Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad: Map, History, Rosters

Last revised: October 17, 2026

The Akron, Canton & Youngstown ran across northern Ohio from Mogadore, east of Akron, to Delphos. The corporate name takes in Canton and Youngstown. The rails reached neither city. Reporting mark ACY. Headquarters Akron. The historical society’s slogan for the railroad is Ohio’s Road of Service. The same society’s figure for the Mogadore–Delphos line is 171 miles.

The company was organized in June 1907. Its first railroad was a short terminal into Akron, and operation of that piece began on October 1, 1912. In 1920 it took the Northern Ohio, the older line west to Delphos. On February 1, 1944, the Railway and the Northern Ohio were merged into the Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad Company, and the name changed from Railway to Railroad. The Norfolk & Western acquired it at 12:01 a.m. on October 16, 1964. It remained a subsidiary until its separate corporate existence ended in 1982. The historical society’s steam list is 54 locomotives. The diesel list is 26. Both rosters are on this page.

Akron, Canton and Youngstown H16-44 No. 204 at Norfolk and Western Sewells Point in September 1969

Akron, Canton & Youngstown H16-44 No. 204 at Norfolk & Western’s Sewells Point, Norfolk, in September 1969. Rick Burn photo. The Norfolk & Western had controlled the railroad since October 16, 1964. No. 204 was built in April 1954, serial 16L784.

On this page: The 1907 terminal · Northern Ohio · At a glance · Akron & Barberton Belt · February 1946 · Freight · Steam · Twenty-six diesels · Norfolk & Western

The 1907 terminal

The historical society dates the first shareholders’ meeting to June 17, 1907. Zebulon W. Davis was president. H. B. Stewart and F. A. Seiberling, of Goodyear, were in the organization with him. The purpose written into the company was a railroad from Akron to Canton and Youngstown. What was built was a terminal from Akron out to Mogadore, to a connection with the Wheeling & Lake Erie.

The University of Akron’s finding aid for the company’s own records dates the start of operation to October 1, 1912. The historical society describes that first railroad as a 7½-mile terminal, built to a high standard in 1911–1913, and assigns it five new Lima 0-6-0s. Those five are on the steam roster below, Nos. 1–3 and 22–23. The 7½ miles are the terminal. They are a different measurement from the later Mogadore–Delphos main line.

The Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad logo. Author’s work.

Another version of the Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad logo. Author’s work.

Northern Ohio

The line west of Akron was already old in 1907. The historical society’s account begins in 1881 with the Cleveland, Delphos & St. Louis, projected as a three-foot trunk. The name, the owners, and the purpose changed. The railroad that was finished from Delphos to Akron was the Pittsburgh, Akron & Western. In 1895 it became the Northern Ohio, a Lake Erie & Western subsidiary, and the Lake Erie & Western was then under New York Central control. The society describes that property as unsuccessful. The three-foot gauge belongs to the predecessor. The 1907 railroad was standard gauge.

At the end of federal control the Akron, Canton & Youngstown took the Northern Ohio on a 999-year lease effective March 1, 1920. The society’s account of the Railway also records a May 1920 transaction in which the company purchased Akron to Copley and leased Copley to Delphos. The combined railroad, Mogadore to Delphos, is the 171 miles in the society’s brief history. With the Northern Ohio came a 25 percent interest in the Akron & Barberton Belt, a joint terminal and a separate company.

The railroad went into bankruptcy in April 1933, in the bank closings of that spring. Reorganization plans went to the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1937. On February 1, 1944, the properties of the Railway and the Northern Ohio were merged into the Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad Company. That is the day the name changed from Railway to Railroad. The February 1946 public table reproduced below is already headed Railroad.

