Penn Central Track Diagrams

The following diagrams were scanned from original PRR, NYC, and PC track diagrams and maps.

Main Line Philadelphia to Pittsburgh (ex-PRR)

Cork Interlocking, Lancaster, Pa: Cork Interlocking was the junction of the Columbia Branch with the Main Line, and it also controlled the station tracks of the Lancaster station.
Roy Interlocking, Middletown, Pa: Roy was the junction of the Susquehanna Branch with the Main Line. It was remotely controlled from State in Harrisburg.
State Interlocking, Harrisburg, Pa: State Interlocking in downtown Harrisburg, which controlled the east end of the passenger station, along with the junction of the Cumberland Valley Branch.
Harris Interlocking, Harrisburg, Pa: Harris Interlocking in downtown Harrisburg, which controlled the west end of the passenger station, and the leads to the engine terminal.
Rockville Interlocking, Rockville, Pa: This is a diagram of the interlockings at both ends of the Rockville Bridge over the Susquehanna River. On the east side of the river, the PRR line to Buffalo split off of the main line, while on the west side of the bridge were the approaches to Enola Yard.

Cumberland Valley Branch (ex-PRR)

Lemo Interlocking, Lemoyne, Pa: Lemo controlled the junction of the York Haven Line with the CV Branch.
Pennroad Interlocking, Shippensburg, Pa: Pennroad controlled a junction of the Reading Company with the CV Branch.
Town Interlocking, Hagerstown, PaTown controlled a junction with the Western Maryland.

Enola Yard

Located on the banks of the Susquehanna River across from Harrisburg, Enola was a major classification yard on the PRR and into the Penn Central.

Main Line Harrisburg to Buffalo

Dauphin to Millersburg: CTC chart for trackage from Rockville Interlocking to Millersburg
Millersburg to Sunbury: CTC chart for trackage from Millersburg to Sunbury
SF Interlocking, Sunbury, Pa: Controlled a junction of a Reading Company branch with the Main Line
Sunbury to Northumberland: CTC chart for trackage from Sunbury to Northumberland

Main Line Pittsburgh to Chicago (ex-PRR)

Better known as the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago, this former Pennsy main line connected the cities of its name and was a primary freight route for the Penn Central.

MP 30-40: Beaver Falls and Homewood Junction, Pa.
MP 40-50: New Galilee, PA/OH state line.
MP 50-60: East Palestine and Columbiana, Ohio
MP 60-70: Leetonia and Salem, Ohio
MP 70-80: Salem, Beloit, Sebring.
MP 80-90: Alliance, Ohio, including the junction of Main Line-Valley and the Mahoning Secondary.
MP 90-100: Louisville, Fairhope, and Canton.
MP 100-110: Canton and Massilon.
MP 110-120: Massilon and North Lawrence.
MP 120-130: Orrville and Smithville, including crossing of Akron Branch.
MP 130-140: Wooster, Ohio.
MP 140-150: Millbrook, Shreve, and Big Prarie.
MP 150-160: Lakeville and Loudonville, Ohio.
MP 160-170: Perryville and Lucas.
MP 170-180: Mansfield, Ohio.
MP 180-190: Toledo Junction and Crestline, including crossing of ex-NYC Big Four main to Cleveland.
MP 190-200: Crestline, North Robinson, and Bucyrus.
MP 200-200.6: Bucyrus, Ohio.
River Interlocking, Upper Sandusky, Ohio: This is a diagram of "River" interlocking on the former PRR PFtW&C line. It is located on the east side of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, where the line crosses the Sandusky River. This diagram dates around 1968 or 1969 and came from a General Order. Contributed by Cass Telles.

Main Line - Valley (ex-PRR/C&P)

The Penn Central's Valley Main, later (and more descriptively) called Main Line-Alliance to Cleveland, was part of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, a PRR subsidiary, which ran between Rochester, Pa., and Cleveland. South of Alliance, the line was known as the Mahoning Secondary to Bayard, and as the Bayard Branch from Bayard to Rochester.

