| Extent | New Florence - Pittsburgh |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | independent: 1863-1865 Pennsy: 1865-1976 Conrail: 1976-1999 NS: 1999-present |
The Conemaugh Line is a rail line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Conpitt Junction (west of New Florence) northwest and southwest to Pittsburgh[1] along a former Pennsylvania Railroad line. At its east end, it merges with the Pittsburgh Line; its west end is at the Fort Wayne Line at the west end of the Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge. The line was used by the PRR as a low-grade alternate to its main line (now the Pittsburgh Line).[2]
A short branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad from Torrance (on the main line) to Blairsville opened in 1851; only a small piece of this at Blairsville is still in use.[3] The Western Pennsylvania Railroad opened from Blairsville west to Saltsburg in 1863[4] and to Kiskiminetas Junction (near Freeport) in 1864 or 1865.[5][6] The line from Freeport to Allegheny (Pittsburgh) opened in 1866.[7] A new, more direct line east from Blairsville was built by the Western Penn in the early 1880s, meeting the PRR main line at Bolivar.[8] The PRR's Sang Hollow Extension, now only part of the Conemaugh Line west of Conpitt Junction, opened east to Johnstown in 1876;[9] the portion east of Conpitt Junction was operated as a one-way line for westbound freight.[10] All of the aforementioned lines became part of the PRR through leases and mergers, became Penn Central in 1968, and were taken over by Conrail in 1976. In the 1999 breakup of Conrail, the line was assigned to Norfolk Southern.