At a glance

Item	Detail
Headquarters	Akron, Ohio. The February 1946 table gives the general offices as the A. C. & Y. Building, 12 East Exchange Street
Reporting mark	ACY
Slogan	Ohio’s Road of Service
Gauge	4 feet, 8½ inches. The three-foot gauge belongs to the predecessor
State	Ohio
Organized	June 1907. First shareholders’ meeting, June 17, 1907. Zebulon W. Davis, president
Original terminal	Akron–Mogadore. Operation began October 1, 1912. The society’s figure is 7½ miles, built 1911–1913, connecting with the Wheeling & Lake Erie
Northern Ohio	999-year lease effective March 1, 1920. In May 1920, purchase of Akron–Copley and lease of Copley–Delphos
Main line	Mogadore–Delphos. The society’s figure is 171 miles. The February 1946 table prints Delphos at 169.5 miles
Cities in the name	Chartered toward Canton and Youngstown. The finished railroad served Akron and the towns from Mogadore west to Delphos
Railroad Company	February 1, 1944. The Railway and the Northern Ohio merged, and the name became Railroad
Norfolk & Western	Acquired at 12:01 a.m., October 16, 1964. Separate corporate existence ended in 1982
Steam	The historical society’s list. 54 locomotives. The last still on that list in 1955 were 37, 402, and 403
Diesels	26. Eight Alco. Eighteen Fairbanks-Morse
East of Carey	Operated by the Wheeling & Lake Erie begun in 1990

Akron & Barberton Belt

The Akron & Barberton Belt was a joint terminal for the industries at Barberton and in Akron. The Northern Ohio addition gave the Akron, Canton & Youngstown its quarter interest. The February 1946 table prints the belt at East Akron and Fairlawn, and it marks Barberton as reached by switching arrangements with the belt. The same table lists Brittain between Mogadore and East Akron. Brittain is the historical society’s spelling of that yard.

System map of the Akron, Canton and Youngstown, including the Akron and Barberton Belt

A system map of the Akron, Canton & Youngstown, including the Akron & Barberton Belt. Author’s work. The belt was a joint terminal. The Akron, Canton & Youngstown held a 25 percent interest.

The Ohio short-lines guide records the later company. The belt had been controlled by the Akron, Canton & Youngstown, the Baltimore & Ohio, the Pennsylvania, and the Erie. In 1994 the Wheeling & Lake Erie acquired it and renamed it the Akron Barberton Cluster, reporting mark AB. The primary yard is in Barberton, with switching and storage at Firestone Yard in Akron. The Cluster’s locomotives are not part of the 26 diesels below.

February 1946

The public table reproduced here is dated February 1946. It is headed the Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad Co. H. B. Stewart, Jr., is president. The general offices are the A. C. & Y. Building, 12 East Exchange Street, Akron. The table is freight service only, on Eastern time. No. 95 runs from Mogadore to Delphos. No. 90 runs from Delphos to Mogadore. The sheet puts Delphos at 169.5 miles from Mogadore. The historical society’s figure for that same railroad is 171 miles. Each measurement is left as its source prints it.

Official 1946 system map of the Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad

An official 1946 system map of the Akron, Canton & Youngstown. Author’s collection. Mogadore is the east end. Delphos is the west end.

February 1946 public timetable of the Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad, Mogadore to Delphos

The Akron, Canton & Youngstown’s February 1946 public table. Freight service only, trains 95 and 90. H. B. Stewart, Jr., president. The sheet shows Delphos at 169.5 miles from Mogadore.

The connections printed on that sheet are the Akron & Barberton Belt at East Akron and Fairlawn; the Baltimore & Ohio at Akron, Columbus Grove, Medina, and Plymouth; the Chesapeake & Ohio at Carey; the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton at Columbus Grove; the Erie at Akron; New York Central lines, the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis at Carey and New London and the Ohio Central lines at Arlington and Sycamore; the Nickel Plate at Bluffton and Delphos; the Pennsylvania at Akron, Chatfield, Delphos, and New Washington; and the Wheeling & Lake Erie at Mogadore and Spencer.

Freight

The historical society describes the railroad of the 1920s as a Class I, and it describes about a third of the business as overhead freight. That overhead moved with the Wheeling & Lake Erie, the Nickel Plate, the Pittsburgh & West Virginia, and the Western Maryland, and the society describes it as second-morning service to St. Louis. The society also records a daily mixed train. By the early 1950s the passenger business was gone. Steam outlasted it.

