Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railway

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The Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railway (PV&C) was a railroad in Pennsylvania that operated from 1870 to 1905. It ran about 98.6 miles on standard gauge and served as a predecessor to the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). Its main line followed the left (west) bank of the Monongahela River to Pittsburgh’s South Side from West Brownsville, with several branches serving coal mines and connecting to the South-West Pennsylvania Railway in Uniontown.

Origins and early growth
- The line began as the Monongahela Valley Railroad, chartered in 1867, with authority to build a Pittsburgh–Waynesburg railroad. It was renamed PV&C in February 1870.
- By November 1872, the first segment opened from 4th Street in South Pittsburgh (now the South Side) to Homestead, and the PRR soon gained control.
- The PV&C’s main purpose was to help the PRR create a southern bypass around Pittsburgh by linking to the Main Line near Turtle Creek.
- The line reached Monongahela in 1873, and in 1874 PV&C began operating a steamboat service to Brownsville. By 1875, trains ran into downtown Pittsburgh’s Union Station via the Panhandle Bridge. A connection near Turtle Creek opened in August 1878 with the Port Perry Branch and Port Perry Bridge.

PRR control and expansion
- In 1879, the PRR began operating the PV&C as its Monongahela Division. The PV&C was crossed by the O’Neill and Company Incline in West Elizabeth.
- The PV&C extended south along the Monongahela River: to West Brownsville by 1881, and then absorbed the Brownsville Railway to Uniontown, completing the line by 1882. The Brownsville branch was built in 1883 to connect to Brownsville itself.

Branches and acquisitions
- Pittsburgh and Whitehall Rail Road connected in South Pittsburgh in 1886; PV&C operated it from 1886 and merged it in 1888.
- McKeesport and Bessemer Rail Road built a line from the PV&C at Cochran to McKeesport in 1890–1891; PV&C operated it in 1891 and merged it in 1894.
- The Monongahela River and Streets Run Rail Road Company acquired the Streets Run branch in 1892, later merging into the PV&C in 1894 and extending the branch in 1902.
- Peters Creek branch (1893–1894) and its extensions continued through 1903.
- Keister branch (1899–1900) and the Monongahela and Washington Railroad, built from Monongahela to Ellsworth (1899–1900) with a branch to Cokeburg (1902), were absorbed as well.
- The PV&C merged these lines on July 1, 1904.

End of PV&C and legacy
- The PV&C was merged into the Pennsylvania Railroad on April 1, 1905.
- Today (as of 2015) the PV&C main line is owned by Norfolk Southern and operates as its Mon Line.