Re: (erielack) ERIE IN EASTERN OHIO(2)

[Kevin DeGroff <"kdegroff_@_csi.com">]

"RBehre8599_@_aol.com" wrote:

> To clarify, I believe PC/CR had trackage rights between Arlington 
Street, Akron and JO Tower (about 1 mile). The Akron Branch diverged 
from the PC Cleveland/C&P line at Hudson, joined the B&O at Arlington
Street/Akron, and shared trackage from here for about a mile to JO 
Tower (about 1 mile) where it got onto its' own trackage again to 
access their South Akron yard and service the various industries in 
place at the time (JO was also where the parralleling B&O and EL 
crossed at a downtown diamond) down to Lambert.  From here to Warwick
(about 9 miles), the PC & B&O shared trackage down to Warwick where 
the Akron branch left the B&O for the remaining distance down to
Orrville, where it joined the PRR main.  My understanding is that B&O
owned/maintained one track, and PC/CR owned/maintainted the other. 
When the Akron Branch was up for abandonment, CSX passed on acquiring
CR's Lambert to Warwick track for reasons I'm not aware of.  
Unfortunately today, it is a major operational bottleneck, but I've
heard that CSX intends to put in the second track to have a smoother
operation...
 
> Rich Behrendt/ELHS #384



Good point.  I forgot to mention the joint ownership situation.  The 
joint track used B&O signals, but was controlled by PRR towermen 
working under PRR rules.

My records show that the CR Akron Secondary was abandoned from Warwick
to Orrville in 1986 (this was the portion of the Akron Secondary that
CR had once used to route traffic off of the EL west of Akron, sending
it over to the PRR Fort Wayne line).  The CR portion of the paired track
was sold to CSX in March or April of 1990, while the line was single- 
tracked in October-November of 1990 after CSX bought it.  I visited the
area in June 1990, under CSX ownership, and the DT was still in then.  
I heard from CSX MOW guys that the CR track was later taken up because
of its condition (jointed rail), while the B&O side stayed (it had 
received welded rail in June 1978).  

It initially appeared that CSX just wanted to be free from the joint-use
legal issues, free from the CR neglect of their portion, and wanted the
real estate 100% under their control, but later decided to recover the 
jointed rail rather than upgrade it when the larger single track plan 
was drawn up.  Other sections of the B&O main (Rittman to Creston and
west of Lodi, IIRC) were slated to go to single track also, before the
project was stopped.

 ------------------------------------------------------------
Visit the erielack photopage at http://el-list.railfan.net

------------------------------