The end of the line. Just ahead is where the B&O line ends in Mansfield. This would have continued south to Newark. Note the pole line along the left side still in place.
This is the latest installment in the
series of
driving trips
of myself and my former coworker John. For those familiar with these
trips, as always we hope you enjoy our latest adventure. For those unfamiliar, we
hope you'll tolerate my ramblings about nothing in
particular. A
SPV Rail Atlas of Ohio will come in handy for
following along.
As was noted on our previous trip from November 14, 2020, John and I had a four year hiatus between driving trips. Vowing to not repeat the big gap between trips, we took advantage of a lull in our schedules and got together for another epic trip a little more than three months after our previous trip. In general we decided to review some trackage from our last trip and explore some new lines, primarily in northeast Ohio.
We started our trip in Mansfield at the diamond of the former B&O and Erie lines. As a refresher from our previous trip, this is the Erie mainline from Chicago to New York that has been decimated over the years. This section from Marion to Kent is called the Kent Sub-Division ("subdivision" is hyphenated in the timetable I found online). The B&O line is the Lake Erie Subdivision that was severed from Mansfield to Frederickstown in the mid-1980s when CSX installed a northeast transfer track in Fostoria from the Columbus Subdivision to the Willard Subdivision. The Erie trackage here is jointed 132 lb. 1949 vintage rail. This diamond intrigued me on our last trip because the B&O line dies about 1/10 mile west of the diamond, and the Erie line which extends for a few miles west is dormant. However the signals for the diamond are still lit! Here are some photos of the lit signals on this gloomy, wet February morning.
We doubled back and picked up the Erie line,
operated by the Ashland Railway, about
1/4 mile northeast of where it used to cross the PRR line in town (this
was PRR's Chicago to New York mainline). The Ashland Railway RofW is
wide enough for three tracks, but only one main of jointed rail
exists today.
We headed northeast and, after passing the Ohio State Reformatory where the movie "Shawshank Redemption" was filmed, we went a little further to Crall Road where we found a rail-served McFarland Cascade yard full of utility poles, as well as a bulk transfer yard full of plastics hoppers. Looks like the Ashland Railway has a healthy book of business here. Another mile or so north are an abandoned brick plant and another abandoned plant. The satellite photos show that both used to have rail spurs.
Just west of the abandoned brick plant is where the line makes a broad curve and starts to head southeast. It's a very pretty area but it's rugged and has several twists and curves. The Erie timetable shows several 40 or 45 mph speed restrictions on this section of track. The line then heads straight east for a few miles. The satellite maps suggest there was either a second RofW, or possibly the original RofW looping to the north and back south at a spot called PAVONIA on the SPV map. We did not check this out but it's worth a mention here.
To save time we headed east into the next major
town which was Ashland. At one time the Erie mainline crossed a long-abandoned
Lorain, Ashland and Southern track which stretched from Custaloga on the
PRR north to Nova on the B&O. The junction for these two lines was
on the northeast side of town, however a small piece of trackage
stretched east-west between them creating a small triangle. This piece
of east-west track, which appears to have been used as a way of
exchanging cars since the two lines are grade separated, is still in
place and we were lucky to see a loaded tank car spotted on the track
near an abandoned elevator. The first time John and I were here years ago, there
were cars spotted at the elevator. The track near the tank car is jointed 100 lb. 1922 vintage rail. Almost 100 years old!
A side note about stopping in Sterling. Several
years ago John and I drove
through here when the B&O signals were still up but new signals
were in the process of being installed. We were pressed for time so we
didn't stop, and to this day I still kick myself for not stopping. Now
we take the time to stop and take photos to capture that moment in
time. We'll revisit this idea later in the trip.
Moving east the CSX line and Erie RofW continue to parallel each other until they hit Rittman where the Erie turns north. We didn't check it out, but the Erie main reappears again on the northeast side of town (operated by the Akron Barberton Cluster Railway, part of the Wheeling & Lake Erie) to service the large Morton Salt facility in town. This facility actually is adjacent to both the CSX and ABC mains, but no switch exists anymore from CSX. There are some rail bridges over a creek on the east end of the property which appear to be what's left of trackage that used to enter buildings that no longer exist. The SPV map, published in 2004, shows the Erie abandoned between Rittman and Wadsworth which was true for a few years in the early 1980s, however according to a couple sources, the city of Rittman purchased the line from Rittman to Wadsworth and leased it to the Akron Barberton Belt in 1985. The ABC has been operating it since 2004.
We did find the B&O depot in town which has seen better days.
As we continued to follow CSX east, we heard an eastbound approaching so we stopped at Coal Bank Road and saw K183 sail by.
The RofW becomes very wide at this location and a middle track with weigh-in-motion scale exists about a half mile east of here. The track was rusty so if it's still in service it isn't used very often.
