It operated a very active and inexpensive regional transportation service until August 9, 1952, when its last trolley ran on its one time busiest Uniontown to Greensburg line.

Because much of its fare generating business was to bring residents of outlying areas into nearby towns for shopping and entertainment in the evenings and the weekend, particularly to see movies in the 1930s and 1940s, the West Penn's business declined with the drop in area mine and coking employment, the construction of better roads, and increased car ownership and use.

Near abandonment, as shown in photographs of the time, the still well maintained big orange trolleys ominously carried signs reading, "To keep the 5c fare we need more riders".

In many parts of North America before automobiles and trucks, the interurbans were the only reliable way to travel and to move farm products to market quickly and economically.

West Penn Railway as a vibrant transportation system played a key role in the pre-automobile unpaved poor road era and was an important factor in the region's economy.

[3] The West Penn Railway had a number of steel bridges and viaducts crossing deep ravines and wide valleys, some remarkable in structural size and height for what amounted to a regional trolley line.

The bulk of West Penn Railways' trackage formed a network in Allegheny, Westmoreland, and Fayette counties of Pennsylvania, comprising 158 miles (254 km) in 1917.

The main line ran from Greensburg through Hecla (now known as Southwest), Mount Pleasant, Scottdale, Connellsville, and Uniontown, a distance of 31 miles (50 km).

The ridership was almost entirely local in nature; most passengers rode only a few miles (mainly from their homes to the nearest town for shopping, or to go to work).