by Joseph Cermak/photos by the author
Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad operates a branch line northeast out of Butler, Pa., to serve two oil refineries in the Karns City–Petrolia area. En route, the bucolic line features three trestles in Chicora, and significant industrial switching at the north end of the line. This is the remaining portion of the original Northern Subdivision which at one time extended all the way to Mount Jewett, but is now cut back to the run-around track just north of Petrolia.
The line is served by local Train BT-3 out of the yard in Butler, with the 0900 crew making a daylight run on weekdays, typically returning south in good afternoon light. For several years the train operated with a mother-slug set lettered for the Rochester & Southern in faded red paint, but today the trip is usually covered by handsomely painted and clean B&P orange four-axle Geeps.
ABOVE: The Buffalo & Pittsburgh’s BT3 crew has run around their train at the end of the line in Petrolia, Pa., and begun the return trip south towards Butler, with a few customers to switch along the way. In this aerial view, the train is passing through the site of the former Occidental Chemical INDSPEC plant that closed in 2017.
After building their train and departing East Butler, Train BT-3 diverges from B&P’s Main Line Subdivision at a location known as Bonnie Brook, once the site of WS Tower, now a hand-thrown switch. The branch track diverges south of the main and heads east from the Keck Road grade crossing, then it ducks under the Main Line Subdivision’s trestle about a mile to the east, alongside Vanderzee Lane. While much of the line is buried in trees, there are numerous grade crossing photo opportunities along the line, and plenty of terrestrial photo ops in Karns City and Petrolia. The three steel trestles in Chicora are also easily accessible from streets, parks, and cemeteries nearby, but the use of a drone can also offer numerous additional vantage points along the line…
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