Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad
Encyclopedia
The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad is a class II railroad
that operates in northwestern Pennsylvania
and northeastern Ohio
.
The railroad's main route runs from the Lake Erie
port of Conneaut, Ohio
to the Pittsburgh suburb of Penn Hills, Pennsylvania
, a distance of 139 miles. The original rail ancestor of the B&LE, the Shenango and Allegheny Railroad, began operation in October 1869.
Rail operations were maintained continuously by various corporate descendants on the growing system that ultimately became the B&LE in 1900. In 2004 the B&LE came under the ownership of the Canadian National Railway
as part of CN's larger purchase of holding company Great Lakes Transportation
. As a subsidiary of CN, the B&LE has been largely unchanged, and still currently does business as the B&LE.
to haul iron
ore and other products from the port at Conneaut, Ohio
on the Great Lakes
to Carnegie Steel Company
plants in Pittsburgh and the surrounding region. On the return trip, Pennsylvania coal
was hauled north to Conneaut Harbor. The company was created largely out of a series of small predecessor companies including the Pittsburgh, Shenango and Lake Erie Railroad, and the Butler and Pittsburgh Railroad Company. The company was renamed the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad in 1900. Carnegie Steel had an exclusive 999 year lease to the PS&LE. This lease was acquired by US Steel when that company acquired Carnegie Steel in 1901.
In 1988, the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad became part of Transtar, Inc.
Transtar is a privately held transportation holding company with principal operations in railroad freight transportation, dock operations, Great Lakes shipping, and inland river barging that were formerly subsidiaries of USX, the holding company that owns U.S. Steel. In 2001, the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad became part of Great Lakes Transportation, LLC. On May 10, 2004, Canadian National Railway
acquired the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad. Iron ore and coal are still the route's major freight commodities.
at Wallace Junction, near Girard, Pennsylvania
, and at the Shenango Yard in Greenville, Pennsylvania
. The Union Railroad
connects at the B&LE's southern terminus at Penn Hills' North Bessemer Yard. CSX
(formerly the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad) connects at Shenango Yard, and the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad
connects at Calvin Yard in Butler, Pennsylvania
. The B&LE also formerly interchanged at Osgood, Pennsylvania with the New York Central System, later Penn Central Railroad and then Conrail, until the latter abandoned the line in 1988.
The main rail yard and locomotive and car shops are located in Greenville, Pennsylvania
. Although the B&LE acquired some early diesel-electric switching locomotives painted black with yellow trim, the company adopted a locomotive color scheme of bright orange and black in 1950, which is still in use today. Because the B&LE's primary traffic is hauling iron ore, it adopted rust-colored hoppers so the ore wouldn't produce noticeable stains on its cars.
The B&LE main line divides around Greenville, between a waypoint north of the Village of Osgood called 'KO' and another waypoint near the Village of Kremis that used the telegraph call name 'KY', for the "Osgood-Kremis" cut-off ("K-O") that joined the original "Old Line" there. The latter still winds down along the Little Shenango and Shenango Rivers into downtown Greenville (where the B&LE shops are located), and then climbs back up to Kremis, en route to Fredonia and North Bessemer. The B&LE constructed the shortcut K-O Line in 1901-02 to bypass the steep, winding route through Greenville. From 'KO Junction', it runs south over a long (1724 feet (525.5 m)) viaduct above the Little Shenango River, the original B&LE Old Line, the former NYC RR's JF&C Branch and the former Erie RR's Chicago—New York main line at Osgood. It then passes east of downtown Greenville at a relatively high elevation, and rejoins the original line at KY, near Kremis. The K-O Line cut-off shortened KO to KY run by 3.1 miles vs. the Old Line. Except for the Osgood Viaduct, this cut-off was double-tracked for many years but, since the arrival of CTC signaling in the Fifties, is now entirely single track.
There was originally one tunnel
on the B&LE mainline at Culmerville, but it was dug out or "daylighted" in 1922, converting it to an open cut through a hill.
As it approaches Bessemer, the B&LE is also noticeable where it crosses the Allegheny River
on the 2327 feet (709.3 m) Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Bridge
immediately east of and parallel to the Pennsylvania Turnpike
.
Class II railroad
A Class II railroad in the United States is a mid-sized freight-hauling railroad, in terms of its operating revenue. , a railroad with revenues greater than $20.5 million but less than $277.7 million for at least three consecutive years is considered a Class II railroad...
that operates in northwestern Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and northeastern Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
.
The railroad's main route runs from the Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
port of Conneaut, Ohio
Conneaut, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,485 people, 5,038 households, and 3,410 families residing in the city. The population density was 473.4 people per square mile . There were 5,710 housing units at an average density of 216.5 per square mile...
to the Pittsburgh suburb of Penn Hills, Pennsylvania
Penn Hills, Pennsylvania
Penn Hills is a large Home Rule Municipality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population as of the 2010 census was 42,329, making it Pittsburgh's second largest suburb by population.-History:...
, a distance of 139 miles. The original rail ancestor of the B&LE, the Shenango and Allegheny Railroad, began operation in October 1869.
Rail operations were maintained continuously by various corporate descendants on the growing system that ultimately became the B&LE in 1900. In 2004 the B&LE came under the ownership of the Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
as part of CN's larger purchase of holding company Great Lakes Transportation
Great Lakes Transportation
Great Lakes Transportation LLC is a group of transportation related companies primarily consisting of rail and water carriers catering to the needs of the steel making industry centered around the Great Lakes of North America...
. As a subsidiary of CN, the B&LE has been largely unchanged, and still currently does business as the B&LE.
