Summary:
Ghost Rails IV Industrial Shortlines, a 152 glossy page hardback, covers 6 small railroads and branches along the Ohio and Pennsylvania state line. The time period covers 1880 to circa 1980, and in some cases sections of these little known industrial railroads are in use in 2008. Hundreds of photos and maps detail these railroads for those who search old ghost grades or for those who like to model unique layouts. A few photos are rough, but it is what history left behind.
The northern reaches of Ghost Rails IV cover 2 railroads in Mercer County that served the Sharon and Youngstown area. Surprisingly one of these, the Jackson Coal Railroad was a profit maker for the LS&MS and the Vanderbilt NYC empire in the Stoneboro and Sandy Lake Area. Ultimately, Youngstown Sheet and Tube was a part of their coal haul plan. The other railroad was the WNY&PA, later the PRR, kind of a parallel to the Redmond Branch in Ghost Rails I.
In the middle grounds, a detailed history of the BR&P Big Run Branch of New Castle and Wampum area limestone, coal, and iron ore industry is covered. The BR&P history intertwines with the B&O, P&LE, and interestingly the Western Allegheny. One private railroad, detailed in this area and referred to in county records, is the Mehard Coal Railroad—unknown to most, many pass by and crossover the Mehard RR daily.
Also in the middle grounds is the Beaver Connecting Railroad and the Orenstein Arthur Koppel Car Company of Germany. To many, they simply know the name, Koppel Car Company. Nearly 40 pages cover this multi gauge railroad and industry that constructed portable tracks and narrow gauge engines as well as armor cars, a host of dumping cars, and the Galloping Geese of DRS Railroad. In the end the Koppel plant and railroad were seized by the American government during World War I, a first in American history. Today the plant is operated by Koppel Steel; numerous then and now shots contrast the operation and old ghosts.
To the south, the 2.5 mile PRR Marginal Railroad is detailed block by block in a fascinating sequences of maps. The Marginal was built by the Harmony Society, owners of the P&LE, at that time, and was later owned, rejected, and sold by Andrew Carnegie with his Beaver Falls Steel Company. The history ended with the Penn Central but was nearly resurrected with Amtrak.
Ghost Rails IV is truly a unique railroad and industrial history; it is a history of our industrial gateway. Unlike the Ghost Rail series, Ghost IV’s forgotten iron had to be written to preserve in its entirety the ghost railroad and industries along the Ohio and Pennsylvania state line. These small pieces give a larger view to the whole, part of the sum of all the abandon railroads along the line.
About the Author:
I am a graduate of Geneva College, and a retired English teacher from Blackhawk High School. For twenty years I rode freight trains as a hobo across North America. In the summer of 1971, I rode a freight from Ellwood City, Pa. to Seattle, Washington, in 70 hours. Caught a 747 to Japan and rode trains. Then I boated to Siberia and spent 45 days riding trains in Russia. I ended up in Turkey. Five years later in Essex, Montana, riding the “Billy Goat,” I encountered railroad author Karl Zimmerman who was doing a story. Years, trains, jobs, adventures, dangers, fun, interchanges, it all passed. It was an education and a great blessing from God. Part of me still wants to roll nowhere one more time.
My first book Rails of Dreams, taking over three years, was my longest journey; it took me back to the ghost railroads of my youth that I knew so well the Pittsburgh Harmony Butler and New Castle Railway and the Pittsburgh Lisbon and Western. The Beaver Valley Railroad Company came next, and both books sold out. The Greersburg Academy and the Station House, a history of one of Americas oldest Academic buildings, 1802, that became a train station from 1883 to 1972, was my third. The fifty page paper back is available for $15, simply note and add to the cost of an order. By the time I arrived at my fourth book, I arrived at my title Ghost Rails; I was searching and writing about that which was gone---much like riding a freight train and looking out and searching and finding myself gone again. Allegheny Railroad Ghost Rails Volume II involved winter hikes, continual discoveries, and new friends. I did not want the research to end. Ghost Rails III Electrics includes the electric lines: Youngtown and Ohio River, Beaver Valley East Liverpool and Steubenville, and Glasgow Railroad. I am fortunate to have encountered so many good people who have helped and contributed.
Ghost Rails IV Industrial Shortlines is a unique book. It covers 6 small railroads that served large industries. I was aware of these railroads in Sandy Lake, Cascade Park area, Beaver Falls, and the limestone area of Wampum even as a youngster; I never thought I would be writing about these ghost right of ways.
I am very privileged to have my grandson Adair Gwilliam make these trip with me in all types of inclement weather; he is now eighteen and off to Waynesburg University this fall. On a Saturday in April, 2008 we explored the old dynamite railroad of American Cynamid. Adair was the photographer; our trips together will be tougher. He has been exploring since he could walk. Adair lives with my wife Eileen and me in a log home I constructed in South Beaver Township. All three of us attend the Chippewa Evangelical Free Church, a solid cornerstone in our lives.
Copyright 2008 Wayne A. Cole
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book including web elements and images may be reproduced by any means or appear in any media without permission from the author and publisher, Wayne A. Cole, except for reviews or excerpts.
![[Front Cover]](images/b10291lrg.jpg){kind=link}