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This photo shows an eastbound train departing Monessen on February 15, 1986. The power for the train consisted of U28B 2812, MP15 1592, and U28B 2802. The large brown building in the background of the photo contains the basic oxygen furnaces of the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel's Monessen Plant. Just below the walkway stairs, a switcher from the Monessen Southwestern is shoving a hot metal car into the building. In the going-away shot, the train begins to accelerate past a cut of hot slabs. Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel operated a rolling mill on the opposite bank of the river in Allenport. Prior to 1973, slabs from Monessen were moved across the river by barge. This was a time-consuming operation which increased the costs at the Allenport Plant as the slabs had to be reheated before rolling. After 1973, an agreement was reached with the P&LE and Penn Central. Using pooled power and crews, the slabs started moving by rail between Monessen and Allenport. The trains would head east out of Monessen on the P&LE, then enter PC rails as they crossed the river at CP BROW. The hot slab trains would then head north on the PC Mon Line to the Allenport facility. This agreement carried over into the Conrail years and lasted until Monessen's BOF shut down in the late 1980's. (Kevin N. Tomasic)

Photograph from Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad In Color Volume 1: 1976-1992 by Richard C. Borkowski Jr..

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