DAV&P train Warren - Dunkirk. May 23, 1949. Personnel left to right: Schmatz, Erickson, Bartkowiak, John Dickinson, McFarland, Cook James Peters Collection
The street trackage in Warren, PA up 4th was taken out about 1995, but the remains of the interchange track with PRR across the 4th yard are there as a major customer - Whirley Industries - located their factory right on the site of the original DAV&P passenger station. The factory receives plastic pellets in covered hoppers. There's only one track left there in the Warren yard. I'll accept that the photo above was taken in Dunkirk but it also sure looks like Warren to me. Those hills in the background are not typical of Dunkirk. There's three little chunks of the DAV&P left today: 1) Trackage in East Titusville between the interchange at Weyerhauser Lumber at East Titusville, just past the Rt. 27 grade crossing. The industrial track in town is amazingly active. Operator is the New York & Lake Erie; aka the Oil Creek & Titusville, about four miles. 2) The previous trackage in Warren, operated by Buffalo & Pittsburgh; about half a mile. 3) A little bit of the Fredonia spur from Dunkirk to Fredonia. Last time I looked the track was barely serviceable; I think it is CSX (ex-Conrail). Could be wrong on that one, it's been years since I looked. Trains Magazine had a nice centerfold shot of the DAV&P in Warren on the street trackage, same class of Consolidation with those oddball cylinders and inboard valve gear. The DAV&P station at North Warren, PA is now a restaurant called the Train Station, and the DAV&P freight house in Warren is the wood shop for Whirley Industries. It still very much looks the part.
I could have sworn I posted a "You've got me on that one, Roger" last night. Probably forgot to click on the Post button. Thanks for the explanation, Randgust. I guess the D stands for Dunkirk, but what about the rest of the letters? :tb-confused:
Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pittsburgh. Nickname was the "Dolly Varden". Very quirky little line, actually. Remember that this area of the state was experiencing a MAJOR oil boom, and PRR pretty much had a stranglehold on the entire region. The Erie managed to get into Oil City on a branch. NYC, through its proxies, was trying to build its own Pittsburgh-Buffalo main line right through the oil region. The DAV&P came from Dunkirk south, and made it as far as Titusville. The NYC came up from the south, from the 'low grade' Piney branch, as far as Franklin and Reno; just south of Oil City. So the ONLY MISSING PIECE was between Titusville & Oil City. There were two railroads there, and PRR pulled out all the stops to control both of them to block NYC. Even today, the Oil Creek & Titusville railroad is on one ROW, and the other, separate, ROW is the bike trail through Oil Creek State Park. The second railroad was leased to the PRR, but the lease stated it had to be operated. Right up until the PC merger, PRR ran 'one train a year' over the line to keep it from falling into enemy hands. DAV&P had a wonderful section of street running in Warren that PRR attempted to block by filing a court injunction with friendly parties in Warren. PRR got there first (1859) and DAV&P didn't get there until the 1870's. DAV&P got to the edge of Warren, and sat there until the Sheriff made his monthly visit out of town to his mother. As soon as he left town (and couldn't serve the injunction) the construction crews laid track right down the center of 4th Ave, through Warren, adn out the other side. On to Titusville! Dunkirk, Allegany Valley Pittsburgh Railroad
Thanks, I love to learn some of this previously unknown to me history. Your reference to "the enemy" renews my memories of the great rivalry between the PRR and the NYCS. :tb-biggrin:
