At its height in the 1930s, the railroad served 27 mines transporting nearly seven million tons of coal annually in Allegheny and Washington Counties.

By 1914 the railroad reached the town of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania on the Monongahela River.

[1][2] The railroad's engine houses and shops were at Montour Junction, near the Ohio River at Coraopolis, Pennsylvania.

In December 2010 MarkWest Energy announced plans to lease the Westland Branch right of way from the Montour Trail Council for 30 years.

The branch was redeveloped as a combination trail and railroad operated by the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway to serve MarkWest's Westland natural gas processing plant.