Towns and Nature: Heath, OH: Heath (FN) Tower: Pennsy+B&O vs. NYC/Toledo & Ohio Central

Thursday, January 4, 2024

Heath, OH: Heath (FN) Tower: Pennsy+B&O vs. NYC/Toledo & Ohio Central

(Satellite, TOC continued North and the tower was in the soiuthwest quadrant of the crossing.)

Mark Hinsdale posted

"Columbus & Newark (C&N) Division"

Poring over Stanley Short's beautiful photo of the Conrail (CR) eastbound coal train at Mifflin, Pennsylvania inspired me to share a CR photo of my own, from the same era. I love images of towers and trains, so here is another coal train, also heading east, passing the interlocking tower at Heath, Ohio, west of Newark. The Pennsylvania (PRR) and Baltimore & Ohio (B&O)) Railroads shared a jointly owned right of way between Columbus and Newark that consolidated traffic from both routes over a once busy, two and three tracked line dotted with towers to control movements. PRR always had the lions' share of trains, but, at least into the late 1960's, B&O contributed a respectable amount of traffic to the mix. Conrail, as successor to Penn Central and PRR, continued to operate substantial volumes over the C&N until its program to downgrade its former PRR Pittsburgh-Columbus-Indianapolis main line in favor of alternate routings effectively left the route devoid of most trains. Today, only a single remaining track is required to handle the handful of current owner Ohio Central's trains that still traverse the line. July, 1978 Photo by Mark Hinsdale

Mark Hinsdale shared

Mark Hinsdale posted again

The Columbus & Newark Division (C&N) was a 33 mile long stretch of main line railroad between its namesake Ohio cities that was jointly owned and operated by the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) and Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), and their successors. It served as a busy conduit for both railroads, although it was very much a David (B&O) and Goliath (PRR) situation throughout its existence with regard to the traffic on the line. Originally owned by B&O, arrangements were made between the two railroads to avoid both having to build separately across the demanding terrain. Most of the stations and towers on the route were of B&O design, with signaling following PRR practice. B&O manned the preponderance of interlocking towers erected to manage trains utilizing the line. A significant eastbound grade in the middle of the route, requiring helper locomotives for many years, created a constant challenge to traffic flows for both carriers. This July, 1978 picture is of an eastbound Conrail train at "FN" Tower in Heath OH, where New York Central's Eastern Branch between Toledo and Thurston OH once crossed. Today, the C&N is owned and operated by Ohio Central, a Genesee & Wyoming regional line. July, 1978 photo by Mark Hinsdale.

Wally Babcock: How many trains did Conrail run back then?

Mark Hinsdale: In 1978, Conrail had yet to start diverting traffic away from its ex PRR Pittsburgh to St. Louis main line. It was still good for around 30 a day, including the two daily Amtraks ("National Limited"). Traffic density would soon begin its steady decline, however.

Dennis DeBrule commented on Mark's share
I'm glad you liked towers as well as trains. You captured some signalling pipelines. The north/south route was the Toledo and Ohio Central. 1961
Newark Quad @ 24,000