Ohio Railroading and Railfanning In "The Buckeye State"

Ohio railroading is a paradise if you are a railfan, as rail lines run every which direction featuring Class I main lines, Regionals and even local shortlines. In comparison to the state’s size, Ohio is loaded with action! What’s more, the Buckeye State was also the home to the famous Lima Locomotive Works (based in Lima) that built durable, high quality steam locomotives through the early 1940s. Other notable Ohio railroading tidbits include historic Cincinnati Union Terminal that is still served by Amtrak and the Winton Engine Company, based in Cleveland, which became part of diesel-builder Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC), a later division of General Motors. Aside from Ohio's significant railroading operations today the state is very rich in history as well.

Virtually every large eastern Class I carrier of its day reached Ohio to some extent and included the three trunk lines of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central as well as others like the Erie Railroad, Southern Railway (which reached Cincinnati), Louisville & Nashville (Cincinnati), Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, Norfolk & Western Railway, Nickel Plate Road, Wheeling & Lake Erie, Pittsburgh & Lake Erie and the Wabash. Of these Class I systems the B&O, PRR, NYC, Erie, C&O, N&W and Nickel Plate all had main lines running through Ohio (and both the PRR and B&O had duel main lines in the state, one reaching Chicago through northern Ohio and one stretching for St. Louis in southern Ohio).

While there are so very many venerable railroads that passed through Ohio it is perhaps the Baltimore & Ohio that had the most rail lines in the state (coincidentally the railroad does not derive the “Ohio” in its name from the State of Ohio but the Ohio River, which it was attempting to connect to when first chartered).

After reaching Wheeling, Virginia (later West Virginia) in 1852 the B&O quickly expanded into Ohio where it went on to connect to every major city in the state. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was always the underdog in an eastern market dominated by the PRR and NYC. The company also had an on and off struggle of remaining independent as it once went into receivership in 1896 and later ownership by the PRR. However, throughout all of this it steadfastly remained independent.

Despite its marginal financial situation the Baltimore and Ohio holds many “firsts.” It was quick to adopt the more efficient mode of diesel power in 1930s, and was the first to include air-conditioning in its passenger fleet. Other accomplishments include one of the fist railroads to use electric locomotives (through its Howard Street tunnel in Baltimore, the locomotives were developed by General Electric), streamlining its passenger trains to make them more appealing and including dome passenger cars in the eastern U.S.

The B&O, however, was to suffer a better fate than the NYC and PRR, who would merge in the late 1960s to form the ill-fated Penn Central Corporation. The C&O, for several reasons, chose to leave the B&O almost entirely independent, only gradually merging the operational aspects of both companies. This finally changed in 1972 when the companies, which by then included B&O-subsidiary Western Maryland Railway, formed a new holding company called the Chessie System (which will forever be remembered for its brilliant yellow, blue, and vermilion paint scheme that featured the Chess-“C” silhouetting the C&O’s famous Chessie the kitten napping on her pillow). The Chessie System, by far one of the best-loved railroads by railfans because of its dazzling livery, lasted only a short eight years before merging with Seaboard Coast Line Industries (which was a holding company for a number of southeastern railroads including the Seaboard Coast Line and Louisville & Nashville) in 1980 to form CSX Transportation (later a division of CSX Corporation with the railroad known today as simply CSXT).

Today, the B&O’s lines in Ohio are drastically different under CSX’s management. While its main line to Chicago remains intact and was recently upgraded to double-track standards, its St. Louis main line did not fair so well as beginning in the late 1980s it was severed east of Greenfield to Belpre, Ohio along the Ohio River (it is also severed east of Parkersburg, WV to Clarksburg, WV), with much of the rest of the trackage west of Greenfield sold to Ohio shortline Indiana & Ohio. A large percentage of the B&O’s branch lines have likewise been abandoned or ripped up in the Buckeye State.

While Ohio railroading has likewise lost its Erie main line as a through route, the Buckeye State is still home to both the ex-PRR and ex-NYC main lines to St. Louis and Chicago that see heavy amounts of traffic on a daily basis. For instance, some locations in Ohio where activity is the busiest includes legendary Fostoria (a railfan’s dream, it sees dozens of CSX and NS trains daily and is still protected by F Tower where both railroads cross), Queensgate Yard in Cincinnati, Willard, Columbus and Berea, where you can dine in the city’s restored Union Station and watch CSX and NS freight trains pass within waving distance from one another. These places are just a few interesting railroading locations in Ohio as there are far too many to highlight here.

Aside from CSX and NS, Ohio railroading also features numerous shortlines and Regionals. These include the Ohio Central System (the parent company of numerous shortlines in Ohio), RJ Corman, Indiana & Ohio, and the Wheeling & Lake Erie just to name a few.

In total, these railroads operate over 5,000 miles of trackage although at one time Ohio was home to slightly over 9,000 miles of rails. For more information about Ohio railroading, in terms of route mileage over the years please refer to the chart below.

Famous passenger trains like the National Limited, Capitol Limited, 20th Century Limited, and Broadway Limited may no longer pass through Ohio. However, Amtrak still operates a number of trains through the state including the tri-weekly Cardinal which serves Cincinnati and the Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited, which serves state’s northern areas like Cleveland and Toledo.

Passenger and freight trains aside, Ohio railroading also features plenty of museums and excursion trains. For instance, there is the Ohio Central’s famous steam fleet that includes recently acquired Nickel Plate #763 (which is ultimately slated for a full restoration) and the Warther Carving Museum that features the expertly, one-of-a-kind handcrafted locomotives by the late Ernest Warther.

All in all Ohio railroading offers the railfan just about anything he or she wants! Whether you are after main line railroading, steam action or simply strolling abandoned rights-of-way of once-important lines; the Buckeye State offers it all.

For more reading on railroad history you might want to consider picking up one of the following books. First is Trains across the Continent, Second Edition: North American Railroad History by author Rudolph Daniels. The book gives a general history of the industry and has received excellent reviews. The second book is entitled The Complete Book of North American Railroading put together by several noted railroad authors such as Mike Schafer, Jim Boyd, and Steve Glischinski (the others are Kevin EuDaly, Steve Jessup, and Andrew McBride). Filled with more than 350 pages of excellent photography and information the book generally covers the industry from its earliest beginnings, through the "Golden Age," and finally to today. In any event, if you're interested in perhaps purchasing one, or both, of these books please visit the links below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.