Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad

Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad

AC&Y system map
Reporting mark AB&C
Locale Ohio
Dates of operation 1907–1982
Successor Norfolk & Western Railway
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length 171 miles (275 kilometres)
Headquarters Akron, Ohio

The Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad (reporting mark ACY) was a railroad that existed between 1907 and 1982, running from Mogadore west to Delphos, Ohio. It is now part of Norfolk Southern Railway.

History

The Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railway (AC&Y) was incorporated in 1907 and completed a line from Mogadore to Akron, Ohio, 8 miles (13 kilometres), in 1913. In 1920 the AC&Y obtained control of the Northern Ohio Railway from the Lake Erie & Western Railroad. The Northern Ohio had a 161 mi (259 km) route from Akron west to Delphos, Ohio. AC&Y also purchased outright a 9 miles (14 kilometres) portion of the Northern Ohio from Akron to Copley Junction. Akron was noted for the manufacture of tires, and over the years tires and inner tubes moving from Akron to Detroit via the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad interchange at Columbus Grove constituted a significant part of AC&Y's freight traffic.[1]

On January 14, 1944, the AC&Y and the Northern Ohio were consolidated as the Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad. In 1947 AC&Y considered extending its line east to Youngstown for access to the steel industry there and also to serve as a route around the congestion of Cleveland, but nothing came of it.[1]

In 1949 AC&Y's president proposed a 130 mi (210 km) Ohio River-to-Lake Erie two-way conveyor belt. AC&Y was, understandably, the only railroad to support the proposal or to advocate passage of bills by the Ohio legislature granting right of eminent domain to the conveyor belt company. Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W) purchased the AC&Y in 1964 at the time it merged with the Nickel Plate and leased the Wabash Railroad. N&W dissolved the AC&Y on January 1, 1982.[1]

Legacy

As of 2006, the AC&Y building still stands on Exchange Street in Akron. Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) interchanges are at Sterling and Akron under the All-American Bridge. Trains are then routed into the NS Bellevue yard.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Drury, George H. (1994). The Historical Guide to North American Railroads: Histories, Figures, and Features of more than 160 Railroads Abandoned or Merged since 1930. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 0-89024-072-8.

External links