Custer Interlocking

Custer interlocking was a control point between mainlines 1 and 2 of the Panhandle mainline that ran from Pittsburgh to Columbus and eventually Saint Louis. It was located a mile west of a small quiet farm town named Jewett, Ohio and 30 miles west of Steubenville.

The Panhandle mainline, before its downgrading, saw 30 plus trains a day. Two trailer trains, Mail 3 and Mail 4, if on time, usually met each other around this area. The two trains here represent those two.

The train in between the two is on the parallel Norfolk and Western mainline to Pittsburgh and Toledo and trains on that line had nothing to do on the parallel Panhandle line. In this area was a siding where N&W trains met each other on its single track line.

At this time, this was a busy place with upwards of 50 trains between the two lines. Today, the N&W line between Jewett and Bowerston is now a rails-to-trails and the Panhandle line is now single track. Former N&W trains, now W&LE trains use the Panhandle line between Jewett and Bowerston. Both lines where CTC signal controlled, neither are today. And between Ohio Central and Wheeling and Lake Erie, one would be lucky to see half a dozen in a days time.

For a current view of the same signal bridge, click [link]