Wellsboro and Corning Railroad

Infobox SG rail
railroad_name=Wellsboro and Corning Railroad
logo_filename=Wellsboro and Corning Railroad.jpg
logo_size=125px
marks=WCOR
locale=Pennsylvania and New York
start_year=1993
end_year=present
old_gauge=
hq_city=Exton, PA

The Wellsboro and Corning Railroad reporting mark|WCOR is a short line that operates 38 miles of track in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania and Steuben County, New York in the United States.

The line runs between Wellsboro, Pennsylvania and Corning, New York. Other communities served in Tioga County, Pennsylvania include the unincorporated villages of Wellsboro Junction (in Delmar Township) and Middlebury Center (in Middlebury Township), and the boroughs of Tioga, and Lawrenceville.

The main rail line runs north along Pennsylvania Route 287 from Wellsboro to Tioga, and follows U.S. Route 15 north from there to Corning. From Wellsboro north, the track follows Marsh Creek to Wellsboro Junction and from Middlebury Center to the state line, the track follows Crooked Creek

At Corning, NY the WCOR connects with the Norfolk Southern Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway lines.

Myles Group, a private company, operates the Wellsboro and Corning Railroad. The corporate offices are located in Exton, Pennsylvania. The track used by the railroad is owned by Growth Resources of Wellsboro.

History

The oldest part of the line operated by the Wellsboro and Corning Railroad (between Lawrenceville and just south of Corning) was opened in 1840 as part of the "Tioga Railroad", and in 1854 became the "Blossburg and Corning Railroad". In 1872, the track from Wellsboro Junction to Lawrenceville was built as part of the "Wellsboro and Lawrenceville Railroad", which merged with the Blossburg and Corning in 1873 to form the "Corning, Cowanesque and Antrim Railway". This line served the Fall Brook Co. coal fields south in Antrim, Pennsylvania and became the "Fall Brook Railway" in 1892. This was leased to the "New York Central and Hudson River Railroad" in 1899, which was reorqanized as the New York Central Railroad in 1914. This became part of Penn Central Transportation in 1968, and in 1976 was absorbed into Conrail. When Conrail abandoned it December 31, 1992 (having abandoned the line south from Wellsboro Junction to Jersey Shore in 1988) the line was purchased by Growth Resources of Wellsboro (GROW). The Wellsboro and Corning Railroad was formed in 1993 to continue providing rail service to the communities on the line. Between 1993 and 2007, the railroad was owned by the North Shore Railroad.

Tioga Central Railroad (TIOC)

The Tioga Central Railroad is a tourist/excursion railroad that also uses the line operated by the Wellsboro and Corning Railroad. They operate three diesel electric locomotives and seven passenger cars. With the exception of an open observation car, all of the passenger cars are air conditioned.

From May to October, trains run several times a day on Saturdays and Sundays, with weekday trips on holidays and as scheduled. In autumn, there are special fall foliage trips. Each trip takes around an hour and a half round trip. The train runs through scenic Pennsylvania landscape and ends up at Hammond Lake. Osprey, deer, and bear can be sighted, and occasionally bald eagle.

ee also

*List of Pennsylvania railroads

External links

* [http://www.wellsboroandcorningrailroad.com/ Wellsboro and Corning Railroad]
* [http://www.tiogacentral.com Tioga Central Railroad]