A 1969 commodity list on the society’s page is rubber and stone. The shippers named there include Goodyear, Firestone, B.F. Goodrich, General Tire, National Lime & Stone, and Diamond Crystal Salt. Youngstown Sheet & Tube is on the same list. The railroad’s own line still ended at Mogadore.

Steam

The steam roster is the Akron, Canton & Youngstown Historical Society’s list. Counted once, it is 54 locomotives. The ten Moguls were already numbered for the Northern Ohio when they came over in 1920, and they were off the roster by 1923. The twelve Ten-Wheelers are former Nickel Plate engines, acquired the same year, numbered 300, 301, 303, 304, 305, 307, 308, 309, 310, 312, 313, and 314. The Mikados are the road power of 1926, 1928, 1941, and 1944, plus four secondhand engines at the end of the war. The last locomotives still on the society’s list in 1955 were 0-8-0 No. 37 and Mikados 402 and 403.

Class	Numbers	Type	Builder	Built	Acquired	Notes
C-1	1–3	0-6-0	Lima	1912	1912	New. Retired 1928. Sold to the Sydney & Louisburg
C-2	22–23	0-6-0	Lima	1912	1912	New. Retired 1929. Sold to the Aliquippa & Southern. With 1–3, the five new Lima switchers
L	37–38	0-8-0	Lima	1926	1926	New. 37 scrapped 1955. 38 scrapped 1949
L	39	0-8-0	Baldwin	1922	1929	Ex-Upper Merion & Plymouth 27. Scrapped 1951
L	40	0-8-0	Baldwin	1922	1939	Ex-A. E. Staley 4. Scrapped 1953
E	5360–5364	2-6-0	Brooks	1895	1920	Northern Ohio numbers. Originally Lake Erie & Western 126–130
E	5365–5369	2-6-0	Brooks	1896	1920	Originally Lake Erie & Western 131–135. 5363 sold to Rubber City Sand & Gravel. 5367 sold to Cambridge Block Coal, 1923. The others were off the roster by 1922
P	300, 301, 303–305, 307–310, 312–314	4-6-0	Alco	1905–1906	1920	Twelve former Nickel Plate Ten-Wheelers. 304 went to the Dansville & Mount Morris, and to Steamtown in 1964
M	320–321	2-8-0	Baldwin	1922	1922	New. 320 scrapped 1952. 321 scrapped 1951
M	322–324	2-8-0	Baldwin	1923	1923	New. 322 sold to the U.S. Navy, retired 1950. 323 and 324 scrapped 1952
M	350–354	2-8-0	Alco	1903	1928	Ex-Big Four 6602, 6615, 6616, 6605, and 6609. 350 scrapped 1947. 351 and 354 scrapped 1946. 352 and 353 dropped from the roster in 1944–48
M	355–356	2-8-0	Alco	1903	1929	355 ex-Big Four 6603, retired 1950. 356 ex-Big Four 6600, sold 1941 to the USA Defense Plant Corporation, then the Hanford Works
R	400–401	2-8-2	Lima	1926	1926	New. 400 scrapped 1948. 401 scrapped 1946
R-1	402–403	2-8-2	Lima	1928	1928	New. Scrapped 1955
R-2	404–405	2-8-2	Lima	1941	1941	New. Scrapped 1954
R-2	406	2-8-2	Lima	1944	1944	New. Scrapped 1954
R	407	2-8-2	Alco	1918	1945	Ex-Nickel Plate 607. Sold for scrap 1948
R	408	2-8-2	Lima	1921	1946	Ex-Nickel Plate 616. Sold for scrap 1949
R	409	2-8-2	Alco	1918	1946	Ex-Nickel Plate 601. Sold for scrap 1949
R	410	2-8-2	Alco	1918	1947	Ex-Nickel Plate 604. Sold for scrap 1949

Twenty-six diesels

The first diesel was an Alco switcher, S2 No. 101, built in May 1942 as D-1. The first road-switcher was RS1 No. 102, built in October 1945 as D-2. The first road-freight diesels were Fairbanks-Morse H20-44s 500–502, in January 1948. Road power from 1948 through the last H16-44 in 1957 is eighteen Fairbanks-Morse units: one H15-44, eight H16-44s, and nine H20-44s. With the eight Alcos, the all-time diesel list is 26 locomotives, each frame once.

