Old Bridge at Dunbar, PA

As to where the line went you ought to check out the USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer http://historicalmaps.arcgis.com/usgs/  or Historical Topographic Map Collection at  http://nationalmap.gov/historical/  

Jan

The map shows a B&O line but, I think, they bought out an older RR to gain access  to Pa.

I will check with some friends from that area about that bridge.

Not too far away you will come across "Big Six Road".

 As a side note,Dunbar Creek is a fly fishing only stream.  Over the years I have waded that creek many times with mixed success

due to the clear water and very wary trout.

Norm 

According to some friends of mine the line was built as a shortline by a company called the Ohio & Baltimore.. and later bought out by B&O? That info is a bit patchy..  Apparently the line was abandoned in the early 1940's. Not sure of the date.

I did some more digging. Found this picture. Also it was the Ohio & Baltimore who first started the line.

Perfect. That is just what I was looking for. The stonework on the north end of that bridge is completely gone now. I am always amazed at how things can disappear as time moves on. There is no evidence of the lower bridge either.

Thank you so much.

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:

I did some more digging. Found this picture. Also it was the Ohio & Baltimore who first started the line.

WOW, what an unique bridge.  I'm saving the photo for a possible future project.  Thanks for posting Joe.

Good history lesson.  I never knew this bridge existed... where is it in relation to Dunbar "proper", where the former B&O "sheepskin" branch/today's SWP runs through town?

Interesting. that area was the heart of the coke making industry and there were a lot of Rrs through there I would guess.

That bridge was here (circled) just west of the Yough river, north of the town of Dunbar. According to the historical society in Dunbar, there were seven railroads through town at once at one time. It was quite the hub of activity in the beehive coke era. Did you know they constructed an authentic beehive coke oven in town as a monument a few years aog? It is made from new old-stock refractory bricks from the area.

Norm posted:

I will check with some friends from that area about that bridge.

Not too far away you will come across "Big Six Road".

 As a side note,Dunbar Creek is a fly fishing only stream.  Over the years I have waded that creek many times with mixed success

due to the clear water and very wary trout.

Norm 

There's also a "Big Six Road" out past Fairchance in Georges Township just about at the current end of the FM&P.  

The choice of names makes me smile ever time I get back home and drive out thru Hopwood to Fairchance.

What were the roads? Seven railroads in one town wow..

7 separate rrs through the borough of Dunbar? More like 3; PRR and B&O were parallel  through town, the West Penn interurban ran on the main streets (but did have private right of way on either side of town).
WM ended at Bowest yard, a mile north of the town. Nearby Connellsville had the P&LE and the P&WV.

The bridge originally referenced by the OP is a remnant of B&O's last attempt to build a direct line from the Pittsburgh main line to Wheeling starting in 1881, following an original survey from 1833. The bridge was constructed in the early 1880s as part of the proposed B&O subdivision, Ohio and Baltimore Short Line (O&BSL). At present day Greene Jct. at South Connellsville, the line had its own bridge across the Youghiogheny River, ran inland about 1/2 mile and crossed the previously mentioned bridge.
It then crossed present day US 119 and went west through Leisenring. About 5 miles of this line was completed before B&O management canceled the project.
It should be mentioned that 4 miles of this line was completed east of Washington,PA., before the work was halted.
By 1890, the east end of the O&BSL was extended about 2 miles to serve coke ovens at an place called Bittner.
The branch died by 1941, the bridge across the "Yock" was closed during WWI years after the present x-B&O "Sheepskin" line bridge was built next to it, although the FM&P line had a western connection to the Pittsburgh line.
The O&BSL bridge abutments are still there in the river, pointing eastward.
The above is from pgs. 142-144 of the book "Sand Patch" by Charles S. Roberts.
The Western MD. Railway Hist. Society has done much research on this area.

A lot of history in that area-military and industrial.  My great-grandfather was from Fairchance until the Civil War.

So that's where the "O&B Junction" name comes from...

There was also the New Haven and Dunbar short line railroad that connected with the B&O and PRR in Dunbar.  The Western Maryland had trackage rights on the B&O through Dunbar to access their captive branch lines in WV.  This puts the number of railroads running in Dunbar at 5.  The Connellsville and Dunbar area had to be a fabulous place to watch trains years ago.  

RailMan posted:

There was also the New Haven and Dunbar short line railroad that connected with the B&O and PRR in Dunbar.  The Western Maryland had trackage rights on the B&O through Dunbar to access their captive branch lines in WV.  This puts the number of railroads running in Dunbar at 5.  The Connellsville and Dunbar area had to be a fabulous place to watch trains years ago.  

As a kid in Connellsville during the fifties, railroad tracks were still dominating this area, many fond memories of packing a peanut butter sandwich and hiking along those steel rails, even had an uncle working out of Bowest.