Eastern Railroad Discussion > W&LE Carrollton OH line news

Dec. 1 news blurb from RAILWAY TRACK & STRUCTURES Magazine:
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Railroad track is Carroll County's lifeline

Many visitors to Carrollton, Ohio, in all likelihood, hardly notice the inconspicuous railroad track crossing at Main Street, just west of downtown, local newspapers report. But according to Carroll County officials, the track is a crucial, life-sustaining artery for local industries. And county officials refuse to let this Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway track die — even at the cost of $1 million.

"We are basically retaining jobs," said Thomas Wheaton, a Carroll County commissioner. "Otherwise, we could be losing hundreds of jobs in Carroll County. We have some pretty big employers on that rail. The difference with shipping by rail is it's so much more economical than shipping by truck. You can ship in more per run. You don't have 40 trucks coming in and out of your parking lot; you have a couple of trains."

Some of the industries using the rail line to bring in raw materials are Heritage Plastics at 861 N. Lisbon St. and Noramco at 750 Garfield Ave. But the concern, according to Wheaton, is that Brewster-based Wheeling & Lake Erie could abandon the time-worn track rather than invest a huge amount of money in a track-reconditioning project.

So far, a state agency called Ohio Rail Development Commission is putting $250,000 into the project.

"The main reason we got involved (is) the shippers down there need the rail to remain competitive," said Lou Jannazu, chief of project development for the Ohio Rail Development Commission. "... There are no four-lane roads going through Carrollton. You don't have major highways going through Carrollton, so the infrastructure is important."

Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway is contributing another $250,000.

"The economics of the line, right now, aren't good at all," Jannazu said. "If they are making any money on the line, it can't be much. For Wheeling & Lake Erie to put up $250,000, they are not going to make that money back. At the present level of carloads per year, it would take decades to make that money back. It has been a marginally profitable line for decades."

With the help of a hired consultant, Coshocton-based Ohio Regional Development Corp., Carroll County commissioners have another $500,000 in potential funding. Those potential sources are the Appalachian Regional Commission ($125,000) and the federal Community Development Block Grant program ($375,000).

The 26-mile rail line, which starts in the Canton area, enters Carroll County in Minerva and follows a north-south path into Carrollton.

"The ties deteriorate over time," said William Callison, president of Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway. "And ties have to be replaced. There are only two shippers at the end of the line. It is a marginal operation. But we are continuing to serve. That is why we are trying to get the money to maintain the track. Ordinarily, we are running about once a week down there."

The project includes installing more than 12,000 ties and improving four road crossings, as well as improving the track to make certain the distance between the two rails is consistent. Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway will handle the project.

Back in "The Day" whose track was this? And, wasn't there a passenger operation of some sort on the Minerva-Carrollton segment within the past decade-or-so?? I was in Minerva in '03 or'04, and vaguely recall the line toward Carrollton being o-o-s. Does that sound right? Thanks.

"Original" W&LE, then NW, now "new" W&LE. (From 1928 Rand-McNally Atlas, 1948 and 1988 Rand-McNally Atlases)

The passenger operation was the "Elderberry something" which was a local tourist train. I think it ran Carrolton to Minerva and back. Never rode it but it was another of those tourist operations "in the middle of nowhere" and thus having difficulty getting riders.

Dale

The passenger line was nicknamed "The Elderberry Line" and was lettered as the Carrollton Oneida & Minerva RR. They used a couple of x-Vermont Rwy RS3's.

Randy Faris