Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad: Map, Rosters, History

Last revised: November 13, 2024

The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad was a regional system based in western Pennsylvania that connected Bessemer, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh) with the Lake Erie port of Conneaut, Ohio.

In addition, it enjoyed an interchange with the Nickel Plate Road's main line (later Norfolk & Western/Norfolk Southern) at Wallace Junction (near Erie, Pennsylvania).

Similar to the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie, which operated in the same region but connected different cities, the Bessemer is best remembered for the large volume of steel and steel-related traffic it handled.

The road's history traces back to the mid-19th century and is integrally tied to ore, coal, and coke. It transported little else outside of these products, including the general public.

The B&LE also carried a close association with Minnesota's Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range as the two roads worked together in moving ore from the upper Midwest to steel mills situated near or around Pittsburgh. Today, the B&LE is a division of Canadian National.

Photos

From right to left; Bessemer & Lake Erie SD9 #839, SD18 #857, and SD38AC #868 at North Bessemer, Pennsylvania on September 4, 1979. Warren Calloway photo.

History

The history of the Bessemer & Lake Erie dates as far back as the Bear Creek Railroad, chartered on March 20, 1865. Its promoters envisioned the road as a coal hauler, serving a mine owned by the Mercer Mining & Manufacturing Company based near Pardoe, Pennsylvania (north of Pittsburgh) and connecting with the nearby Atlantic & Great Western (a later Erie Railroad predecessor).

A few years later the company changed its name as the Shenango & Allegheny Railroad on April 9, 1867 to better reflect its intentions of a northern connection at Shenango (near Greenville).

The line was completed between Shenango and Pardoe in October of 1869. During the next two decades the little system continued to handle coal and, as the publication, "History of Mercer County: 1888," notes slowly expanded southward connecting to Harrisville in July of 1872 and Hilliards in January of 1876.

At A Glance

Headquarters	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
States Served	Pennsylvania
Genesis	Bear Creek Railroad (1865)
Dates Of Operation	1869 -
Track Gauge	4 Feet, 8 ½ Inches
Founder	Andrew Carnegie
Charter Date	1897
Route Miles (1930)	204.7
Principal Lines	Erie - East Pittsburgh (Main Line): 160.9 miles Albion - Conneaut Harbor (Conneaut Branch): 15.7 miles Linesville - Meadville Junction (Linesville Branch): 5.0 miles Meadville - Conneaut Lake Park - Meadville Junction (Meadville Branch): 15.6 miles Branchton - Hilliards (Hilliards Branch): 10.4 miles
Reporting Mark	BLE
Successors	Canadian National

Expansion

During the early 1880s the S&A extended branches within Mercer and Butler Counties to serve additional coal mines while a short extension north from Shenango in March of 1882 brought direct rail service into Greenville.

In 1883 the main line was opened beyond Pardoe to Butler and one final extension was carried out before the road's 1888 reorganization; that year it reached a location near Osgood (known as Amasa Crossing located north of Greenville) where an interchange was established with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (New York Central).

A postcard of Bessemer & Lake Erie SD18 #853 wearing the road's special Bicentennial livery circa 1976.

Andrew Carnegie

On February 11th the S&A was renamed as the Pittsburgh, Shenango & Lake Erie. Under new ownership, the PS&LE pushed rails beyond Osgood to Conneaut, Ohio, just across the Pennsylvania border along the shores of Lake Erie.

The modern B&LE system took root when steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie entered the picture, chartering the Pittsburgh, Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad in 1897 to acquire control of the PS&LE.

Logo

The Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad logo. Author's work.

The purpose of Carnegie’s new portfolio was to haul products related to steel production, notably iron ore, from Conneaut to his steel mills near Pittsburgh. However, to provide direct rail service into the Steel City a new line was needed beyond Butler.

On April 8, 1896 the Butler & Pittsburgh Railroad Company was incorporated for this purpose, opening to East Pittsburgh on October 27, 1897.

The present day Bessemer & Lake Erie received its name in 1900 when it formally leased the aforementioned Pittsburgh, Bessemer & Lake Erie created through the merger of the Pittsburgh, Shenango & Lake Erie and Butler & Pittsburgh.

In 1901 the Bessemer would become a sister road with the Minnesota ore hauler Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range when the Carnegie steel interests were purchased by the United States Steel Corporation, which had taken over the DM&IR some years prior.

The Missabe is a Minnesota institution best remembered for handling the same type of traffic, iron ore/taconite.

A pair of Bessemer & Lake Erie SD9's lead their train through the yard at North Bessemer, Pennsylvania on September 4, 1979. Warren Calloway photo.

Working together, the Missabe and B&LE acted as a conveyor belt handling this product from Minnesota to Pittsburgh.

