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The history of railroads in Cleveland, Ohio

Geographical advantages of Cleveland as a railroad center
Ohio and Lake Erie Canal brought Cleveland economic importance Cleveland to Akron section opened in 1827, and the rest in 1833 made Cleveland a major transportation hub in moving goods from the midwest to the populous east coast

after War of 1812, "get the farmers out of the mud" success of Erie Canal in New York prompted Ohio legislature to fund a canal in Ohio Clevelanders saw the canal as critical to the success of their town, and lobbied heavily for it ensured that Cleveland to Akron portion got first construction funds

flat terrain was very conducive to railroad development

before 1850, location on a body of water was critical for city to develop

opening of Erie Canal made lake cities much closer to the eastern metropolises than river cities like Cincinnati or St. Louis Cleveland took off ater opening of Erie Canal

Cleveland lobbying for O&LE canal robbed Sandusky (which had a natural harbor) of economic growth

cleveland was mid-way between NYC and Chicago its geographic location ensured that water, rail and road transportation would focus on clevealnd transportation made Cleveland an economic cetner raiol proved a critical role in making cleveland one of ohio's largest urban centers proximity to NYC and mid-atlantic cities gave cleveland an advantage when it came to becoming a rr hub

in 1820s clevelanders recogized important of rrs first rr in the are was the "Cleveland and Newburgh Railway", 1834, which used wooden rails; cars loaded with timber and stone used gravity to slide down Euclid hill, and horses drew the cars the rest of the way to public square C&N was abandoned in 1842 panic of 1837 caused cesstion of RR building

Railroads generally require a grade of 1 percent or less to accommodate the fastest, longest, and heaviest trains. Mainline grades of 2.1 percent may be permitted in very mountainous areas, but will require shorter trains, the use of one or more additional locomotives, and perhaps the uncoupling of some cars. Branch lines, feeder lines, and industrial lines may have grades as high as 4 percent, although only for short stretches of road.

That portion of the Erie Plain between Lake Erie and the Portage Escarpment connects the Central Lowland of the Midwest with the Mohawk Valley in the east, and provides the only natural, low-lying route north of the Gulf Coast to the North American interior from the Atlantic seaboard.

The escarpment continues to hug Lake Erie until it reaches Cleveland. Where the escarpment meets the valley of the Cuyahoga River, it bends southward and begins moving even further away from the shore. It is 4 to 5 mi distant from the shore between the Cuyahoga River and the Rocky River, and 17 mi distant from the shore west of the Rocky River.

erie plain natural avenue for roads and railraods

In total, its ranges from 440 to 540 ft in height, giving it a slope of 40 to 80 ft per 1 mi. East of Cleveland, much of the lower portions of the escarpment are covered in glacial moraine. This makes the escarpment somewhat discontinuous. The upper terrace of the escarpment is difficult to distinguish from the Appalachian Plateau beyond, because both are eroded so deeply by water. Where the escarpment meets the Erie Plain, it is much more well-defined.

to access the Appalachian Plateau, grade of 21 ft per mile

Earliest railroads
Cleveland's railroad history begins with two railroads, both chartered on March 14, 1836, and both opened for traffic in April 1851.

Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad was chartered on March 14, 1836.[1] But no work began on the road, and the charter fell dormant. On March 12, 1845, the state of Ohio reactivated the charter, and on February 8, 1847, the state amended the road's charter to permit the construction of branch lines.[1] Construction from Cleveland through Galion and Delaware to Columbus then began. On February 21, 1851, a grand excursion train with 425 passengers took members of the state and city government to Cleveland, returning them to Columbus after a day's layover.[2] Regular traffic began in April 1851 depot at west 9th st SW to wellington and then columbus

The Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad was chartered March 14, 1836, due to public support in building a railroad line between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. March 11, 1845 revived Cleveland, Warren and Pittsburgh Railroad, chartered in 1836. It was not until March 1847 and reorganization into the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad (C&P) that track was completed between Cleveland and Ravenna in April 1951. The C&.P was completed to Wellsville and had constructed a branch to Akron and south to the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Orrville by 1852. The C&.P became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1871.

cleveland to hudson

The Franklin Canal Company was chartered May 21, 1844, and built a railroad from Erie, PA southwest to the Ohio border. The Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad was incorporated February 18, 1848,[1] to build northeast from Cleveland, OH to join the Canal Company's railroad at the state line, and the full line from Erie to Cleveland opened November 20, 1852. The Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula bought the Franklin Canal Company on June 20, 1854.

The Junction Railroad was chartered March 2, 1846, to build from Cleveland west to Toledo. The Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad was chartered March 7, 1850, to build from Toledo east to Grafton on the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad. The latter company opened on January 24, 1853, finally forming a continuous Buffalo-Chicago line. On September 1 the two companies merged to form the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad, with the Junction Railroad becoming the Northern Division and the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland the Southern Division. The Northern Division opened from Cleveland west to Sandusky on October 24, 1853, and the rest of the way to Toledo on April 24, 1855. The Northern Division was abandoned west of Sandusky due to lack of business, but the track was relaid in 1872, merging with the Southern Division at Millbury, east of Toledo. In 1866 the Southern Division east of Oberlin was abandoned and a new line was built to Elyria on the Northern Division, ending the use of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad.

Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad (C&M), it was chartered in 1848. Construction of the line began in 1853 and was completed in 1857. In July 1863, the A&GW leased the C&M. On July 25, 1872, the Cleveland & Mahoning, Niles & New Lisbon, and Vienna & Liberty were merged under the laws of Ohio into a new company, the Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railroad (C&MV). on March 16, 1880, the five trustees of the A&GW organized a new company, the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad (NYP&O, pronounced "Nip-ah-no"),

In October 1867 the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad leased the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad. The CP&A changed its name to the Lake Shore Railway on March 31, 1868, and on February 11, 1869, the Lake Shore absorbed the Cleveland and Toledo. On April 6 the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad and Lake Shore merged to form the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, which absorbed the Buffalo and Erie Railroad on June 22, giving one company the whole route from Buffalo to Chicago.

Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway was formed from the merger of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad with the Bellefontaine Railway in 1868. By 1872, the CCC&I made agreements to operate the Cincinnati and Springfield Railroad between Cincinnati and Dayton and the Cincinnati, Sandusky and Cleveland Railroad between Dayton and Springfield, finally providing a through route from Cleveland to Columbus to Cincinnati.

The Lake Shore and Tuscarawas Valley Railway Company (LS&TV) was chartered by the state of Ohio on July 2, 1870. It fell into receivership in July 1874 and the Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley and Wheeling Railway (CTV&W) was formed to take over the assets of the LS&TV. On March 1, 1883, the new Cleveland, Lorain and Wheeling Railway (CL&W) assumed the assets of the CTV&W.

In 1880, another 3 ft (914 mm) gauge line, the Connotton Valley Railway, was formed, building north from Canton to Cleveland and then south to Coshocton and Zanesville. The Connotton Valley became the Cleveland, Canton & Southern Railroad and was converted to standard gauge in one day on November 18, 1888. The Cleveland, Canton & Southern Railroad joined the W&LE in 1899 after its purchase at foreclosure sale, becoming W&LE's Cleveland Division.

Buffalo, Cleveland and Chicago Railway (BC&C) chartered in January 1881 and surveyed The Seney Syndicate, headed by banker George I. Seney, organized the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company ("Nickel Plate") on February 3, 1881. On April 13, 1881, the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company bought the Buffalo, Cleveland and Chicago Railway. On October 25, 1882, (a few days after the first trains ran) the Seney Syndicate sold the Nickel Plate to Vanderbilt for $7.2 million, equal to $178,700,000 today. Vanderbilt transferred it to his Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway.

On March 6, 1883, the Erie Railroad leased the NYP&O

In 1889, the CCC&I merged with lines in Indiana and Illinois to form the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, known as the Big Four Route. The railroad was formed on June 30, 1889, by the merger of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway, the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway and the Indianapolis and St. Louis Railway.

Newburgh and South Shore Railroad (N&SSR) formed in 1899 Construction began that year, and was complete in 1904. The line ran from the company's Central Furnaces (the area roughly bounded today by the Cuyahoga River, Interstate 490, and Broadway Avenue) and ran briefly south before crossing the Cuyahoga River at the now-demolished Jefferson Avenue Bridge. The track ran through the company's plant on the west side of the Cuyahoga, and recrossed the river near the now-demolished Clark Avenue Bridge. The line ran south (passing over Campbell Road and under Harvard Avenue) before turning east. After an at-grade crossing of E. 49th Street and the bridging of E. 71st Street, the tracks turned north at E. 76th Street into the company Newburgh Works, terminating at Aetna Road.

In December 1901, the B&O purchased $2.7 million of preferred stock in the CL&W, giving it a controlling interest in the company.

In 1906 the Big Four was acquired by the New York Central Railroad,

On December 22, 1914, New York Central and Hudson River Railroad merged with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway to form the New York Central Railroad

The Van Sweringen brothers bought the Nickel Plate for $8.5 million on April 13, 1916. In 1922, the Nickel Plate purchased the Lake Erie and Western Railroad, giving it access to Sandusky, Ohio and Peoria, Illinois. Later that year, on December 28, the Nickel Plate purchased the Toledo, St. Louis and Western Railroad, also known as the "Clover Leaf Route", finally giving the Nickel Plate access to the St. Louis area, as well as to the port in Toledo, Ohio.

On December 29, 1937, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway gained control of the Nickel Plate. in 1947, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway ended its control of the Nickel Plate

On October 17, 1960, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad merged with the Erie Railroad to become the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad. the Nickel Plate Road together with the Wabash and several smaller carriers merged with the profitable Norfolk and Western (N&W) on October 16, 1964.

In 1968 the New York Central merged into Penn Central, and in 1976 the Penn Central became part of Conrail Conrail took over the Erie-Lackawanna and the other railroads on April 1, 1976

N&W was itself combined with the Southern Railway, another profitable carrier, to form Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS) in 1982

Traffic on the N&SSR largely ceased when U.S. Steel closed its Cuyahoga Works in 1984. The NSR closed on June 30, 1986. In July 1986, the track was sold to the Chicago West Pullman Transportation Co., now known as Omnitrax. Omnitrax uses the N&SSR name.

The Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway (reporting mark WE) is a Class II regional railroad that provides freight service, mainly in the U.S. state of Ohio. It took its name from the former Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway, most of which it bought from the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1990.

Flats Industrial Railroad created in 1996 using Conrail lines on the Flats.

In 1998 Conrail was split between CSX and Norfolk Southern. The Chicago Line east of Cleveland, Ohio went to CSX, and was split into several subdivisions – the Lake Shore Subdivision from Buffalo, New York to Erie, Pennsylvania, the Erie West Subdivision from Erie to east of Cleveland, Ohio, and the Cleveland Terminal Subdivision into downtown Cleveland. From the former Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad junction in Cleveland west to Chicago, the line is now Norfolk Southern's Chicago Line.

Cleveland Commercial Railroad June 2004 The lease covered 10.4 miles (16.7 km) of track from the Wheeling's terminus in downtown Cleveland to Glenwillow, Ohio. The agreement also gave the lessee access to the Wheeling's train yard at Falls Junction (near Glenwillow) and to several sidings