Further east additional tracks fill between the two mains. This is Warwick is where the CSX line and the now abandoned Conrail (ex-PRR Columbus, Akron & Canton route) used to cross. The CA&C has been gone since the early 1970s but a few poles from the pole line can be seen southwest of the former junction. Warwick tower still stands and is used by CSX crews. A third line, operated by RJ Corman (ex B&O/PRR), comes in from the south and joins CSX at what used to be the southwest connection. Another connection from this line to the northeast used to exist. Part of the pole line is also evident on this line.
We continued to follow CSX, which becomes
single track in Warwick, north toward Akron where things start to get
complicated to explain. We crossed CSX at Hudson Run Road
which has a second road crossing for the ABC Railway. This line makes a
sweeping curve to the west over CSX to serve several industries
west of the CSX line. We just missed seeing a CSX local head east at
this location, but spotted this ABC switcher idling at their yard
office.
We continued to follow the CSX line which is then joined by the Erie mainline at a spot called LAMBERT on the SPV map. So now we have the B&O, Erie and PRR all next to each other with the ABC about 300' east as we head northeast into Akron.
In Akron, there is so much to see and it literally
would have taken hours to explore all of it. To keep things simple for
John and I, we kept following the CSX New Castle Sub. into town and
would take it all the way to what is called Akron Jct. on the SPV map.
We heard westbound Q215 on CSX coming so we tried to find a spot to see
it. Right after passing what would have been a
great spot (near what used to be the Akron Union Station), the train showed up. Argh!
Finally we reached the convoluted Akron Jct. which at one time had four separate mainlines (two B&O, one Erie, one W&LE) operated by five different railroads (AB, B&O, Erie, PRR, W&LE) all meeting at basically the same spot but none of them crossing at a diamond. Thanks to the hilly terrain in the local area, everything crossed either over or under each other. Interurban lines also crossed here making for a busy spot! Three of the four mainlines are still intact. The Erie has drawn the short straw (seems to be the prevailing theme with the Erie) and is now the Freedom Trail, a recreational trail that still has one of the main tracks in place next to the path! The SPV map shows about a mile of the Erie in place around this area but the Historic Aerials site photos from 2001 show that this was basically overgrown but probably not officially "abandoned". In Dave Ori's book Chessie System there's a nice photo of a westbound Chessie train on the New Castle Sub. navigating the curve from south to west at Akron Jct. In that photo the Erie double track main is in the foreground, and in the background you can see how it peels away to the east.
Close to the middle of all of this is a coaling tower which can be accessed via a spur off of #2 track on the New Castle Sub. There's also a cool S curve on the same line which is accessible from the N Arlington St. road crossing. The other B&O line which extends more or less north-south has split owneship with the W&LE operating the line south of the junction and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad operating it to the north. The other W&LE line basically runs NW/SE through the area. We could have spent an hour alone just driving this spot but instead decided to keep moving east.
After making a quick stop to grab a tasty lunch (side note: if there are any Wendy's Marketing executives reading this, Wendy's is always our restaurant of choice for lunch during our trips, and we would love to have you sponsor our driving trips!), we arrived in Kent where the CSX New Castle Sub. we have been following ducks under a north-south W&LE line (called the Cleveland Line) on the southwest side of town. We took a couple photos of the W&LE depot which has been moved away from the RofW.
The Erie mainline we have seen along our trip also comes in from the southwest and switches from a trail to an active rail line to serve an aggregates company. This is operated by the W&LE subsidiary ABC Railway. Just south of the downtown the B&O depot still stands at the Summit Street road crossing. Here the CSX and Erie lines, which run basically parallel to each other, begin their grade separation as they enter into town. In Kent, the CSX line is in a trench and hugs the bank of the Cuyahoga River while the Erie is elevated at street level. The nice Erie depot is still intact and is now occupied by the Treno Restaurant. Just east of the depot is a grain elevator which has a spur but does not appear to be operating.
In Ravenna, the NS Cleveland Line flies over the CSX New Castle Sub. The NYC branch also went over the CSX line a little east of where NS did. The bridge abutments for this line are still in place. This section of NS is cab signaled so the trains do not call many signals, however the defect detectors can give an indication when something is coming. We heard a detector near Rootstown broadcast so we headed over to the NS line to see a westbound train fly by at track speed. John and I could not stop talking about how this train took our breaths away when the headend went by. It was impressive!
After getting a rush from the NS train, we headed back to the CSX line and followed it into Newton Falls. Along the way we tried to catch a westbound train but there are few road crossings in this area so we had to settle for a drive by viewing from State Route 5. We arrived in Newton Falls which was a stop on our last trip a couple months ago, however this time we actually had daylight to see the lay of the land! We drove by the CSX Newton Falls Subdivision which, as noted on the previous trip, was not active and CSX had filed to abandon but locals were trying to keep it active. The line is intact in Newton Falls but is rusty. As we'll see later, the rest of the line is not fairing as well. It peels off to the northeast from the New Castle Sub. #1 main. The RofW for a north-south NYC abandoned branch which goes under the New Castle Sub. is now a recreational path.
