(erielack) Fw: EL in mid Ohio

["Larry DeYoung" <"LARRYDEYOUNG_@_prodigy.net">]

As info.

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Larry DeYoung <"LARRYDEYOUNG_@_prodigy.net">
To: warner j clark <"warnerclark_@_juno.com">
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 1999 10:55 AM
Subject: Re: EL in mid Ohio


> Thanks.  A little added info:  Mahwah was Ford, and the joint rail line
(PRR
> and Erie) at Ashland was the Lorain, Ashland & Southern, which unlike the
> Akron, Canton & Youngstown, was accurately named!
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: warner j clark <"warnerclark_@_juno.com">
> To: <"larrydeyoung_@_prodigy.net">
> Cc: <"jayandmar1_@_aol.com">
> Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 1999 3:42 PM
> Subject: Fw: EL in mid Ohio
>
>
> > Larry;
> > Here's an update on a section of your home road as found by Jay Smucker.
> > Also, thanks for the note by the NS conductor.  Unfortunately, the CSXT
> > is now suffering the same disabilities.... both are rapidly giving Penn
> > Central a good name.  UP is coming back like gangbusters.  Let's hope
the
> > two eastern roads can weather their storms.
> >
> > Jay;
> > I can remember working with Vista Chemical out of Houston in their
> > efforts to deliver PE resins to plastic receivers at  Ashland.  Between
> > CR and the Ashland Rwy (David Crane) I'm sure those customers would have
> > much preferred having the old ERIE back in business.
> >
> > You guys have a good day.
> > --------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: "Jayandmar1_@_aol.com"
> > To: "105641.2331_@_compuserve.com"
> > Cc: "warnerclark_@_juno.com"
> > Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1999 11:20:40 EST
> > Subject: EL in mid Ohio
> > Message-ID: <"0.de2448b7.254f17d8_@_aol.com">
> >
> >
> > Gentlemen,
> >
> >      I decided to take a little road trip yesterday to seek out whats
> > left
> > (and whats not) of the old Erie in the Ashland and Mansfield areas.
> > Despite
> > all my travels and living in the area much of my life, I always had more
> > pressing things to see so skipped the EL between Mansfield and Sterling
> > (west
> > of Akron).  I have two books (Preston Cook's EL Memories and Volume 1 of
> > the
> > EL "In Color" series by Larry DeYoung) which do a fine job looking at
the
> >
> > Erie Lackawanna, particularly the west end (Meadville, PA and west),
> > which up
> > until a few years ago was all but ignored.  The tour begins at Burbank.
> > I
> > exit at SR 83 after a short stint on I-71.  The road makes a hard left
> > and
> > hard right before cresting the hump in the road that was the EL.  I
don't
> >
> > know the status of property ownership, but one fellow has decided it's a
> > good
> > place to park his 18 wheeler.  I pass through the small town and find a
> > road
> > to start me in the right direction (west).  The country roads wind
around
> >
> > until I find the old EL right-of-way ducking under I-71.  I've viewed
> > this
> > scene many times, but it was always from the overhead bridge on 71 at 70
> > mph.
> >  The right-of-way comes into view several times yielding a relay case
> > here
> > and there and a little ballast, but not much else.  I finally see
> > crossing
> > signs in the distance (the new bright red and white Ohio kind).  I park
> > on
> > what was the old westward main.  A spur into a building products company
> > (inbound plastics) is the only industry in the area keeping this part of
> > the
> > Erie in place.  The Ashland Railway now runs this portion of the EL.
The
> >
> > spur departs the old eastward main trailing east.  Five or so cars are
> > spotted inside the plant gate.  The old eastward main continues east
> > another
> > 1000 feet of so offering the necessary head room to switch the plant,
> > before
> > ending in a makeshift bumping block consisting of a pile of broken
> > concrete
> > and asphalt.  Standing at the end-of-track, the sound of fallen leaves
> > and a
> > piece of farm equipment off in the distance is all that break the
> > silence.
> > Despite the fact that an entire generation has passed since the Erie
> > departed
> > the scene, it's still difficult to comprehend that something this
massive
> > and
> > important just no longer exists.  The ribbon rail with its unique (to
EL)
> >
> > rail anchors that the EL installed is still in place.  Just as many
short
> >
> > lines now running former mains are finding out, ties which are in poor
> > condition become an even greater challenge with ribbon rail since sun
> > kinks
> > are more likely.  Ribbon rail on short lines has far more pitfalls than
> > benefits.  I poke around West Salem a bit longer.  The main drag still
> > has
> > the crossing gates (the old wooden ones, not the new ones made out of
> > recycled milk jugs or who knows what).  The uprights are painted in a
mix
> > of
> > newer but fading silver and the original white which the EL had used.
> > The
> > gates are still seperated by three tracks despit the fact that only one
> > remains.  Expanding cross ties on the remaining main are the only
remenat
> > of
> > a spur that served the local grain elevator.  I weave my way toward
Salem
> >
> > passing through Polk.  No sign of any rail served industry.  The line is
> > easy
> > to follow finding roads that parallel and then ones that cross.  I run
US
> > 42
> > for a short distance. US 42 is four lanes at this point, indicative of
> > early
> > attempts at building highways to interstate standards which themselves
> > were
> > only a few years away in that era (mid to late 50's).  An amish buggy
> > clip
> > clops over one crossing at which I'm stopped.  The buggy's source of
> > power
> > leaves its evidence all along the side of the road.  Somewhere between
> > Polk
> > and the east side of Ashland, the main swings to the westward