MP 67-70: Alliance, Ohio.
MP 70-80: Atwater, Ohio.
MP 80-90: Rootstown and Ravenna, including Y&R Connection track junction and RAVE tower. Also includes connection to Hugo Secondary Track at MP 89.08.
Y&:R Connection: Youngstown & Ravenna Connection, which connected the ex-PRR and Baltimore & Ohio main lines in Ravenna. PC had trackage rights over B&O between Ravenna and Niles Junction, Ohio, as a shortcut between Cleveland and Youngstown, and this trackage permitted trains to pass between the two mains.
Hugo Secondary Track, MP 25-26: At Brady Lake, Ohio. This was a remaining one-mile stub of the Lake Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad, which was built by the PRR but only used by the NYC as a shortcut between Cleveland and Youngstown.
MP 90-100: Hudson, Ohio, including connection to the Akron Branch.
MP 100-102: Between Hudson and Macedonia. MP 102 marked the division post between the Central and Lake (later Western) Regions.
MP 102-110: Macedonia to Bedford, Ohio, including locations TWIN, LEDGE, MOTOR, WHEELOCK, and WALTON.
MP 110-120: Bedford to Cleveland, Ohio, including locations MAPLE, WHITE, HARVARD, ERIE CROSSING, and HOLTON AVE. At WHITE was the junction of the Harvard Connecting Track, which joined the Valley Main to the Cleveland Short Line Branch.
MP 120-124: Cleveland, Ohio, including locations SUPERIOR, ALABAMA, and the connection to the ex-NYC main along the Lake Erie waterfront at W. 3rd Street.

Main Line Buffalo to Chicago (ex-NYC)

This was part of the famous New York Central "Water Level Route" main line.

MP 8-10: Athol Springs, NY, and CP 10.
MP 10-20: CP 15.
MP 20-30: Angola to Irving, NY, including CP 21 and CP 23.
MP 30-41: Silver Creek to Dunkirk, NY, including CP 32 and CP 37.
MP 41-50: Dunkirk to Brocton, NY, including CP 42, CP 47, and CP 49.
MP 50-60: Westfield, NY, including CP 56 and CP 58.
MP 60-70: Ripley, NY, including CP 63 and CP 66.
MP 70-80: North East and Harbor Creek, Pa, including CP 70, CP 73, and CP 79.
North East, PA: North East is at MP 73 (from Buffalo) on the New York Central main between Buffalo and Cleveland. Today, North East is home to the Lake Shore Railway Historical Society. Among their collection of equipment are New York Central U25B 2500 and South Shore "Little Joe" electric 802. A former NYC tower still stands today at North East just west of the passenger station. This map was last revised in 1957, so technically it is a NYC map.
MP 80-90: Erie, Pa, including CP 85 and CP 89 (Dock Junction).
MP 90-100: Fairview, Pa, including CP 92 and CP 97.
MP 100-110: Lake City, Pa, including CP 100 and CP 103.
Girard Junction, PA: At MP 103 on the NYC main, Girard Jct. was where the PRR's Erie & Pittsburgh Branch joined.
MP 110-120: Conneaut, Ohio, including CP 113 and CP 117.
MP 120-131: Ashtabula, Ohio, including CP 124 and OD Tower and West Avenue Yard.
MP 131-140: Geneva, Ohio, including CP 134 and CP 137.
MP 140-150: Madison and Perry, Ohio, including CP 141, CP 143, CP 145, and CP 148.
MP 150-160: Painesville and Mentor, Ohio, including CP 150, CP 152, CP 154 (B&O Lake Branch crossing), and CP 155.
MP 160-170: Willoughby and Wickliffe, Ohio, including CP 162 and CP 167.
MP 170-180: East side of Cleveland, Ohio, including Collinwood Yard, QD Tower, CUT and Short Line Branch junctions, and East 55th Street.
MP 180-190: Downtown and west side of Cleveland, Ohio, including East 26th Street, Double Track connection (Valley Main junction), the junction of the Clark Branch, DB (Cuyahoga River drawbridge), and Lorain Street.
MP 190-194: Brook Park and Berea, Ohio, including CP 190 (Rockport Yard) and BE Tower.

Cleveland Union Terminal Branch (ex-NYC)

The CUT Branch served Cleveland Union Terminal. It began at QD Tower at Collinwood Yard, on Cleveland's northeast side, ran to downtown Cleveland and CUT, paralleling Norfolk & Western's ex-Nickle Plate main line for part of the way, and then continued across the southwest side of Cleveland, ending in Berea at a junction with the ex-NYC Buffalo-Chicago main and the ex-Big Four/NYC main to Indianapolis and Columbus. At Collinwood and Linndale, NYC passenger trains would exchange their steam power for a P1a electric, but by the time of the Penn Central, the P1a electrics had been rebuilt to P2b's (and a single P2a) and were running on the Hudson Division between Grand Central Terminal and Croton-Harmon, NY.

MP 0-10: QD Tower to CUT.
MP 10-20: CUT to Engle Road, including CLARK (junction with Clark Branch), Linndale, and SHORT (junction with Cleveland Short Line Branch and Rockport Yard).
MP 20-22: Holland Road to Berea and BE Tower.

