTSBURGH & WESTERN RAILROAD (PA) 3' Gen 1873 1911sg 200 miles
(http://pghbridges.com/articles/railroad ... ternrr.htm)
Parker & Karns City Railroad (PA) part of PITTSBURGH & WESTERN RAILROAD
(photo of ex P&KC see: http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/a ... llapse.htm) (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pabut ... .htm#karns)
Pittsburgh & North Western Railroad (PA) part of PITTSBURGH & WESTERN RAILROAD
Pittsburgh & Northern Railway (PA) part of PITTSBURGH & WESTERN RAILROAD
Pittsburgh & State Line Railroad (PA) part of PITTSBURGH & WESTERN RAILROAD
Pittsburgh East & West Railroad (PA) part of PITTSBURGH & WESTERN RAILROAD
Pittsburgh Lake Erie Railroad & Western Railroad (PA) part of PITTSBURGH & WESTERN RAILROAD
Pittsburgh New Castle & Lake Erie Railroad (PA) part of PITTSBURGH & WESTERN RAILROAD

1883 01 B&O takes control of Pittsburgh Southern Railway. Narrow gauge portions converted to standard gauge later. (photo of loco: http://www.liquala.com/ps.html)
PITTSBURGH SOUTHERN RAILROAD (PA) 3' Gen 1876 1883sg 37 miles
Pittsburgh Castle Shannon & Washington Railroad (PA) part of PITTSBURGH SOUTHERN RAILROAD
(photo and article see: http://www.liquala.com/pcs.html)

1883 01 01 Standard gauge service begins on the Pittsburgh & Western between New Castle Junction and Pittsburgh.

1884 B&O buys controlling interest in Pittsburgh & Western. This line was a part of the old Pittsburgh and Western Railroad, originally a 3-foot (92 cm) narrow-gauge line created in the latter third of the 19th century from a merging of various earlier narrow-gauge lines.

The Fairport Branch

This line began in 1870 as a narrow-gauge line connecting Farmington to Fairport Harbor, named the Painesville and Youngstown Railroad. In 1873, it became the Painesville, Youngstown and Pittsburgh Railroad. In 1886, it was leased to the Pittsburgh and Western Railroad, itself acquired by the Baltimore and Ohio in 1890. It was standardized in 1900, and later became the B&O's Lake Branch or Fairport Branch. At some point, it was extended to Warren."

Sources: http://www.trains.com/ctr/default.aspx & http://www.abandonedrails.com/article, http://www.ngrrlines.com/id22.html

CarterB provides a lot of good information on small western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio narrow-gauge lines that the B&O eventually absorbed and converted to standard gauge. Also, there were some West Virginia narrow-gauge lines that the B&O also absorbed in the late 1800's-early 1900's and converted to standard gauge. If you get a copy of Alan R. Clarke's The West Virginia and Pittsburgh Railroad - The B&O's Road to the Hardwoods, you can learn of these West Virginia narrow-gauge lines (of which the West Virginia and Pittsburgh was the primary one). Clarke has made a name for himself researching these obscure narrow-gauge short lines in this book, plus two other books he has written, one of which documents the lines that the Western Maryland absorbed, and which I haven't yet read. The third book is his history of the Coal and Coke Railway in West Virginia. I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually decides to tackle the western Pennsylvania narrow-gauge short lines.

One last interesting fact - The only narrow-gauge railroad that the B&O built intentionally as narrow-gauge was the railroad that served its railroad tie treatment plant in Green Spring, WV, in the first half of the 20th century.

The West Virginia Midland narrow gauge connected with the B&O at Holly Junction and went all the way to Webster Springs where it connected with the WM. The Western MD Historical Society has a few obscure photos as does Taplines.com and the Mountain State Logging Historical Society (the Cass folks). There was also the Pickens & Webster Springs interchange at Pickens. There was talk of extending the P&WS to connect with the WVM, but the only place it never happened was on my model railroad.

The Pittsburgh Southern, West Virginia & Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh & Castle Shannon are also B&O NG connections. There was interchange with the Ely-Thomas' 3 ft operations I believe at Jetsville, WV and possibly Fenwick as well. The Jetsville interchange was also dual gauge I think. Lots of modeling fodder there.

WM's NG connections AFAIK:
WVM at Webster Springs
Valley River RR at Huttonsville

but WV was crawling with obscure NG lines.