As Gus Welty notes in his article from the September, 1957 issue of Trains Magazine entitled, "Assembly-Line Railroading Complete With 9,035 Hoppers And A Hotshot," the cleaned and graded ore was moved on the DM&IR to docks located along Lake Superior.

From this point the Pittsburgh Steamship Company shipped it across that waterway, past Sault Ste. Marie, down Lake Huron, through the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers, and into Lake Erie before terminating at Conneaut.

From this point gargantuan Hulett unloaders transferred the mineral into B&LE hoppers, or jennies, at the road's large yard near the waterfront before trains finally transported them southward to the mills.

The Bessemer was a successful, highly efficient railroad during its heyday but did move other freight such as coal which traveled north back to the lake.

A classic set of Bessemer & Lake Erie F7s, led by #725, leads a string of hoppers along the main line in Pennsylvania, circa 1955. Paul Penney photo.

Bert Pennypacker points out in his article, "Tough Texans Of The Bessemer," from the Winter, 2000 issue of Classic Trains Magazine, at its peak the B&LE operated 224 route miles between Bessemer (where it still connects with the Union Railroad, a terminal line serving Pittsburgh) and Conneaut with a total of 597 track miles.

At the start of World War II its traffic consisted of 47% ore, 29% coal, and the rest a mix of general merchandise.

Seen here rolling through Ivywood, Pennsylvania, a Bessemer & Lake Erie ore train with three SD40T-3's up front heads southward on August 28, 2007. Wade Massie photo.

The railroad also once had three branch lines diverging from its main line;

Hilliards Branch (connecting Branchton with Hilliards, Pennsylvania, a distance of over 10 miles)

Meadville Branch (connecting Meadville Junction with Meadville, Pennsylvania, spanning over 15 miles)

Kaylor Branch (running between Hooker and Kaylor, Pennsylvania, 18 miles).

Finally, it gained access to Erie, Pennsylvania via trackage rights over the New York, Chicago & St. Louis (Nickel Plate Road) from a location known as Wallace Junction (just north of Girard). This connection split north of Albion at NA Tower and Conneaut Junction.

A new Bessemer & Lake Erie SD7, #453, seen here circa 1952. Paul Penney photo.

While the B&LE never rostered such an impressive fleet of steam locomotives as the Missabe the heavy tonnage did require the need for 2-10-4's (47 in all, they were built by Baldwin between 1929 and 1944, classed H-1a through H-1g ) and 2-10-2's (1919 products of Baldwin, there were 25 in all classed D-1a/D-2a).

The railroad’s diesel locomotives were perhaps even more interesting.

While it mostly preferred EMD's the B&LE did experiment with rare, first-generation Baldwins operating its DRS-6-6-1500 road-switcher and later As616 model (the railroad also purchased one DS-4-4-1000).

In general, however, the railroad stuck with Electro-Motive operated a sizable fleet of its F7 model and a few SD7's before realizing six-axle power and its additional traction was the way to go; all future models were of that variety including SD18's, SD38's, SD38AC's, and SD38-2's.

Final Years

In December of 1988 U.S. Steel (then known as USX Corporation) sold its railroad interests, including the Bessemer, to a new subsidiary known as Transtar, Inc.

Another round of sales more than a decade later saw the B&LE permanently removed from the U.S. Steel empire when it, and several other U.S.S. short lines, were sold in 2001 to Great Lakes Transportation, LLC.

By the 21st the Bessemer was one of only a small handful of classic lines still around. However, that all changed on May 10, 2004 when Canadian National purchased Great Lakes Transportation.

System Map and Timetables (1969)

An official, 1969 system of the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad. Author's collection.

While the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad is now under CN control (known as its Bessemer Subdivision), it is still technically a corporate entity on paper.

However, it is unclear how much longer CN will allow the locomotives to keep their classic orange and black livery.

That being said if you are interested in checking out this railroad before it disappears into the CN system I would certainly suggest getting out there to see it before its too late!

Diesel Roster

American Locomotive Company

Model Type	Road Number	Serial Number	Completion Date	Notes
S4	291-292	80054, 80065	7/1952	-
RSD-15	881-886	81756-81756	4/1956	ex-DM&IR #50-55

Baldwin Locomotive Works

Model Type	Road Number	Serial Number	Completion Date	Notes
DS-4-4-1000	282	73958	3/1949	-
DRS-6-6-1500	401, 402	73988, 73989	2/1949, 1/1949	-
DRS-6-6-1500	403	74715	5/1950	-
AS616	408-409	75757-75758	7/1952	-

