The New Castle Subdivision is a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line owned and operated by

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

in the U.S. states of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. The line runs from

New Castle, Pennsylvania New Castle is a city in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is northwest of Pittsburgh, and near the Pennsylvania–Ohio border, just southeast of Youngstown, Ohio. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, ...

west through Youngstown and Akron to

Greenwich, Ohio Greenwich is a village in Huron County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,409 at the 2020 census. It is served by a branch of the Willard Memorial Library. History A post office called Greenwich was established in 1828 and the municipa ...

along a former

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

line. Its east end is near Mahoningtown, at the west end of the New Castle Terminal Subdivision. Its west end is at the Willard Terminal Subdivision, just east of the

Greenwich Subdivision Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Gree ...

junction at Greenwich. It junctions with the Newton Falls Subdivision at

Newton Falls, Ohio Newton Falls is a village in southwestern Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,557 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. The city takes its name from the two sets of waterfalls within ...

, and the

CL&W Subdivision The CL&W Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Ohio. The line runs from a junction with the New Castle Subdivision at Sterling northwest to Lorain along a former Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road ...

Sterling, Ohio Sterling is an unincorporated, census-designated place in northwestern Milton Township, Wayne County, Ohio, United States with the ZIP code of 44276. History Sterling was plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral ma ...

History

The first tracks along this route were opened in 1879 by the

Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE) , also known as the "Little Giant", was formed on May 11, 1875. Company headquarters were located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The line connected Pittsburgh in the east with Youngstown, Ohio in the H ...

, connecting

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

via New Castle. The Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Toledo Railroad opened tracks from New Castle to Youngstown and a line continuing west to Valley Junction (near

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

) in 1884. On August 1, 1887, much of PC&T's railway was leased by the Pittsburgh and Western Railway Company for passenger service directly between

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Soon thereafter, the PC&T Railroad would be absorbed into the P&W Railroad. By 1902, the

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

took over the Pittsburgh & Western Railroad and converted all of its tracks to

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

. As the P&LE improved their single-track line, B&O's route followed a similar path between Pittsburgh and Youngstown. B&O's route, however had high grades and curves throughout Pittsburgh. By 1934, the B&O opted to instead purchase

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...

between

McKeesport McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela River, Monongahela and Youghiogheny River, Youghiogheny rivers and within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population ...

and New Castle. It would prove to be a major rail line through the region, connecting major industrial cities such as Youngstown, Akron, and Pittsburgh. B&O eventually merged with other railroads to form the

Chessie System Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated und ...

in 1973, which would own the tracks on the current New Castle Subdivision between New Castle and Greenwich. Chessie System later merged with

Seaboard Coast Line Industries Seaboard Coast Line Industries, Inc., incorporated in Delaware on May 9, 1969, was a railroad holding company that owned the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, its subsidiary Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and several smaller carriers. Its railroad ...

to form

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

in 1980. By 1993, the P&LE was purchased by CSX, giving the company full control over the New Castle Subdivision and the New Castle Terminal Subdivision.

New Castle Terminal Subdivision

The New Castle Terminal Subdivision runs for 14.7 miles northwest from the terminus of the Pittsburgh Subdivision in

West Pittsburg, Pennsylvania West Pittsburg is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in southern Taylor Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 808. It is located in the Beaver River va ...

to the terminus of the New Castle Subdivision near New Castle. Much of the line coexists with the CSX New Castle yard. It junctions with the

P&W Subdivision The P&W Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation, the Allegheny Valley Railroad (AVR), and the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad (BPRR) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Rankin north through Pittsbu ...

near Mahoningtown.

References

{{reflist CSX Transportation lines Rail infrastructure in Pennsylvania Rail infrastructure in Ohio Baltimore and Ohio Railroad lines