Pittsburg and Shawmut Railroad

The Pittsburg and Shawmut Railroad is often confused with the similarly named Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad from which the P&S had its origins. Further adding to the confusion is the fact that both were nicknamed the Shawmut Line, both operated in roughly the same geographic area, and both used similar diamond logos during their history. In fact the two were separate and unrelated companies after their 1916 split. The P&S operated on a single-track main line, with approximately 88 miles (140 km) of standard gauge track extending from Brockway, Pennsylvania to Freeport, Pennsylvania. The railroad operated using timetable and train orders without block systems until at least 1950. The main shops were located in Brookville, Pennsylvania. Beginnings The Pittsburg and Shawmut Railroad Company began life on July 21, 1903, as the Brookville and Mahoning Railroad, leased by the Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad. When the PS&N declared bankruptcy in 1905, the B&M was spun off into a separate entity and was renamed in 1909 due to confusion with the Boston and Maine Railroad's initials. Coal was the principal commodity for the line for its entire existence. Doodlebugs and passenger trains ran on the route in the early years but had all been eliminated by 1939. Recent History By 1986, the Pittsburg & Shawmut had interchanges with Conrail at Brookville and Freeport, and with the Chessie System at Dellwood and West Mongrove. The company acquired a ten-mile (16 km) section of Conrail track running from Sligo to Lawsonham in 1989 and reorganized it as the Red Bank Railroad. On December 31, 1991, the company purchased about of the Low Grade Secondary track from Lawsonham to Driftwood, Pennsylvania from Conrail and organized it as the Mountain Laurel Railroad. Spelling of Pittsburg The spelling of Pittsburgh as Pittsburg derives from the company's origins in the Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern Railroad. That company was chartered in 1899 when the name of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was commonly spelled without the h. The United States Board on Geographic Names advocated the h-less spelling from 1891 to 1911 in an effort to standardize the spelling of place names in the United States. ==Management==

The Arthur T. Walker Estate Corporation had direct control of the company until 1996, when the railroad was acquired by the Genesee & Wyoming. The Genesee & Wyoming operated the Pittsburg & Shawmut Railroad under its own banner until January 1, 2004, when it was absorbed into the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad, another G&W company. Simultaneously, a new company with the same name was created to purchase the property, which is now operated by the BPRR. (The P&S also acquired the residual common carrier obligation on the lines.) Today, most of the railroad is gone. The B&P ran the last train between Brookville, PA and Reesedale, PA in January 2000, and removed the tracks between 2005 and 2006. The main line between Brookville and Brockway was removed in 2003. ==Locomotive Roster==

The Pittsburg & Shawmut operated with steam power until the entire steam roster was scrapped in favor of dieselization in late 1953. After 1953, motive power consisted of a fleet of EMD SW9 switcher locomotives and, later, EMD GP7s. In the 1970s, the Pittsburg & Shawmut modified several aspects of the fleet to celebrate the United States Bicentennial: the warm yellow and red color scheme was replaced by red, white, and blue to resemble the nation's flag; locomotives were renumbered in honor of significant years in American history; and the locomotives were nicknamed after American historical figures and arms manufacturers. ==External links==