1930 WNYP/NS/Pennsy Bridge over Allegheny River in Oil City, PA

(Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Bridge & Tunnels; HAER; Satellite)

WNYP = Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad (leased from Norfolk Southern)

This bridge carried Pennsy's mainline between Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Most of that line has been abandoned, but one of the original two tracks that were on this bridge is still used by the WNYP.

Photo from HAER PA,61-OICI,2--2 from pa1273

July 1971. AERIAL RECONNAISSANCE II, ERIE RAILWAY SURVEY. - Pennsylvania Railroad, Allegheny River Bridge, River Street vicinity, Oil City, Venango County, PA

[It is Pennsy's roundhouse. Erie was on the other side of the river. My understanding of the comments on the following posting is that the modern building on this side of the old building was part of the shops building. The modern part was retained and repurposed as the Oil City Warehouse Mall.] 

Ron Stafford posted
Another view of the roundhouse and wye at Oil City. If one looks closely, BRIDGE Interlocking tower can be seen in the center of the wye along the north bank of the river.
Alex Bessetti What year was the tower demolished?
Ron Stafford If your asking about BRIDGE tower, it was closed in 1971...not sure what year it was removed.
Raymond Storey shared
Matt Savage posted
Jim Kissane posted

Art Hood posted, Feb 9, 2024

Picture of my beloved "Y" bridge in Oil City, Pennsylvania, many decades ago.

Sad to say, this bridge was recently abandoned by the railroad, citing maintenance and repair costs too high.

Larry Fink commented on Jim's post
Photo of what looks like maybe a turntable over-run, into Sage Run, likely taken from the pedestrian bridge. Date unknown.

Jim Kissane posted
This is a still active Parker through truss bridge over the Allegheny River on Pennsylvania Railroad. Location Oil City, Venango County, Pennsylvania
Approximate latitude, longitude +41.42238, -79.69809 (decimal degrees)
41°25'21" N, 79°41'53" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates 17/608791/4586464 (zone/easting/northing)
Appears on USGS topographic map of Oil City
The yard and roundhouse are gone but the line is still active.
Jim Kissane To best of my knowledge the other is the Keddie Wye in CA http://bridgehunter.com/ca/plumas/bh44358/ (IndustrialHistory)
Robert Eisenman I'll see your Through Truss Wye Bridge and raise you an 8 span Through Truss Wye span with an active lift span as well. Fall Bridge at Wishram, Wa, gateway to the Oregon Trunk Sub. (IndustrialHistory)
Richard Kiester Rankin, PA. Out of service. https://maps.google.com/maps... (IndustrialHistory)
Jim Kissane Brian, the tracks to the right went to (and beyond) the former USS Imperial Works (Oilwell Supply division, closed many years ago.

Patches Croteau shared
[Joe Granger posted a couple of photos of the bridge between Houghton and Hancok, MI, which is another wye-on-the-river bridge.]

AltoonaWorks posted
2/2023 - PRR's wye bridge at Oil City is an interesting piece of history.  This crossing of the Allegheny River is on today's Western New York & Pennsylvania and we understand they are no longer crossing the bridge as of earlier this year [2023? It was posted May 2024].  There was one last customer on the far side of the river located 2 miles past the bridge.

MissyG's Photography: The bridge is not safe enough anymore and with only 1 customer left it was a waste to fix it up I guess.

Ron Mele: The bridge was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1930 to facilitate movement of freight and passenger trains through Oil City. The leg shown on the left ran through Warren, PA to Olean, NY. That route was dismembered with construction of the Kinzua Dam. The leg to the right ran through Corry, PA to Brocton, NY where it connected to the Nickel Plate line to Buffalo. Through service was discontinued as a consequence of the Penn-Central merger and the route north of Titusville was completely abandoned by the mid-1970s. In recent times, the bridge was used by the Western New York and Pennsylvania to provide service to a container plant on Oil City's south side. The bridge timbers were deteriorating and in need of replacement and the railroad determined repair costs were well in excess of revenue. So the decision was made to abandon the route. It's a sad ending to a once-important piece of railroad infrastructure.

Ron Mele: The railroad still serves the customer, but indirectly. A trans-load facility was built in Rouseville where plastic pellets are transferred from covered hoppers to trucks and transported to the container plant.

Ashley-Kirk Marshall: I remember visiting my Grandfather and seeing oil cans running under Conrail to Rouseville. Conrail used to bring in about 80 or so tank cars to the refinery. I got to watch a SW1500 and GP38-2 lug loaded oil cars, The SW1500 blew its engine lugging some cars to the yard on the other side of the river. I will never forget having breakfast at McDonalds or Eat N Park and the smell of the refinery.

Josh Thunder shared

PRR's wye bridge at Oil City is an interesting piece of history.  This crossing of the Allegheny River is on today's Western New York & Pennsylvania and they are no longer crossing the bridge as of earlier this year.  There was one last customer on the far side of the river located 2 miles past the bridge.

