41°47′18″N77°18′10″W / 41.788360°N 77.302786°W /41.788360; -77.302786
 | |
 WCOR train in 1995 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Genesee & Wyoming |
| Headquarters | Exton, Pennsylvania |
| Reporting mark | WCOR |
| Locale | Pennsylvania andNew York |
| Dates of operation | 1993– |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge |
TheWellsboro and Corning Railroad (reporting markWCOR) is a 35-mile (56 km)shortline railroad that operates betweenWellsboro, Pennsylvania andCorning, New York, passing throughTioga andLawrenceville. It parallelsPennsylvania Route 287 andU.S. Route 15, following the valleys ofMarsh Creek,Crooked Creek, and theTioga River. The railroad connects withNorfolk Southern'sSouthern Tier Line at Corning.
The line was formerly part of theNew York Central Railroad system, later acquired byConrail, who sold the line to Growth Resources of Wellsboro in 1992. WCOR began operations in 1993, and was controlled by Richard Robey, owner of theNorth Shore Railroad System, until January 2008, when Myles Group ofExton, Pennsylvania bought the company.[1] In April 2012,RailAmerica purchased a 20% share in the railroad.[2] TheTioga Central Railroad operatedtourist trains over the line between Wellsboro and Tioga until 2022. As of 2023[update], the line is owned by holding companyGenesee & Wyoming.[3]
Most of the WCOR was once part of a main line connecting to theNew York Central Railroad's Water Level Route atLyons, New York.[citation needed] The north end of what would become the WCOR was built in 1841 by the Tioga Coal, Iron Mining & Manufacturing Company (later reorganized as the Blossburg & Corning Railroad), and extended fromCorning south toLawrenceville. The south end from Lawrenceville toWellsboro was built by the Wellsboro & Lawrenceville Railroad, opening in 1871. The two railroads were combined in 1873 as theCorning, Cowanesque & Antrim Railroad.[4] The main line, finished in 1883 by theJersey Shore, Pine Creek & Buffalo Railway, branched off north of Wellsboro.[citation needed] The Corning, Cowanesque & Antrim was leased toFall Brook Railroad in 1892, which was then leased to New York Central in 1899.[4] Its successor theGeneva, Corning & Southern Railroad was absorbed by New York Central in 1914.[5]
The publicly owned and operatedConrail retained the line when it began operations in 1976, but later abandoned it south of Wellsboro Junction, throughPine Creek Gorge (also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania), turning the line into a minor branch.[4] Conrail sold the line to Growth Resources of Wellsboro in December 1992, who began operating the WCOR in January 1993.[6] TheTioga Central Railroad, which had operated freight inTioga County, New York until May 1992 (when the Owego & Harford Railway took over), began operating tourist trains in May 1994.[7]
The Wellsboro and Corning Railroad was acquired byGenesee & Wyoming, a shortline railroad holding company, in 2012.[8]
The railroad's geographic orientation covers one of the largest and most active portions of theMarcellus Shale formation, which is being actively explored for natural gas. This has resulted in customers referring to the railroad as the "Main Line to the Marcellus".[citation needed]
The railroad had its busiest year in more than two decades in 2009, fueled by demand from a booming natural gas industry in the region, which uses sand inhydraulic fracturing operations. The sand-hauling portion of the railroad's operations began in 2009, and made up 80% of their business in 2010.[9]