Electro-Motive Division

Model Type	Road Number	Serial Number	Completion Date	Notes
SW1500	150	7355-33	3/1972	ex-Conrail #9542; built as Penn Central #9542. Became U.S. Steel #150.
SW1500	151	7355-7	2/1972	ex-Conrail #9516; built as Penn Central #9516. Became U.S. Steel #151, then Buffalo Southern #151.
SW1500	152	7355-47	3/1972	ex-Conrail #9556; built as Penn Central #9556. Became U.S. Steel #152, then Buffalo Southern #152.
SW1500	153	7355-3	2/1972	ex-Conrail #9512; built as Penn Central #9512. Became U.S. Steel #153.
SW1500	160	72673-1	9/1973	ex-Union Railroad #6.
SW1500	161	72673-3	9/1973	ex-Union Railroad #8.
SD38-2	210	74649-2	3/1975	ex-DM&IR #210, returned in 1992.
65 Tonner	281	-	1936	Sold to AJ O'Neille in 1955; later sold to United States Asphalt Company. Retired in 1962.
DS-4-4-1000	282	73958	3/1949	-
SD7	451-455	17904-17908	4/1953	-
SD38-2	658	73654-3	1/1974	ex-EJ&E #658, returned 2001
F7A	701A-707A	11809-11815	6/1950	Became B&O #4644-4647 and #4652-4654
F7A	708A-714A	13678-13684	2/1951-3/1951	#708A-711A became B&O #4648-4851; #712A-714A sold to Precision National in 1970.
F7A	715A	16587	6/1952	Sold to Pittsburgh & Conneaut Dock as #715A in 1968.
F7A	716A-718A	16588-16590	6/1952	Sold to Precision National in 1970.
F7A	719A	16591	6/1952	Sold to Pittsburgh & Conneaut Dock as #719A in 1973.
F7A	720A	16592	6/1952	Sold to the Toledo, Peoria & Western as #1500.
F7A	721A	16593	6/1952	-
F7A	722A-724A	16594-16596	6/1952	#722A became Potomac Eagle Scenic/B&O #722; #723A-724A became U.S. Steel #723A-724A.
F7A	725A-728A	17909-17912	2/1953	#725A became Coe Rail, Inc. #725; #726A became U.S. Steel #726A; #727A-728A became Southern Railroad of New Jersey 727-728.
F7B	701B-707B	11816-11822	6/1950	-
F7B	708B-714B	13685-13691	2/1951	#710B became B&O #5536; #712B became U.S. Steel #712.
F7B	715B-722B	16598-16605	6/1952	#715B and #719B sold to Tennessee Central Railway Museum (#715 and #719);
F7B	723B-726B	17913-17914, 17919-17920	2/1953	#723B-724B, #726B became U.S. Steel #723-724, #726.
SD7	801-803	17138-17140	10/1952	-
SD9	821	23916	2/1958	ex-DM&IR #136
SD9	822	23920	2/1958	ex-DM&IR #140
SD9	823	23921	2/1958	ex-DM&IR #141
SD9	824	23926	2/1958	ex-DM&IR #146
SD9	825	23928	2/1958	ex-DM&IR #148
SD9	826	21727	3/1956	ex-DM&IR #101
SD9	827	21728	3/1956	ex-DM&IR #102
SD9	828	21729	3/1956	ex-DM&IR #103
SD9	829	21730	3/1956	ex-DM&IR #104
SD9	830	21732	3/1956	ex-DM&IR #106
SD9	831	20655	7/1955	ex-DM&IR #110; built as demonstrator #5591
SD9	832	21735	4/1956	ex-DM&IR #109
SD9	833	23101	2/1957	ex-DM&IR #113
SD9	834	23102	2/1957	ex-DM&IR #114
SD9	835	23107	2/1957	ex-DM&IR #119
SD9	836	23110	2/1957	ex-DM&IR #122
SD9	837	23111	2/1957	ex-DM&IR #123
SD9	838	23911	2/1958	ex-DM&IR #131
SD9	839	23917	2/1958	ex-DM&IR #137
SD9	840	23931	2/1958	ex-DM&IR #151
SD9	841	23099	2/1957	ex-DM&IR #111
SD9	842	23100	2/1957	ex-DM&IR #112
SD9	843	23103	2/1957	ex-DM&IR #115
SD9	844	23105	2/1957	ex-DM&IR #117
SD9	845	23106	2/1957	ex-DM&IR #118
SD9	846	23112	2/1957	ex-DM&IR #124
SD9	847	23114	2/1957	ex-DM&IR #126
SD18	851-857	27721-27727	9/1962	#853 wore Bicentennial colors.
SD18	858	25795	4/1960	ex-DM&IR #182
SD18	859	25786	4/1960	ex-DM&IR #191
SD38	861-863	33053-33055	5/1967	Sold to DM&IR
SD38AC	864-869	33703-33708	7/1971	-
SD38-2	870-879	72677-1 thru 72677-9	3/1973-2/1974	-
SD38-2	890-892	74677-1 thru 74677-2, 756069-1	4/1975, 3/1976	-
SD40T-3	900	72625-29	3/1973	ex-SSW/SP SD45T-2 #9289
SD40T-3	901	72601-24	5/1972	ex-SSW SD45T-2 #9232
SD40T-3	902	7336-24	3/1972	ex-SP SD45T-2 #9189
SD40T-3	903	73674-8	1/1975	ex-SP SD45T-2 #9351
SD40T-3	904	72625-9	3/1973	ex-SP SD45T-2 #6816/SSW #9269
SD40T-3	905	72625-26	3/1973	ex-SP/SSW SD45T-2 #9286
SD40T-3	906	73674-5	1/1975	ex-SP SD45T-2 #9348
SD40T-3	907	73621-4	9/1973	ex-SP SD45T-2 #6305/SSW #6887
SD40T-3	908	72625-41	3/1973	ex-SP SD45T-2 #6827/SSW #9301
SD40T-3	909	72625-17	2/1973	ex-SP SD45T-2 #6890/SSW #9277
SD40T-3	910	72601-21	5/1972	ex-SP SD45T-2 #9229/#6825

