West Penn Railways - Noncontiguous Lines

Noncontiguous Lines

There were five other components of West Penn Railways which did not connect to each other or to the main network of "Coke Region" tracks:

• Allegheny Valley Street Railway: This line ran parallel to the Allegheny River northeast of Pittsburgh, running from Aspinwall to Natrona. A branch crossed the river to serve New Kensington, Parnassus, and Arnold. Service began in 1906 and ended in 1937.

• Apollo - Leechburg: Operated 1906-1936 along the north bank of the Kiskiminetas River.

• Kittanning: A line ran from Cowanshannock to Kittanning to Lenape Park (1899-1936). Lenape Park was an amusement park built and operated by the company. This line was built to a 4 foot 8½ inch gauge, the only element of West Penn Railways not built to a 5 feet 2½ inch gauge.

• Oakdale - McDonald Street Railway: This line connected these two small communities west of Pittsburgh, operating 1907-1927.

• Wheeling Traction Company (Wheeling, West Virginia): Service operated from Wheeling south to Moundsville, and from Wheeling north to Weirton. Another line ran on the opposite (western) bank of the Ohio River, from Shadyside to Rayland, with a branch to Barton, and a connection by bridge to Wheeling. Another branch connected Brilliant and Steubenville to the Wheeling-Weirton line. Track length in 1917 was 102 miles (164 km). Wheeling's earliest trolley service consisted of horse-drawn trolleys in 1863 and electric trolleys in 1890, although this was prior to West Penn Railways acquiring control in 1906. Control by West Penn Railways ended in 1931, after which an employee-owned cooperative, Co-operative Transit Company, conducted operations on the Wheeling-Barton and Wheeling-Shadyside routes until 1948 when river flooding caused irreparable damage.