Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad – P&LE

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Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad: ‘The Little Giant’

Historical Origins and Development

Centered in Pennsylvania’s industrial heartland, the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE), chartered on May 11, 1875, and operational by 1879, became a cornerstone of the region’s steel economy. Nicknamed the “Little Giant,” it handled one percent of national freight tonnage on just 0.1 percent of U.S. rail mileage, moving coal, coke, iron ore, limestone, and steel to connect Appalachian resources with Pittsburgh’s mills. Frustrated by the Pennsylvania Railroad’s high rates, William McCreery and associates founded P&LE, with funding from steel titans like Andrew Carnegie and New York Central (NYC) affiliates. Construction began in 1878, opening a 64-mile line from Pittsburgh to Youngstown, Ohio, in 1879. By 1883, it leased the Pittsburgh, McKeesport & Youghiogheny Railroad, reaching Connellsville by 1901. NYC took control in 1887, granting operational autonomy. The line thrived during World War II but faced decline post-1940s as steel production waned. After NYC’s 1968 Penn Central merger, P&LE avoided Conrail absorption in 1976 due to profitability, but mill closures led to its 1992 sale.

Key Features and Operations

P&LE’s efficiency stemmed from its compact yet robust network, spanning roughly 230 route miles at its peak. The main line ran from Pittsburgh’s South Side Terminal along the Ohio, Beaver, and Mahoning Rivers to Youngstown’s Haselton neighborhood. Key branches included the Youghiogheny (58 miles to Connellsville) and Monongahela (54 miles to Brownsville), enabling interchanges with B&O and NYC. Notable facilities included the 200-acre Gateway Yard in Youngstown (a 1957 hump yard), McKees Rocks maintenance shops, and a Beaver Falls roundhouse. Freight dominated, powered by steam locomotives like 2-8-4 Berkshires and 2-8-2 Mikados, later replaced by diesels such as EMD GP7s and GE U28Bs in the 1950s. Passenger services, though secondary, included up to 50 daily trains pre-1930s and commuter runs until 1985, with B&O trackage rights for routes like the Capitol Limited until 1971. The standard-gauge line, often four-tracked in busy sections, was designed for heavy-haul freight.

Modern Legacy and Current Status

The P&LE ceased independent operations after its 1993 acquisition by CSX Transportation, briefly operating as Three Rivers Railway before full integration. Today, its main line persists under CSX, handling freight like chemicals and intermodal cargo. Sections from New Castle to Youngstown have been abandoned, with some converted into trails like the Great Allegheny Passage. Gateway Yard has been dismantled, but McKees Rocks is eyed for CSX intermodal upgrades. The Pittsburgh Terminal now thrives as Station Square, a historic commercial hub. In 2024, CSX introduced a heritage locomotive honoring P&LE, preserving its legacy. Though no longer a distinct entity, P&LE’s infrastructure remains integral to Appalachia’s modern rail network, adapting to contemporary logistics needs.

For More Information – Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the history and operation of the Appalachian Railroads. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Appalachian-Railroads.org. Much of the collective railroad history data points on this website are verified across multiple sources.

  • Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps, timetables, and track charts
  • Associations, Historical Societies and their Archives
  • Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
  • Newspaper Articles: Newspapers.com
  • Magazines/Online: ‘Trains‘, ‘Classic Trains‘
  • Books
    • Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
    • Appalachian Region
      • Grant: ‘The Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Rail Road’
      • Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City
      • Huddleston: ‘Appalachian Crossings – The Pocahontas Roads‘ and ‘Appalachian Conquest‘
      • Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina‘
      • Timko and Young: ‘Appalchian Coal Mines and Railroads, Vol. 1, 2, & 3‘
      • Roberts: ‘Sand Patch, Clash of the Titans‘
      • Yanosey: ‘Tidewater Triangle’
    • Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
      • Calloway: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Diesel Years‘
      • Griffin: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Standard Railroad of the South‘
      • Goolsby: ‘Atlantic Coast Line Passenger Service, The Postwar Years‘
    • Baltimore & Ohio Railway
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Baltimore & Ohio’
      • McGuirk: ‘Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the Potomac Valley‘
      • Ori, Salamon and Oroszi: Baltimore & Ohio/Reflections of the Capitol Dome‘ and ‘Baltimore & Ohio/Sunburst Trail to Chicago’
    • C&O Railway/Chessie System
      • Dixon: ‘Chesapeake & Ohio, Superpower to Diesels‘, Chesapeake & Ohio in the Coalfields, ‘C&O Allegheny Subdivision‘, and ‘Chesapeake & Ohio Railway – A Concise History and Fact Book‘, and ‘The Chessie Era’
      • Dorin: ‘The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’
      • Huddleston: ‘Riding the New River Train‘
      • Ori – ‘Chessie System‘
      • Paton: ‘Allegheny with an A’
      • Turner: ‘Chessie’s Road‘
    • Clinchfield Railroad
      • Beach: ‘The Black Mountain Railway’
      • Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield‘ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield‘
      • Helm: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad in the Coal Fields‘
      • Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter‘
      • King: ‘Clinchfield Country‘
      • Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color‘
      • Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century‘
      • Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine‘
      • Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains‘
    • CSX Railroad
      • Springirth: ‘CSX Transportation Heritage‘
    • ET&WNC: Listed on the website’s ET&WNC pages
    • Interstate Railroad
      • Wolfe & Wolfe: ‘Appalachian Coal Hauler’
      • Wolfe: ‘The Interstate Railroad‘
    • L&N Railroad
      • Castner, Flanary & Dorin: Louisville & Nashville Railroad The Old Reliable‘
      • Flanary: The Louisville & Nashville Cumberland Valley Division
      • Flanary, Oroszi & McKee: ‘The Louisville & Nashville in the Appalachians‘
      • Oroszi & Flanary: ‘Dixie Lines, The Louisville & Nashville Railroad‘
    • NC&StL Railway
      • Prince: ‘Nashville Chattanooga & St Louis Railway‘
    • Norfolk Southern
      • Esposito: ‘Norfolk Southern Railroad’
      • Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review‘
    • Norfolk & Western Railway
      • Newton: ‘Rails Remembered, Volumes 1-6
      • Warden: ‘Norfolk & Western: Diesel’s Last Conquest‘ and ‘Norfolk & Western’s Passenger Service’
      • Wolfe, Wilson & Mandelkern: ‘Norfolk & Western’s Clinch Valley Line‘
    • Pennsylvania Railroad
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad‘
    • Seaboard Air Line, Seaboard Coast Line, Seaboard System
      • Calloway and Withers: ‘Seaboard Motive Power‘
      • Carleton: ‘Locomotives of the Seaboard System‘
      • Griffin: ‘Seaboard Coast Line and Family Lines Railroad‘ and ‘All Lines North of Raleigh‘
      • Johnson: ‘Through the Heart of the South‘
    • Southern Railway
      • Davis: The Southern Railway, Road of the Innovators‘
      • Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi. The Southern Railway‘
      • Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History‘
      • Wolfe: ‘Southern Railway Appalachia Division‘
    • Virginian Railway
      • Reisweber: ‘Virginian Rails’
      • Wiley & Wallace: ‘The Virginian Railway Handbook‘
  • Online Article: Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘; Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
  • Online Videos: Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1 | Video #2:
  • Websites:

3Cs Websites

Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org