 

Adam Rupp commented on the above post
For those curious, its final run was for a single car.
Local here, bridge saw its last train on February 1st of this year. Official status is abandoned. Local group is trying to add it into the trail system. No official word on when or if the rails will actually be pulled up but I’ve seen rumors of plans for two years from now.

Rich Fleischer posted

Carl Venzke posted
Pennsylvania Railroad, Allegheny River Bridge, River Street vicinity, Oil City, Venango County, PA - photo by Jack Boucher c 1968
Rob Nichols Overheads show single tracked now with the line heading to the upper left now abandoned.
Rick Fleischer Just out of the picture, to the left, was the Pennsylvania Railroad's roundhouse at Oil City, Pa.

Jim Kissane posted
[The comments include questions and answers that are too detailed for me to pursue Since PA is way out of my territory of interest. I mention the existence in case others are interested.]

Joe Dunlap commented on Carl's posting
Still there.
[The satellite caught the river at a higher water level.]

George Ford Jr commented on Carl's posting

Francis Otterbein shared
Kim Hughes From what I've read Pittsburgh has the most bridges and Pennsylvania's right up there as a state. Beautiful picture thank you.
[Comments indicate that there used to be a double crossover when both tracks were intact. Someone wants to know how to model guard rails in a turnout on a bridge.]
Matt Marshall This side of oil city was the PRR, the Erie came up the other side of the river.
Thomas Jameson Hard fitting a railroad in those river valleys!

Dennis DeBruler commented on Francis' share
One advantage of roundhouses is that they leave a very distinctive land scar. Since railroads a reluctant to clean up their polluted ground, you can still see where many of the roundhouses stood.   https://www.google.com/.../@41.4233535,-79.../data=!3m1!1e3
Matt Marshall The warehouse mall in the pic was part of the shops.

Chris Spear commented on Francis' share with a photo from RRPictureArchives of a steam engine coming off the bridge.

Larry Zetterlind posted

Alex Dropps commented on Larry's post

Alex Dropps commented on Larry's post

Alex Dropps commented on Larry's post

Kelly Sandford Glover posted two photos with the comment: "The Wye Bridge crosses the Allegheny River at Oil City and Woodland Heights, PA. and carried the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Pittsburgh to Buffalo mainline. Although much of the route was abandoned in 1984 and 1989, the portion in Oil City is still in limited use by the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad (WNYP)."

Brian Luna: When I lived there the south side was 4 wide and as far as you could see oil tankers to and from pennzoil in rouseville.

Dan Young: When oil was discovered in Titusville and the surrounding area in 1869, the race was on to get to oil city. The Allegheny Valley Railroad (PRR) got there first, extending from Kittaning PA. The others raced to access from the north including the NYC, the Erie, And the Phila &Erie (PRR). The PRR was the ultimate winner, resulting in the Pittsburgh to Buffalo route. The Erie and NYC did get a piece of business from here too.

Larry Pratt: The WNYP operates a system centered on Olean, NY. The Southern Tier Extension heads east to the Norfolk Southern Railway's (NS' Southern Tier Line at Hornell and West to NS at Meadville, with a branch continuing to the Oil City area). Since 2007, the WNYP also operates the former Norfolk Southern Buffalo line from Driftwood, PA to Machias, NY. (from the company website)

Andre Tardif shared

Mike Tharan: Kinzua dam took out the northern ROW above Warren, PA...early1960s. The original runs north of Oil City were known among many as "Around then World". meaning up the river to Buffalo/Frontier Yard and down the Creek (Oil Creek) or vise versa. Up the creek - Oil City , Titusville, Spartansburg, Corry, Mayville/Chautauqua, Brockton, NY and north. The river route - Oil City, Tidioute, Irv, Warren, Salamanca, Olean, and north to Buffalo/Frontier Yard. The short version posted here.

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Alex Dropps posted two photos with the comment: "Since I seen a post about the WYE bridge in Oil City, Pennsylvania (Hence why I join the group) here are a few pictures from 8 years ago in December."

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Adam Rupp posted
Just after 1:00pm on February 1st, [2024] the last train went across the Wye bridge in Oil City. Western New York & Pennsylvania #430 making the run. Seemed like the engineer understood the occasion and took his sweet time crossing the bridge, taking chances to blow some smoke for those of us watching and taking photos/video. Upon finishing crossing the horn was sounded. My understanding is that the line will now be abandoned.
PD Cappola shared

Dave Kuntz posted four photos with the comment: "Oil City, PA bridge.  One track and 2/3rds of the wye have already been removed.  The other track and leg appears to be out of service and are used by the locals for crossing the river.  Can you spot the ATV on it in one of the photos?"

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Michael Jones commented on Dave's post
I was fortunate enough to chase the 2nd to last run south last December.

Roger Durfee posted three photos with the comment: "The former PRR wye bridge in Oil City, Pennsylvania. Although there are rails on the one leg, and the bridge isn't fully abandoned, the last train (a Western New York and Pennsylvania RR train, the current operator) ran over it earlier this year. Edit to say it was built in the early 1930s  to smooth out the flow of traffic through this area. Oil City, Pa, 09-19-2024, that's the Allegheny River under it."

Tim Shanahan shared

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