PITTSBURG & SHAWMUT
The 88 mile Pittsburg & Shawmut (no 'h' in Pittsburg) was a coal hauling shortline in north central Pennsylvania. The line was notable for painting not just one unit for the U.S. bicentennial, but it's whole 9 unit fleet of EMD SW9's, in the process giving them new numbers of historically significant years in U.S. history. In late 1991 the company expanded buying over 100 miles of ex Pennsy trackage from Conrail and named it the Mountain Laurel RR. Though Mountain Laurel had it's own power and color scheme, it's operations were out of the P&S Brookville shops and Mountain Laurel units ran on the P&S as well. In April 1996 the Genesee & Wyoming Co. bought both roads and has operated them as an extension of it's Buffalo & Pittsburgh RR.
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Big Power on the P&S were these two GP7's, #10 and #11 acquired from Conrail and given home-made chop noses by the P&S. Both units also wore a unique P&S paint scheme as seen here at Brookville, PA on April 9, 1988. |
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The railroad's fleet of SW9's was delivered in this classic EMD designed paint scheme (except that the red around the radiator was originally 3 'wings') that they wore until the bicentennial. Here is #237 at Kittanning, PA on July 6, 1976. |
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SW9 #234 pulls a freight into the yard at Kittanning, PA, the lines' base of operations on the west end. July 6, 1976. |
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SW9's #1774, 235 & 238 lead an eastbound freight a couple of miles out of Kittanning, PA on July 6, 1976. The Bicen units were also named, the #1774 being the 'Ben Franklin'. |
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SW9 #237 is outside of the shops at Brookville, PA on July 11, 1976. |
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Four of the SW9's, all in Bicen colors by now, congregate at Kittanning, PA on October 19, 1980. They are #1949, 1891, 1851 and 1866 |
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SW9's #1774 and 1776 are outside of the Brookville, PA shops on July 24, 1994. By this time the Bicen units had lost their names. |
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Not wanted by the Buffalo & Pittsburgh, the little SW9's were sold off to second hand owners. Here is the #1865 still in her P&S colors on the Juniata Valley RR at Lewistown, PA on March 27, 1999. |
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Even the Shawmut's cabooses got the red-white-blue treatment. Here is 'American Flyer' #196 on the back of a freight at Kittanning, PA on July 6, 1976. |