A pair of Norfolk & Western geeps comes off of the turntable in the Baltimore & Ohio yard in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. Until 1975, the main Connellsville interchange for the N&W, and predecessor Pittsburgh & West Virginia, was with the Western Maryland in remote Bowest, across the Youghiogheny River. The Chessie System’s abandonment of parts of the WM ended the Alphabet Route (NKP, W&LE, P&WV, WM, RDG, L&HR, NYNH&H) alternative to direct freight routing over either NYC, PRR, B&O, or Erie. By the time of this photo, the N&W Connellsville Secondary, was largely operated as a turn out of Rook Yard in Pittsburgh. The turn’s power is a GP7 originally from the Nickel Plate repainted in the 1970’s NW block lettering scheme, and an original N&W GP9 still in its original 1957 paint.
