Union County Industrial Railroad

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Union County Industrial Railroad

Reporting marks	UCIR
Locale	Pennsylvania
Dates of operation	1994 – present
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters	Northumberland, PA

Note: The UCIR has a contract to operate on the line formerly served by the short line West Shore Railroad (although this track is out of service as of 2006). See West Shore Railroad for the New York Central line along the Hudson River.

The Union County Industrial Railroad (AAR reporting marks UCIR) is a short line that operates on approximately 12 miles (20 km) of track in Union County in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania. The line is along the right bank of the West Branch Susquehanna River, roughly following U.S. Route 15 between the unincorporated village of Winfield in southern Union County and the village of New Columbia (in White Deer Township) in northern Union County.^[1]

Other communities served by the UCIR include Lewisburg, the village of West Milton (in Kelly Township), and Milton (east across the West Branch Susquehanna River in Northumberland County).^[1]

Although the UCIR has no employees and owns none of the track on which it operates, its corporate offices are located in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. There is a connection to the Norfolk Southern Railway line at Milton (as well as an indirect connection to Canadian Pacific Railway service at Sunbury).^[2]

1 North Shore Railroad System
2 Union County rail lines
3 See also
4 References

[edit] North Shore Railroad System

The Union County Industrial Railroad is part of the North Shore Railroad System, which includes the following short lines:

Juniata Valley Railroad (JVRR)*
Lycoming Valley Railroad (LVRR)*
Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad (NBER)*
North Shore Railroad (NSHR)*
Shamokin Valley Railroad (SVRR)*
Union County Industrial Railroad (UCIR)
Wellsboro and Corning Railroad (WCOR)

Robey Railroads, a private company, operates the Union County Industrial Railroad. The Union County Industrial Railroad has no employees, instead they are provided by the North Shore Railroad. This lead the Railroad Retirement Board to find that "the Union County Industrial Railroad is not an employer subject to the Railroad Retirement and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Acts."

The first five railroads (those marked with an asterisk, *) are owned by SEDA-COG JRA (Susquehanna Economic Development Association - Council of Governments Joint Rail Authority) and are also operated under contract by Robey Railroads (which also operates the WCOR). As of 2006, there are plans by Robey to consolidate these seven lines as the Susquehanna Railroad Corporation, a non-operating holding company.

The North Shore Railroad System has trackage rights via the Norfolk Southern line. These allow the Union County Industrial Railroad to connect to the north and west with the Lycoming Valley Railroad (at Muncy and Linden), the Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad (at Lock Haven) and, to the south, with the North Shore Railroad (at Northumberland) and the Shamokin Valley Railroad (at Sunbury).^[2]

[edit] Union County rail lines

Map of the Union County Industrial Railroad (red), Norfolk Southern Railway (blue), and out of service (green) lines in Union County.

There are basically three rail lines in Union County (although they have five different owners as of 2006):

the former "Reading Williamsport Line" from Winfield to Allenwood (north-south along the river);
the former "Reading Catawissa Branch" from West Milton east to Milton (east-west crossing the river); and
the former "PRR Bellefonte Branch" between Lewisburg and Mifflinburg (east-west from Lewisburg on the river to Mifflinburg).

All of the lines in Union County passed into the possession of Conrail, and were eventually abandoned or sold by it or its successors. Although the UCIR has a contract to operate on these lines between Winfield and Allenwood, West Milton and Milton, and Lewisburg and Mifflinburg, as of 2006, the lines from Lewisburg west to Mifflinburg and from New Columbia north to Allenwood are out of service on account of bad track.

As of 2006, ownership of the lines in Union County is as follows:

The north-south former "Reading Williamsport Line" along the river is divided into four sections with three owners:

The "Lewisburg and Buffalo Creek Railroad" (LBCX) owns the track from Winfield north to West Milton. It is a non-operating railroad, although a tourist service operated on this track until the mid-1990s. As of 2006, this track is used by the UCIR.
The "Union County Industrial Development Corporation" (UCDC) owns the track from West Milton north to New Columbia. This track is also used by the UCIR.
The "White Deer and Reading Railroad" (WDRR, owned by SEDA-COG JRA) owns the track from New Columbia north to the village of White Deer (across the river from Watsontown). The local NRHS chapter also runs short excursions over this track.
The "Union County Industrial Development Corporation" also owns the out-of-service track from White Deer north to Allenwood, (and perhaps further north to the county line).

The former "Reading Catawissa Branch" crossing the river from West Milton to Milton is owned by the "Westmoreland Industrial Development Corporation" (WIDC) (and used by the UCIR).

The former "PRR Bellefonte Branch" from Lewisburg west to Mifflinburg is owned by The "West Shore Railroad" (WSRC), but service on this line stopped in 1997 and the track is bad and has been out of service since hurricane damage in 1999. The similarly named "West Shore Railway Services, Inc." merged with the Union County Industrial Railroad Company in 1997, but it is unclear what relation (if any) this had to the West Shore Railroad.