The date column is the builder’s date. Nos. 200–208 and 500–505 were built for this railroad. H20-44s 506–508 were built for the Pittsburgh & West Virginia. Several of the Alco switchers were built for the Nickel Plate and reached the Akron, Canton & Youngstown later, by way of the Norfolk & Western. No. 505, March 1954, was the last H20-44 built.

Akron, Canton and Youngstown S2 No. 103, a former Delray Connecting switcher, in the 1960s

Akron, Canton & Youngstown S2 No. 103 in the 1960s. A former Delray Connecting switcher, serial 73365, built in October 1945.

Model	Numbers	Serial	Order	Built	Qty	Notes
Alco S2	101	69674	—	May 1942	1	Built as D-1. First diesel. A switcher
Alco RS1	102	74323	—	October 1945	1	Built as D-2. First road-switcher
Alco S2	103	73365	—	October 1945	1	Ex-Delray Connecting 64
Alco S2	104–105	69924, 69929	—	July 1942	2	104 ex-Nickel Plate 1, serial 69924. 105 ex-Nickel Plate 6, serial 69929
Alco S2	106	75244	—	June 1947	1	Ex-Nickel Plate 32, later Norfolk & Western 2032
Alco S2	107–108	75366, 75370	—	August 1947	2	107 ex-Nickel Plate 38, later Norfolk & Western 2038. 108 ex-Nickel Plate 42, later Norfolk & Western 2042
FM H15-44	200	15L36	—	June 1949	1	Built for this railroad
FM H16-44	201–203	16L530–16L532	—	December 1951	3	Built for this railroad
FM H16-44	204–205	16L783–16L784	—	April 1954	2	Built for this railroad. 204 is the locomotive at Sewells Point
FM H16-44	206	16L831	—	March 1954	1	Built for this railroad. Construction number later than 204–205, builder month earlier
FM H16-44	207	16L961	—	December 1955	1	Built for this railroad
FM H16-44	208	16L1156	—	March 1957	1	Built for this railroad. Last of the eight H16-44s
FM H20-44	500–502	L1044–L1046	LD42	January 1948	3	Built for this railroad. First road-freight diesels
FM H20-44	503	L1047	LD42	February 1948	1	Built for this railroad
FM H20-44	504	21L309	—	February 1951	1	Built for this railroad
FM H20-44	505	21L832	LD162	March 1954	1	Built for this railroad. Last H20-44 built
FM H20-44	506–508	21L715, 21L716, 21L714	LD139	February 1953	3	Built for the Pittsburgh & West Virginia. 506 ex-68, serial 21L715. 507 ex-69, serial 21L716. 508 ex-67, serial 21L714. Later on the Norfolk & Western under those Pittsburgh & West Virginia numbers

Norfolk & Western

The Norfolk & Western acquired the railroad at 12:01 a.m. on October 16, 1964. The same hour absorbed the Nickel Plate, brought the Wabash and the Pittsburgh & West Virginia under lease, and added the Pennsylvania’s Sandusky line as the physical link. The Akron, Canton & Youngstown kept its name and remained a subsidiary. Its separate corporate existence ended in 1982.

The new Wheeling & Lake Erie, begun in 1990, operates the line east of Carey. West of Carey the 1946 table had run on through Bluffton and Columbus Grove to Delphos.

An Akron, Canton and Youngstown caboose at the Akron yard in June 1983

An Akron, Canton & Youngstown caboose at the yard in Akron in June 1983. Gary Morris photo. The company’s separate corporate existence had ended in 1982. The caboose still wore the old lettering.

