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.

Wheeling Chase to Canton

 

I did a short morning chase of a Wheeling & Lake Erie southbound from Akron to Canton last week.

I was heading out to see if the new airship was out – it wasn’t – and saw this train getting ready to depart Akron.

I set up for a photo looking across Wingfoot Lake, then it was off to Middlebranch. The crew was enjoying the little taste of spring we were having that day.

The next three photos are at various locations in Canton as it slowed down for the Norfolk Southern crossing at Wandle.

The W&LE twists and turns as it nears the diamond with NS at Wandle. I’ve always liked the “busy” look of a train coming out of all those buildings and over the diamond.

Note the older signals in the Wandle photos. There are two new ones up but not in service yet, so these Nickel Plate era signals appear to be on borrowed time.

The last photo is the new southbound approach signal located a little north of the diamond.

Article and Photographs by Roger Durfee