Westinghouse

Model Type	Road Number	Serial Number	Completion Date	Notes
65 Tonner	281	-	1936	Sold to AJ O'Neille in 1955; later sold to United States Asphalt Company. Retired in 1962.

Steam Roster (Post 1900)

Wheel Arrangement	Class	Road Number(s)	Quantity	Completion Date	Builder(s)	Retirement	Notes
4-4-0	E5D	10-11	-	1909	Pittsburgh (Alco)	1944	-
4-4-0	E5A	15	-	1900	Cooke (Alco)	1936	-
4-4-0	E5B, E5C	16-19	-	1905, 1908	Pittsburgh (Alco)	1936-1944	#16 and #19 sold to Union Railroad
2-8-0	C1D	84	-	1900	Baldwin	1926	-
2-8-0	C1B	85-90	-	1900-1901	Pittsburgh (Alco)	1927-1936	-
2-8-0	C1D	91-92	-	1901	Baldwin	1926	-
2-8-0	C1C	93-94	-	1901	Brooks (Alco)	1936	-
2-8-0	C1B	95-114	-	1902-1903	Pittsburgh (Alco)	1927-1936	-
2-8-0	C2A	115-124	-	1905	Pittsburgh (Alco)	1936	-
2-8-0	C1E, C1F	125-145	-	1907, 1909	Pittsburgh (Alco)	1929-1930	-
2-8-0	C3A	150-153	-	1900-1902	Pittsburgh (Alco)	1936-1943	-
2-8-0	C3B, C3D	154-157	-	1909, 1911	Baldwin	1951-1954	-
2-8-0	C4A	158-159	-	1913	Baldwin	1953, 1951	-
0-6-0	S2D	227-229	-	1911	Baldwin	1950-1952	-
0-6-0	S2B	232-233	-	1900	Brooks (Alco)	1936	-
0-6-0	S3A	234-237	-	1909	Baldwin	1948-1950	-
0-8-0	S4A-S4E	251-262	-	1936-1943	Alco	1953-1954	-
2-8-0	C2B-C2D	325-362	-	1911-1913	Pittsburgh (Alco)	1936-1954	-
2-10-2	D1A	501-520	-	1916	Baldwin	1948-1951	-
2-10-2	D2A	521-525	-	1919	Baldwin	1947	-
2-10-4	H1A-H1G	601-647	-	1929-1944	Baldwin, Alco	1952-1954	#621-631, #635, #637-638, #641, #645-647 transferred to Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range
4-6-2	P1A	901-904	4	1913	Schenectady (Alco)	1953	-

Today

The B&LE has had an interesting, if somewhat quiet corporate existence. Its operation was strictly business-only and largely stayed out of the public eye handling freight related to the steel industry.

The railroad's main line is still in regular use under CN today albeit is disconnected from the Class I's North American rail network.

There is one notable B&LE steam locomotive preserved today, 2-10-4 #643 (H-1g), which for many years sat forlorn in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania.

The locomotive was saved by the B&LE and displayed from time to time through the 1960s until being sold to the Steel City Railway Historical Society in 1983.

For many years it was privately owned by Glenn Campbell, until 2019. That year, on August 5th, the big engine was acquired by the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio.

This organization has numerous engines either in operable condition or cosmetically restored and #643 will be among its incredible collection. Of note, one other B&LE steamer remains; 2-8-0 #154, preserved indoors at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.