Sources

Akron, Canton & Youngstown Historical Society, brief history. Slogan Ohio’s Road of Service. Organizers, the June 17, 1907 shareholders’ meeting, the 7½-mile terminal of 1911–1913, five new Lima 0-6-0s, the predecessor from the Cleveland, Delphos & St. Louis through the Pittsburgh, Akron & Western to the Northern Ohio, the 171-mile Mogadore–Delphos railroad, the 25 percent interest in the Akron & Barberton Belt, Fairbanks-Morse road power from 1948, last steam in 1955, a daily mixed train, overhead freight with the Wheeling & Lake Erie, Nickel Plate, Pittsburgh & West Virginia, and Western Maryland described as second-morning service to St. Louis, and the 1969 commodity list. The society places the line east of Carey with the later Wheeling & Lake Erie.
Akron, Canton & Youngstown Historical Society, steam roster. The 54 locomotives in the table, including class C-2 as 22 and 23, class L as Lima 37–38 and the two secondhand Baldwins, the twelve class P numbers, the Big Four numbers on 350–356, and the Nickel Plate numbers on 407–410. No. 304 to the Dansville & Mount Morris and to Steamtown in 1964.
Akron, Canton & Youngstown Historical Society newsletter. The 999-year Northern Ohio lease effective March 1, 1920, at the end of federal control. Bankruptcy in April 1933. Merger of the Railway and the Northern Ohio into the Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad Company on February 1, 1944. The society’s Railway page records the May 1920 purchase of Akron–Copley and the lease of Copley–Delphos.
University of Akron, University Libraries, Archival Services, Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railway Company Records, 1895–1973, Record Group 99/79, finding aid. Incorporated in 1907 through planning by H. B. Stewart and Z. W. Davis, with backing from F. A. Seiberling. Operation from Akron to Mogadore, connecting with the Wheeling & Lake Erie, began October 1, 1912.
The railroad’s February 1946 public table, the page reproduced here. Headed Railroad Co. H. B. Stewart, Jr., president. General offices, A. C. & Y. Building, 12 East Exchange Street, Akron. Freight service only, trains 95 and 90, Eastern time. Delphos at 169.5 miles from Mogadore. Connections as named on the sheet, including Brittain and the Akron & Barberton Belt at East Akron and Fairlawn.
Norfolk & Western company history on this site. Acquisition of the Akron, Canton & Youngstown at 12:01 a.m. on October 16, 1964, with the Nickel Plate absorption, the Wabash and Pittsburgh & West Virginia leases, and the Pennsylvania Sandusky line. Separate corporate existence of the Akron, Canton & Youngstown ended in 1982.
This site’s Fairbanks-Morse H20-44 roster. Nos. 500–502, serials L1044–L1046, order LD42, January 1948. No. 503, serial L1047, order LD42, February 1948. No. 505, serial 21L832, order LD162, March 1954, the last of the model. No. 504 is February 1951, serial 21L309. An order number for 504 is not on that table.
This site’s Pittsburgh & West Virginia diesel roster. H20-44s 66–71, serials 21L713–21L718, order LD139, February 1953. Nos. 67–69 later became Akron, Canton & Youngstown 508, 506, and 507.
The Diesel Shop, Akron, Canton & Youngstown all-time roster, Bob VanDerveer, revised July 24, 2022. Alco and Fairbanks-Morse serials and builder months used above, including S2 101 as serial 69674 in May 1942 and H16-44 207 as serial 16L961. This site’s Alco S2 production roster prints the same 69674 and May 1942 for that switcher.
Ohio short lines guide on this site. Akron Barberton Cluster, reporting mark AB, tracing to the Akron & Barberton Belt. Controlled by the Akron, Canton & Youngstown, Baltimore & Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Erie. Acquired by the Wheeling & Lake Erie in 1994 and renamed. Yards in Barberton and Firestone Yard in Akron.

Facebook X Pinterest Tumblr Reddit WhatsApp Messenger