Wellsboro and Corning Railroad

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Wellsboro and Corning Railroad

Reporting marks	WCOR
Locale	Pennsylvania and New York
Dates of operation	1993 – present
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters	Northumberland, PA

The Wellsboro and Corning Railroad (AAR reporting marks WCOR) is a short line that operates 35 miles of track in Union County, Pennsylvania and Steuben County, New York in the United States. The line runs between Wellsboro, Pennsylvania and Corning, New York.

Other communities served in Tioga County, Pennsylvania include the unincorporated villages of Wellsboro Junction (in Delmar Township) and Middlebury Center (in Middlebury Township), and the boroughs of Tioga, and Lawrenceville.

The main rail line runs north along Pennsylvania Route 287 from Wellsboro to Tioga, and follows U.S. Route 15 north from there to Corning. From From Wellsboro north, the track follows Marsh Creek to Wellsboro Junction and from Middlebury Center to the state line, the track follows Crooked Creek

The corporate offices are located in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. There is a connection to the Norfolk Southern Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway lines at Corning.

1 North Shore Railroad System
2 History
3 Tioga Central Railroad (TIOC)
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] North Shore Railroad System

The Wellsboro and Corning Railroad is part of the North Shore Railroad System, which includes the following short lines:

Robey Railroads, a private company, operates the Wellsboro and Corning Railroad. The track used by the railroad is owned by Growth Resources of Wellsboro.

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 UCIR). As of 2006, there are plans by Robey to consolidate these seven lines as the Susquehanna Railroad Corporation, a non-operating holding company.

The system has trackage rights via the Norfolk Southern line, but they do not connect to the Wellsboro and Corning Railroad.

[edit] History

The oldest part of the line operated by the Wellsboro and Corning Railroad (between Lawrenceville and just south of Corning) was opened in 1840 as part of the "Tioga Railroad", and in 1854 became the "Blossburg and Corning Railroad". In 1872, the track from Wellsboro Junction to Lawrenceville was built as part of the "Wellsboro and Lawrenceville Railroad", which merged with the Blossburg and Corning in 1873 to form the "Corning, Cowanesque and Antrim Railway". This line served the Fall Brook Co. coal fields south in Antrim, Pennsylvania (on Marsh Creek) and became the "Fall Brook Railway" in 1892. This was leased to the "New York Central and Hudson River Railroad" in 1899, which was reorqanized as the New York Central Railroad in 1914. This became part of Penn Central Transportation in 1968, and in 1976 was absorbed into Conrail. When Conrail abandoned it December 31, 1992 (having abandoned the line south from Wellsboro Junction to Jersey Shore in 1988) the line was purchased by Growth Resources of Wellsboro (GROW). The Wellsboro and Corning Railroad was formed in 1993 to continue providing rail service to the communities on the line.

[edit] Tioga Central Railroad (TIOC)

The Tioga Central Railroad is a tourist/excusrion railroad that also uses the line operated by the Wellsboro and Corning Railroad. They operate three diesel electric lcomotives and seven passenger cars. With the exception of an open observation car, all of the passenger cars are air conditioned.

From May to October, trains run several times a day on Saturdays and Sundays, with weekday trips on holidays and as scheduled. In autumn, there are special fall foliage trips.