ALPHABET ROUTE
The PITTSBURGH AND WEST VIRGINIA RAILWAY (PWV) operated in the Pittsburgh, PA and Wheeling, WV areas. It was originally built as a Pittsburgh extension of the Wabash Railroad, and earned autonomy in 1908. In 1931 it became part of the "Alphabet Route," an independent consortium of Rail Lines conceived to link the Midwest USA (Chicago, St. Louis, and Great Lakes ports) to the Northeast USA (Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston), in order to compete with the larger Railroads (Erie, Pennsy, and New York Central) that had already established direct routes. The name "Alphabet Route" referred to the "alphabet soup" of initials used by members for their respective Rail Lines i.e.: Nickel Plate (NYC&StL), W&LE, P&WV, WM, RDG, CNJ, L&HR, and NYNH&H. The Norfolk and Western Railway leased many of the Lines involved with the Alphabet Route in 1964, and the P&WV was leased to the new spinoff Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway in 1990, just months before the N&W was merged into the Norfolk Southern Railway. The W&LE has trackage through Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania and leased CSX trackage after the Conrail splitup. W&LE lines interchange with three major Class I Railroads, CN, CSX and NS. Most 1940's burnt orange paint schemes of the P&WV were repainted in black during repairs after the early 1950's, but some remained intact and could be seen through the 1960's.
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