Ohio

Baltimore & Ohio
Ravenna, Ohio
March 28, 1971




In 1899 both the Baltimore & Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroads began planning new lines between Niles and Ravenna, Ohio. The Pennsylvania needed a through route from Youngstown to connect with its line to Cleveland, and the B&O wanted to create a low grade route to replace its tortuous and grade crossing-infested main line through Niles and Warren. Rather than build two parallel roads, the Pennsylvania abandoned plans for its own line (except for a few miles of connecting track at either end) and in 1904 received trackage rights on the B&O's proposed line in return for some of its right of way purchased but not used for its own line. Trains of both roads began using the line in 1905 and the B&O's former main line became its Newton Falls Subdivision. The New York Central also had trackage rights over the line from its Lake Erie & Pittsburgh subsidiary to a connection with the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie in Youngstown.

The exact location of this slide is unknown, but it's somewhere between Niles and Ravenna along Ohio Route 5.




This page posted 9/1/2017. Text and photo ©2017 Lamont Downs.