History
The Pittsburgh, Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Company was founded in 1897 by Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
to haul iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
ore and other products from the port at Conneaut, Ohio
Conneaut, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,485 people, 5,038 households, and 3,410 families residing in the city. The population density was 473.4 people per square mile . There were 5,710 housing units at an average density of 216.5 per square mile...
on the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
to Carnegie Steel Company
Carnegie Steel Company
Carnegie Steel Company was a steel producing company created by Andrew Carnegie to manage business at his steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century.-Creation:...
plants in Pittsburgh and the surrounding region. On the return trip, Pennsylvania coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
was hauled north to Conneaut Harbor. The company was created largely out of a series of small predecessor companies including the Pittsburgh, Shenango and Lake Erie Railroad, and the Butler and Pittsburgh Railroad Company. The company was renamed the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad in 1900. Carnegie Steel had an exclusive 999 year lease to the PS&LE. This lease was acquired by US Steel when that company acquired Carnegie Steel in 1901.
In 1988, the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad became part of Transtar, Inc.
Transtar, Inc.
Transtar, Inc. is a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation. It was organized in 1988 to own U.S. Steel's railroad and other transportation subsidiaries.Transtar owns or has owned the following companies:...
Transtar is a privately held transportation holding company with principal operations in railroad freight transportation, dock operations, Great Lakes shipping, and inland river barging that were formerly subsidiaries of USX, the holding company that owns U.S. Steel. In 2001, the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad became part of Great Lakes Transportation, LLC. On May 10, 2004, Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
acquired the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad. Iron ore and coal are still the route's major freight commodities.
Route notes
The B&LE connects with the Norfolk Southern RailwayNorfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...
at Wallace Junction, near Girard, Pennsylvania
Girard, Pennsylvania
Girard is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,164 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Erie Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Girard is located at ....
, and at the Shenango Yard in Greenville, Pennsylvania
Greenville, Pennsylvania
Greenville is a borough in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Located along the Shenango River, Greenville is roughly 80 miles from both Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Greenville is part of the Youngstown–Warren–Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is home to 570,000 people...
. The Union Railroad
Union Railroad (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
The Union Railroad is a Class III switching railroad located in Allegheny County in Western Pennsylvania. The company is owned by Transtar, Inc., which is itself a subsidiary of USS Corp, more popularly known as United States Steel...
connects at the B&LE's southern terminus at Penn Hills' North Bessemer Yard. CSX
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
(formerly the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad) connects at Shenango Yard, and the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad
Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad
The Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad is a Class II railroad operating in New York and Pennsylvania.The BPRR is owned by Genesee and Wyoming Industries. Its main line runs between Buffalo, New York and Eidenau, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. Here, connections are made to the city center via the...
connects at Calvin Yard in Butler, Pennsylvania
Butler, Pennsylvania
The city of Butler is the county seat of Butler County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, situated north of Pittsburgh. The population was 15,121 at the 2000 census.- History :...
. The B&LE also formerly interchanged at Osgood, Pennsylvania with the New York Central System, later Penn Central Railroad and then Conrail, until the latter abandoned the line in 1988.
The main rail yard and locomotive and car shops are located in Greenville, Pennsylvania
Greenville, Pennsylvania
Greenville is a borough in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Located along the Shenango River, Greenville is roughly 80 miles from both Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Greenville is part of the Youngstown–Warren–Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is home to 570,000 people...
. Although the B&LE acquired some early diesel-electric switching locomotives painted black with yellow trim, the company adopted a locomotive color scheme of bright orange and black in 1950, which is still in use today. Because the B&LE's primary traffic is hauling iron ore, it adopted rust-colored hoppers so the ore wouldn't produce noticeable stains on its cars.
The B&LE main line divides around Greenville, between a waypoint north of the Village of Osgood called 'KO' and another waypoint near the Village of Kremis that used the telegraph call name 'KY', for the "Osgood-Kremis" cut-off ("K-O") that joined the original "Old Line" there. The latter still winds down along the Little Shenango and Shenango Rivers into downtown Greenville (where the B&LE shops are located), and then climbs back up to Kremis, en route to Fredonia and North Bessemer. The B&LE constructed the shortcut K-O Line in 1901-02 to bypass the steep, winding route through Greenville. From 'KO Junction', it runs south over a long (1724 feet (525.5 m)) viaduct above the Little Shenango River, the original B&LE Old Line, the former NYC RR's JF&C Branch and the former Erie RR's Chicago—New York main line at Osgood. It then passes east of downtown Greenville at a relatively high elevation, and rejoins the original line at KY, near Kremis. The K-O Line cut-off shortened KO to KY run by 3.1 miles vs. the Old Line. Except for the Osgood Viaduct, this cut-off was double-tracked for many years but, since the arrival of CTC signaling in the Fifties, is now entirely single track.
There was originally one tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
on the B&LE mainline at Culmerville, but it was dug out or "daylighted" in 1922, converting it to an open cut through a hill.
As it approaches Bessemer, the B&LE is also noticeable where it crosses the Allegheny River
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
on the 2327 feet (709.3 m) Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Bridge
Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Bridge
The Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Bridge it is a truss bridge that carries the Canadian National Railway's Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad division across the Allegheny River between the Pittsburgh suburbs of Plum and Harmar Township, Pennsylvania...
immediately east of and parallel to the Pennsylvania Turnpike
Pennsylvania Turnpike
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is a toll highway system operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. The three sections of the turnpike system total . The main section extends from Ohio to New Jersey and is long...
.