My trip to Harrisburg..

In the interest in not taking up too much space, I saw quite a bit of railroad related stuff on the way from Warren, PA, to Harrisburg a few days ago.

I did have some questions, though, and I was hoping I could get some answers from the smart people here. So, from Warren going Southeast, here goes:

Ridgway:
I saw the one beautiful railway station, but there is another that is in much worse shape near the Sheetz. What railroad was that originally?

On the way:
There was a railroad crossing right in the middle of 322, which surrpised me. It was labeled "exempt", but whose tracks are these? I just looked on Mapquest and couldn't find them.

Harrisburg:
I saw the train station. How far away from Philly does the catenary go past the station? A mile?

Thanks in advance.

David Becker

Dave:

Answers:

1) I am not sure, I have wondered that myself on past trips between State College and Buffalo. I guess I haven't seen the "nice" station, just the really old run down one.

2) Those tracks are the Juniata Valley Railroad, a Dick Robey shortline. That track is ex-PRR and runs to Maitland, PA. It hasn't been operated in some time, but I know that the SEDACOG Joint Rail Authority issued an RFP for rebuilding that track to serve Krentzman, the major scrap yard. However, that project seems to have stalled, which is quite typical in the shortline world. Perhaps some of the funding fell through, etc.

Hah! There old bid solicitation is still online. To the best of my knowledge, there hasn't been any activity.

http://www.sedacograil.org/jra/lib/jra/ ... around.pdf


3) The PRR catenary terminated at Enola Yard, and my understanding was that it was shut down by Conrail sometime in the early 80's.

See these links for more on Harrisburg & the bridges.

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37157

http://forums.railfan.net/forums.cgi?bo ... 1173631065

Hope that helps Dave.

Brooks
http://forums.railfan.net/forums.cgi?bo ... 1173631065

TO: Interested Railroad Contractors
FROM: Jeff Stover, Executive Director
SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority
DATE: March 13, 2006
RE: Bid Solicitations – Two Railroad Projects
Krentzman Siding Restoration and Maitland Runaround
Juniata Valley Railroad
CC: George Fury, JVRR
Pete Simcox, JVRR
Gary Shields, JVRR
Jim Miller, JVRR
Maribeth Giannone, USDA
Rob Postal, MCIDC
David Krentzman, Joseph F. Krentzman and Son
Brian Eckert, DCED
Paul Jannotti, Jannotti Rail Consulting
The SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority is hosting two pre-bid meetings on
Thursday, March 23, 2006 at
11:00 a.m., at a location along the Juniata Valley Railroad in Maitland,
PA. The projects are adjacent to
a railroad customer, Joseph F. Krentzman and Son, located seven miles
northeast of Lewistown. The
projects are being run in tandem; however they are two separate,
free-standing contracts as the source of
funding is different for each. We are, however, making provisions in the
bid specifications that should a
single contractor be low bidder for both jobs, there would be a
specified discount offered for both
contracts.

The projects are:

1. Krentzman Siding Restoration – 1670 feet of track construction on
existing prepared sub-grade.
This project is being funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Community
and Economic
Development. All commonwealth assurances and requirements, including
state wage rates, apply.
The rail and OTM are being made available by the SEDA-COG Joint Rail
Authority and will need
to be relocated by the contractor from stockpiles at Julian, PA (rail)
and Williamsport, PA (OTM).
Julian is 48 miles from the project site and Williamsport is 70 miles
distant.

2. Maitland Runaround – This is a track construction project that
includes installation of two
turnouts and 905 feet of new track. It is located approximately 100
yards west of the Krentzman
siding project. This rail facility is being funded by the United States
Department of Agriculture
Rural Business Enterprise Grant program. Wage rates do not apply.
However, federal regulations
and assurances (ADA, EEO, etc.) do apply. The turnouts to be used are in
track in Lewistown, PA,
some 10 miles away. The contractor will need to remove these turnouts
and straight-rail from the
Mifflin County Industrial Park. Besides the turnouts, the rail and OTM
necessary for this project
again is being provided by the JRA and will be made available to the
contractor from locations at
both Julian (78 miles) and Williamsport, PA (70 miles).
Both projects mandate that the contractor must have the ability to
provide a bid bond, and the
selected contractor will need to provide a performance and payment bond
for both projects. The
time table for these projects is:

Pre-bid Meeting: Thursday, March 23, 2006 at 11:00 a.m.
Bids Due: Tuesday, April 4, 2006 by 2:00 p.m. to the SEDA-COG Joint Rail
Authority (see address below)
Tentative Bid Award: Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Project Completion Date: June 30, 2006
There is a possibility that the bid award date may slide in order to
secure concurrence from the
appropriate funding agencies. In this case, the completion date would
also be adjusted accordingly.
Bid specifications will be available to the contractors at the pre-bid
meeting. There is a $25.00
charge for the specifications that should be made payable to the
SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority
(checks only).
Should you have any questions, please notify me at 201 Furnace Road,
Lewisburg, PA 17837, by
phone at (570) 524-4491, or by email at jstover@...

The nice station is quite beautiful: you come down a long hill between Kane/Warren and Ridgway, and wham, there it is. Looks like typical architecture of the line. The beat up one does look very different, wood, mainoy, and not stone, so I suspect a different railroad there. Maybe it's just me.

The other information does help. Thanks!

Dave Becker

Pablo-the two stations in Ridgway were built by the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg (later B&O) and the Pennsylvania. Your description of coming down a long hill sounds like you came in on Route 948 from Sheffield. A good photo of the brick station at the base of the hill can be found in Paul Pietrak's book on the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh on page 81.

The old PRR station is the one near the Sheetz on Route 219. You may have noticed a wye there. The line that crosses Rt. 219 is the portion that runs between Erie and St. Marys. This was originally a through line to Emporium but the Buffalo and Pittsburgh has "railbanked" the St. Mary's-Emporium portion. The other leg of the wye used to run south of town 27 miles to Falls Creek-I have no idea if this branch is still used.

BTW-does anyone know where the Russell Snowplow Company was located in Ridgway and is there anything left worth seeing?

I know that the BPRR runs an very occasional WARI run from Warren to Ridgway on the old A&E/PRR line, but they usally only go to Jburg (WAJO)or go on through to St. Marys (WASM). As far as south of the wye, if they go south, it would be just for local Ridgway customers. I'm pretty sure that the WARI does all of the switching. I don't think the J-burg switcher comes down to do that. BPRR uses the B&O/BR&P main south through Brockway and Falls Creek.

There's a mine south of Ridgway (maybe 10 miles) that has an old, bright yellow switcher, and an active rail line with BRPP cars in there, so maybe that's where that line goes? I didn't get that far, but it seemed like that was an option.

David Becker

That almost sounds like the Brockway Industrial track that parallels RT219 in Brockway, which I think one of the Dubois switch crews handle.

Is the mine near Brandy Camp/ Beech Grove/Elbon? Or near Drummond?