allignment.
> >
> > Ashland reveals fairly extensive industry.  A short branch diverges from
> > the
> > main to serve several industries (plastic or chemical related).  The
> > branch
> > is a remenant as I understand of a joint PRR-Erie line abandoned in
1926.
> >
> > The EL bridges one of the main roads in town on an open deck bridge
> > (which I
> > walk) three tracks wide.  The middle portion which once held the
eastward
> >
> > main shows scars on the uprights from some ancient derailment.  Two
spurs
> >
> > descend from the raised main through town and cross the highway at grade
> > on
> > either side of the above mentioned bridge.  The sidings make their way
> > next
> > to buildings containing several boxcar spots, neither siding has seen
> > recent
> > use.  The downtown industrial area contains some very nicely preseved
> > large
> > milti-story factorys right out of the early years of this century.  One
> > such
> > bulding houses a publisher of children's books.  The loading docks are
> > now
> > far more accustomed to the back door of a 53 footer than the side
opening
> > on
> > a forty foot box car unfortunately.  I park at a local parts store on
the
> >
> > west side of town.  The main crosses on an angle.  The foundation of the
> > old
> > station and passenger platforms are still very much in evidence.  A
local
> >
> > seed manufacturer has large shoots that, judging from the size and
> > placement,
> > were used to load boxcars.  The Ashland has a weed cutting machine
parked
> > in
> > the spur, but otherwise it has seen no use.  Just west of the crossing
> > Conrail's old BLS sign "LAND" is still in place despite having been
> > "pummeled" on numerous occasions by the local youth.  A switch departs
> > from
> > the westward main to east allignment leaving both mains in place, a run
> > around no doubt.  I get back in the car and head west again.  Just
> > outside
> > town a newer industrial park contains the likes of Tenneco Packaging.
> > The
> > rail runs behind the park so I am unable to determine if any spurs are
> > present.  One spur I do spot crosses or should I say crossed the main
> > road to
> > get to an Ashland Chemical plant.  The track was still in place,
(despite
> >
> > sizable trees growing inside the gauge), going towards the main, but
once
> > it
> > crossed the road, Ashland had leveled the right-of-way and turned it
into
> > a
> > nicely mowed grass area.  An Ashland Chemical plant in Ashland, OH not
> > rail
> > served, what's wrong with this picture?   Anywho,  I started toward
> > Mansfield.  The line became far more difficult to follow.  The line
> > crests
> > Pavonia Hill in this area.  I know I'm closing in on Mansfield as
> > election-like signs solicit the community's support for families of
> > employees
> > that are "locked out" / on strike at the  Armco / AK Steel Plant. I'm
> > unaware
> > of the details, but I know Armco had restarted the former Cyclops plant
> > within the past year or two after having been inactive for a number of
> > years.
> >  I did cross the line at several places, looking down the track in both
> > directions, strait as far as the eye could see, truely a main line
> > allignment.  The rail had now become jointed.  The line passes a new
> > industrial park which includes a small steel service center, and a Crane
> > Plumbing warehouse among others.  The road also leads to the local
> > regional
> > airport and Air Force installation.  The EL is accross the highway and
> > lower
> > than the park itself, making rail extension almost impossible.  On the
> > hill
> > looms the ghostly Mansfield Refromatory.  A new and larger facility sits
> > closer to the highway with its two rows of fence and razor wire, but
it's
> > the
> > old facility on the hill that draws your attention.  A spur once serverd
> > the
> > old facility.  The US 30 overpass is now visible in the distance.  The
> > Ashland ownership ends at Mansfield as the line curves and connects with
> > the
> > old P Company.  The actual crossing and diamonds at what is now dubbed
> > "CP
> > Mans" are long gone.  I'd like to explore the area in more detail on
foot
> > but
> > the new time is kicking in and the daylight is quickly fading.  This
> > along
> > with the fact that the composition of the population has changed leads
me
> > to
> > leave the foot trip for another day when I have daylight on my side.
> > West of
> > the former PRR Ft. Wayne crossing the EL main is again present.  The
line
> >
> > quickly crosses the old B&O Lake Erie Subdivision (now abandoned south
of
> >
> > Mansfield and operated by the Ashland to the north as far as Willard) at
> > "CP
> > South Mans".  The line continues (on the westward allignment I believe)
> > towards Harding Yard.  The sole purpose of the yard is to serve the
large
> > GM
> > Metal Fabricating Plant.  NS assigns power to handle the yard which was
> > parked on the overpass above SR 309.  An NS and Conrail GP somthing or
> > other.
> >  The GM plant was located there in the late 50's by the Erie.  The fact
> > that
> > EL was able to beat out larger roads of that day like the Pennsy and NYC
> > says
> > a lot.  Long about the same time period, the Erie also managed to snag a
> > large assembly plant at Mahwah (GM too, I think) as well.  An overpass
> > over
> > SR 309 that carries the spur to the plant from Harding Yard still
prowdly
> >
> > displays the Erie logo.  The tour was completed at Ontario, west of
> > Harding
> > where once again the Erie just became just a dip in the road.  The tour
> > complete, I headed for US 30 and was on my way.
> >
> > Jay
> >
> > ___________________________________________________________________
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>


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