Revenue Service Back on W&LE Carrollton Branch

Revenue service has resumed on the Wheeling & Lake Erie’s Carrollton branch following completion of rehabilitation projects funded in part by the Ohio Rail Development Commission.

An online report indicated that the first revenue move in more than three years on the branch occurred on Sept. 11 when a plastics company in Carrollton received nine loads of plastic pellets.

Another shipper received a load of stone on Sept. 20 that was delivered to a stone unloading facility recently constructed next to a siding in Carrollton.

ORDC had given the W&LE a grant of $235,225 to be used to rebuild a bridge at Oneida over Sandy Creek.

The agency also awarded a $100,000 grant to trucking company Griffeth & Son to build a transloading facility for stone that is being transported from a quarry near Carey, Ohio.

The transloading facility also received funding of $200,000 from JobsOhio and $50,000 from the Carroll County Community Improvement Corporation.

In recent years the Carrollton branch had been used for storing idled freight cars.

W&LE Gets Grant to Rebuild Bridge

The Wheeling & Lake Erie has received a grant from the Ohio Rail Development Commission to be used to repair a bridge on its Carrollton branch.

The grant of $235,225 will be used to rehabilitate the century-old Oneida Bridge at milepost 16.78 in Oneida.

In a news release, the ORDC said the project will ensure the bridge is in safe working condition.

The release said the W&LE has committed to maintaining the bridge in operable condition for 10 years after completion of the project.

Jeff Sunderland, the W&LE’s assistant vice president, business development, said in the news release that the railroad will continue to provide service to new and current customers in Carrollton.

Among them is Griffeth & Son, a trucking company that is extending a rail spur to be used to unload carloads of crushed limestone.

The ORDC gave the trucking company a $100,000 ORDC grant and it also received an award of $200,000 from JobsOhio and $50,000 from the Carroll County Community Improvement Corporation.

The W&LE will bring in the stone to the unloading facility on a weekly basis once the project is completed.

The limestone is now being trucked to Carrollton from a quarry near Carey.

James Griffeth told the The Repository of Canton last October that the number of trains bringing limetone to Carrollton might increase to two or three a week if demand rises.

The ORDC news release said work on the Oneida bridge is expected to be done this year.

The Repository story of last October said at the time that Carroll County did not have any active rail shippers.

Catching a Pair on W&LE’s Carrollton Branch

Passing through someone’s backyard west of Robertsville.

The past two Fridays I was lucky enough to catch the Wheeling & Lake Erie local returning from Carrollton.

This branch comes from Canton and winds about 25 miles down to Carrollton to serve a couple industries. It only runs one day a week, currently on Fridays.

Branch line railroading has a charm that you don’t get on the mainline. This line is rural and very scenic and with low speeds (5-10 mph) it’s an easy chase. There is even a tunnel at Robertsville, about halfway down the line.

This is railroading in the style of the Abingdon branch made famous by O. Winston Link. I can picture a small 4-6-0 or 2-8-0 steam engine making it’s way through farms and backyards.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

Passing through East Canton.

Rounding a curve at East Canton.

Approaching an old feed mill in Robertsville.

Passing through Oneida where the W&LE’s Carrollton branch once crossed a branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad that ran to Marietta, Ohio.

Passing through the tunnel at Robertsville. (Photograph by Matt Sell)