We continued east on the New Castle Sub. to Lordstown to double check an industrial park we saw the last time we were here which was stuffed full of stored locomotives, many of which had LTEX reporting marks for Larry's Truck & Electric in nearby McDonald, OH. We drove onto the property but noted the several security cameras at the unmanned gate so we decided to not venture any further. However, we were able to get a few distant photos from a nearby overpass.
We also got to see this westbound along with an eastbound which had a setoff in the Lordstown yard.
We decided to follow the Erie branchline toward
Cleveland westward. The Erie timetable online shows this as the First
Sub-Division, part of the Mahoning Division. It's showing on the SPV as
being abandoned by
Conrail, and based on the heavy overgrowth it likely was an early
abandonment. A former co-worker of John and I who worked in Sales for the Erie said
this line generated more revenue than any other line except for the New
York-Chicago mainline. Much of the the line has been turned into a
recreational trail, and we
found this historical marker at the trail parking lot off of Burton
Limaville Road at a spot on the SPV called JEDDO.
By this time we were running out of daylight so we headed straight west, crossing under or over several lines along the way. Our last stop with any amount of daylight was in Berea, one of the more popular railfan locations in the area. In Conrail days this was the key split point for Conrail's "X" shaped trackage in the area, and was a very busy place. Today, the NS (ex-NYC) Chicago Line sweeps in from the northeast and curves straight west, while the CSX (ex-CCC&STL) Cleveland Short Line basically runs northeast-southwest and stays to the southeast of the NS line. Connection tracks exist between the two, and Berea tower (BE) still stands in the middle of it. The beautiful Berea depot, now a restaurant, sits along side the CSX line. W&LE has trackage rights to run from Cleveland down to home rails south in Wellington. An oddity is the half standing bridge west of the interlocking over the Rocky River. The historical satellite maps show the bridge in place in 1955 but there's no track east of the bridge, so what this was used for is a mystery.
Now completely in the dark, we drove south and made a quick stop in Grafton where the CSX line (here known as the Greenwich Subdivision) crosses another CSX line (ex B&O), the CL&W Subdivision from Lester to Lorain. This is the same line that we saw join the New Castle Subdivision in Sterling. The diamond sits right next to State Route 57. The interlocking tower, which also used to sit just north of the diamond. has been moved back from the diamond by a couple hundred feet but still sits in an orientation that suggests it's still in service. Someone is keeping the tower in good order and lit up at night. Here is a photo with it lit up.
Interestingly the SPV map shows a line operated by
the Grafton and Brunswick Railroad moving east west through town. The
oldest topograph maps from 1943 on the Historical Aerials site don't
show the track, but the 1952 satellite maps do show the line joining
the CSX line south of town from the west then exiting the line north of
town and continuing east. There is very little information online about
this small railroad. Often local libraries are the only sources of
information for local companies.
Our last official stop was in Wellington where the
CSX Greenwich Subdivison crosses a W&LE line oriented in a
northwest-southeast direction. This is the southern extent of
Wheeling's trackage rights on this CSX line. About a quarter mile south
of the diamond is a connection track between the two lines that loops
like a balloon track around the Lorain County Fairgrounds. Across where
it meets up with the W&LE line is called LAKE JCT. where the Lorain
and West Virgina, today a tourist railroad, heads north to Pittsfield.
Not to be forgotten, the long abandoned Lorain, Ashland & Southern
line noted in Ashland also used to move north south through town and
basically paralleled the Lorain and West Virginia to the north.
The signals on CSX were dark and were red on the
Wheeling, so we decided to call it a night and head back to our
respective homes. Start to finish, add another 443.0 miles to the
odometer.
Questions, comments welcome!
= = =
Some information for this write up was obtained from the following sources:
Akron Railroads - Akron: https://akronrrclub.wordpress.com/ohio-railfan-hotspots/akron/
Akron Railroads - Kent: https://akronrrclub.wordpress.com/tag/erie-railroad-in-kent-ohio/
Abandoned Rails: https://www.abandonedrails.com/west-salem-to-rittman
Craig Saunders, Akron Railroads, Arcadia Press, 2016
Dave Ori, Chessie System, Voyageur Press, 2006
Frograil Rail Tours: https://www.frograil.com/tours/csx/newCastleSub.php
Google Maps: http://maps.google.com
Historic Aerials: https://www.historicaerials.com
The Lorain Morning Journal: https://www.morningjournal.com/news/lorain-county/digging-into-grafton-villages-history/article_2baab9ae-dbe1-11e9-8511-ab7e94b589d3.html
Mansfield News Journal: https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/local/2018/10/09/ontario-officials-options-former-general-motors-site-west-fourth-street-ontario-business-park/1568865002/
Multimodal Ways: http://www.multimodalways.org/archives/rrs/rrs.html
Railroad.net: https://railroad.net/viewtopic.php?t=38882
Trainorders.com: https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2978305Warren Tribune Chronicle: https://www.tribtoday.com/news/local-news/2019/02/mayor-says-newton-falls-left-out-of-loop-loses-rail-line/