Cleveland Short Line Branch (ex-NYC)

The Cleveland Short Line was NYC's freight bypass around Cleveland. It extended from QD Tower at Collinwood Yard on Cleveland's northeast side to a connection with the CUT Branch at SHORT, on Cleveland's southwest side. Directly across the diamond at SHORT was Rockport Yard, which also connected with the ex-NYC Buffalo-Chicago main line at its west end.

MP 0-10: QD Tower to East 71 Street, including the locations MAYFIELD, QUINCY, BUCKEYE, KINSMAN (all named for streets), TUNNEL, and MILL. Between TUNNEL and MILL were a pair of tunnels underneath Broadway and Harvard Avenue, and at MILL was the junction of the Harvard Connecting Track, which joined with the ex-PRR Valley Main and allowed trains running from the Valley Main to points west of Cleveland on the ex-NYC to bypass downtown Cleveland.
MP 10-18: Willow Freeway (Interstate 77) to SHORT, including locations MARCY, CANAL, BRADLEY, STATE RD, and PARMA. Between CANAL and BRADLEY was the Marcy Trestle, a steel trestle which carried Short Line trains over the Cuyahoga River valley. Because of deterioration in the trestle, Penn Central (and Conrail) operated only one track over it. Just before the Conrail merger the bridge was rebuilt by CSX back to two-track operation.

Clark Branch

The Clark Branch was the remaining stub of the former Big Four main line into downtown Cleveland. It ran from a connection with the ex-NYC Buffalo-Chicago main line near DB to CLARK, where it joined the CUT Branch. Its mileposts were numbered from QD Tower.

MP 9.24-12.84: DB to CLARK, including OX drawbridge and DK.

Akron Branch (ex-PRR)

The Akron Branch split off of the ex-PRR Valley Main at Hudson, Ohio, and ran southwest through Akron and Orrville, ending at Columbus. It was made redundant with the Penn Central merger by the ex-Big Four/NYC mainline between Cleveland and Columbus, and was mostly abandoned later when washouts took out several portions of the line.

MP 0-10: Hudson, Cuyahoga Falls, and Akron, Ohio.
MP 10-20: Akron, Ohio, including Akron Junction, JO Interlocking, and South Akron Yard. From Akron Junction at MP 11.5 to Warwick Tower at MP 27, the Akron Branch and the Baltimore & Ohio main line had a joint-track arrangement.
MP 20-30: Barberton and Clinton (Warwick), Ohio. The B&O and PC parted ways at Warwick Tower.
MP 30-40: Marshalville and Orville, Ohio, including the crossing of the ex-PRR Pittsburgh-Chicago main line and Orrville Yard. At MP 39 was the division post between the Central and the Southern Regions. The Akron Branch continued south to Columbus.

Bayard Branch (ex-PRR)

The Bayard Branch ran from Rochester, Pa., to Fairhope, just outside of Canton, Ohio. The line from Rochester to Bayard was the main line of PRR subsidiary line Cleveland & Pittsburgh. The Bayard-Fairhope portion was built later as the "Bayard Cutoff," which allowed trains from Rochester to Canton and points west to travel via the Bayard Branch, since there was no connection in the southwest quadrant of the diamond at Alliance.

MP 26-30: Yellow Creek and Hammondsville, Ohio.
MP 30-40: Irondale, New Salisbury, and Salineville, Ohio
MP 40-50: Summitville and Kensington, Ohio.
MP 50-60: East Rochester and Bayard, Ohio.
MP 60-69: Louisville and Fairhope, Ohio, and the connection to the ex-PRR Pittsburgh-Chicago main line.

Mahoning Secondary (ex-PRR)

The Cleveland & Pittsburgh line between Bayard and Alliance. This short line was (and still is) unsignaled, or "dark," territory.

MP 55-60: Bayard and Moultrie, Ohio.
MP 60-67: Homeworth and Alliance, Ohio.

Erie & Pittsburgh Branch (ex-PRR)

The Erie & Pittsburgh Branch is the line that I am modeling in HO. It ran between New Castle and Erie, Pennsylvania.

Map of E&P from New Castle to Jamestown, PA: This was actually scanned from a Conrail Youngstown Division map dating from 1980. However, the only differences between this map and as it appeared in PC days was the change of name from E&P Branch to Castle Industrial Track (New Castle to Wheatland) and Wheatland Industrial Track (Wheatland to Jamestown). The E&P north of Jamestown had been abandoned in the early 1970's. Surrounding railroad lines on the original diagram were grayed out to show the E&P in particular, but also to help place the locale.
Drawing of Girard Junction, near Girard, PA, where the E&P met the New York Central's Cleveland-Buffalo main. The E&P had trackage rights on the NYC from Girard Junction to Dock Junction in Erie. These trackage rights (and E&P north of Jamestown) became superfluous after the PC merger.