The Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway began operations in January 1917, a court approved reorganization of the remaining assets of the ill-fated Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway. With its companion West Side Belt Railroad line, the P&WV connected track from Pittsburgh on west to Pittsburgh Junction, Ohio and to the east at Connellsville, Pennsylvania. Mainstay of the P&WV's business was hauling freight between the Western Maryland at Connellsville and the Wheeling & Lake Erie line at Brewster, Ohio. Passenger train service was in operation for about fifteen years and was phased out in May 1932.

One hundred years have passed since that Wednesday morning in June 1904 when a lone wooden railroad passenger car, pushed by a vintage coal burning locomotive, crossed over the new Monongahela river bridge at Pittsburgh to the new flatiron passenger station, officially connecting the Wabash Railroad to the city.

The story of how the single Pittsburgh Railways system evolved is a fascinating one, tied to the history and development of the City of Pittsburgh like a jig saw puzzle.

I began researching in 1975 and it took this long to compile complete and accurate stories with illustrations. Nearly all of the information in this book is being presented for the first time.