Turtle Creek Industrial Railroad

Turtle Creek Industrial Railroad

Turtle Creek Industrial Railroad locomotive #550 in Export, PA
Reporting mark TCKR
Locale Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Dates of operation 1982–2014[1]
Predecessor Turtle Creek Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad[2]
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length 10.7 miles (17.2 km)
Headquarters Export, Pennsylvania
Turtle Creek Industrial Railroad
M.P.
[3]
 connection to Pittsburgh Line
0
SZ
 Stewart Station Road
 PA Route 130
 Forbes Road
2.52
Turtle Creek
3.00
Simpson Run
 Saunders Station Road
 Pennsylvania Turnpike
3.69
Turtle Creek
 Mills Street
 Trafford Road
5.83
Turtle Creek
 Carson Avenue
 School Road
7.76
Turtle Creek
8.19
Turtle Creek
 Haymaker Farm Road
 US Route 22
10.19
Turtle Creek
 Van Buren Street
 Lincoln Ave
 Turtle Creek
Dura-Bond
 Puckety Drive
 Turtle Creek
 Old William Penn Highway

The Turtle Creek Industrial Railroad (reporting mark TCKR) was a short line railroad that operated in Pennsylvania. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dura-Bond Corporation of Export, Pennsylvania. The TCKR was created when Conrail (the successor to the Pennsylvania Railroad) abandoned the line in 1982. When it last was operational, the line ran from Export down the Turtle Creek valley until it joined with Norfolk Southern Railway's Pittsburgh Line at Trafford, Pennsylvania. Historically the line ran farther up the valley through White Valley and Delmont, but during the period it was owned by Dura-Bond the track ended just east of Export Borough after it crossed old 22 at the Export Tire plant.

In 2009, the line was devastated by a flash flood, leaving the railroad in a state of limbo with only limited service.[4]

In 2013, an agreement was reached to sell most of the railroad to Westmoreland County. As of June 2015, the tracks have been removed from most of the railbed, and work was in progress to make it into an extension of the Westmoreland Heritage Trail.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 http://www.murrysvilletrails.org/tc.htm
  2. ↑ http://history.rays-place.com/pa/west-railroads.htm
  3. ↑ Laman, Jeffrey; Guyer, Robert C. (Feb 1, 2010). Conditional Assessment of Short-line Railroad Bridges in Pennsylvania (PDF). Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
  4. ↑ http://railroadfan.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=17088


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