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Ohi-Rail Corporation was a short line railroad that ran from Minerva, Ohio to Hopedale, Ohio, United States, with the reporting mark "OHIC". Interchanges were with Columbus and Ohio River Railroad, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway. In March 2020, operations were taken over by Genesee & Wyoming's Mahoning Valley Railway. [1]
Ohi-Rail Corporation traces its roots back to the predecessors of the New York Central System, who built the railroad to tap into the vast coal resources found in southeastern Ohio.
The 34-mile line stretches south from the City of Minerva through the counties of Carroll, Harrison and Jefferson to Hopedale in southeastern Ohio. Along with the 3.8-mile Wolf Run Branch, this railroad, commonly known as the "Piney Fork Line," cut a path through this coal-rich region of Ohio.
The rail line thrived by transporting coal well into the late 1960s. With the last two mines ceasing regular operations in the late 1970s, Penn Central moved to abandon and remove the track. Looking to preserve the line, the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Division of Rail Transportation Development purchased the Piney Fork Line and its associated track in July 1982 and began looking for an operator.
Ohi-Rail Corporation, a group of rail investors led by Teresa Schiappa stepped forward and signed an agreement with the ORDC to operate and preserve the Piney Fork Line. Ohi-Rail stepped up again in 1993 when Conrail decided to abandon Ohi-Rail's northern connection in Minerva. Ohi-Rail not only purchased the threatened line from Conrail, but also the additional track from Bayard into Minerva, including the Minerva Yard. In 2002, Ohi-Rail named Richard Delatore as Vice President.
With little traffic being generated on the railroad, Ohi-Rail made a living storing rail cars in the Minerva Yard until rumors of a new natural resource boom began circulating around the communities the railroad served.
Utica Shale then became the new lifeblood of the railroad, as wells using the latest technology in directional drilling and fracking methods began producing massive amounts of oil and natural gas liquids in the counties the railroad served. From pipe suppliers and frac sand distributors, to oil and gas liquids themselves, the railroad's business opportunities grew.
Ohi-Rail moved quickly, and when a major frac sand distributor located on the railroad in Minerva, the railroad completely rebuilt the Minerva Yard to accommodate the projected increase in traffic. At that time, they also brought General Manager Denny Varian on board to handle operations with the added value of his background in the rail industry. The main line is being completely rehabilitated from Minerva south to tap into the vast industrial property reserves along the line. Along with the sand cars in the railyard, tank cars are being filled with natural gas liquids via trans-loading from trucks.
After adding internal customer service and marketing departments headed by Desiree Dunlap and Sarah Ossman, the once coal-focused railroad is transforming itself to serve the energy development growth alongside other diverse industrial businesses in eastern Ohio. [2] [ unreliable source? ]
In late 2019 and early 2020, a deal was made to sell Ohi-Rail Corporation to the Genesee and Wyoming as a part of the Ohio Central System under the OC's subsidiary name Mahoning Valley Railway. The north end of the line, which interchanges mostly with NS at Bayard, deals mostly with storage cars now. The last two Ohi-Rail rostered locomotives, GP38s 5032 and 5045, reside in Minerva as of June 2020. The south end has trash trains to and from Apex, and OC locomotives from the southern lines use this end, as the north end is now cut off with car storage. [3]
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 (34,000 km) of track. The company operates as the leading subsidiary of CSX Corporation, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States, formed in 1982 by the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and the Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia, and has rights in Canada over the Albany to Montréal route of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and previously on CN from Buffalo to St. Thomas. NS is responsible for maintaining 28,400 miles (45,700 km), with the remainder being operated under trackage rights from other parties responsible for maintenance. Intermodal containers and trailers are the most common commodity type carried by NS, which have grown as coal business has declined throughout the 21st century; coal was formerly the largest source of traffic. The railway offers the largest intermodal rail network in eastern North America. NS was also the pioneer of Roadrailer service. Norfolk Southern and its chief competitor, CSX Transportation, have a duopoly on the transcontinental freight rail lines in the Eastern United States.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, wares, merchandise and minerals in Pennsylvania and the railroad was incorporated and established on September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad Company. On January 7, 1853, the railroad's name was changed to Lehigh Valley Railroad. It was sometimes known as the Route of the Black Diamond, named after the anthracite it transported. At the time, anthracite was transported by boat down the Lehigh River. The railroad ended operations in 1976 and merged into Conrail along with several northeastern railroads that same year.
The Monongahela Railway was a coal-hauling short line railroad in Pennsylvania and West Virginia in the United States. It was jointly controlled originally by the Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Central subsidiary Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, with NYC and PRR later succeeded by Penn Central Transportation. The company operated its own line until it was merged into Conrail on May 1, 1993.
The Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad is a short line railroad that operates in Livingston County and Monroe County in New York, United States. The railroad interchanges with CSX at Genesee Junction in Chili, New York, the Rochester and Southern Railroad (RSR) at Genesee Junction and the RSR's Brooks Avenue Yard in Gates, New York, and with the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum at Industry, New York. Their primary freight consists of food products - grains and corn syrup. In 1997, the Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad was selected as Short Line Railroad of the Year by industry trade journal Railway Age. The LAL is also the parent company for both the Bath and Hammondsport Railroad and Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad.
The Falls Road Railroad is a Class III short line railroad owned by Genesee Valley Transportation (GVT). The railroad operates in Niagara, Orleans, and Monroe counties in New York.
The Conrail Lehigh Line is a railroad line in New Jersey that is part of Conrail Shared Assets Operations under the North Jersey Shared Assets Area division. The line runs from CP Port Reading Junction in Manville to Oak Island Yard in Newark. The line is double-track and signaled through its entire length. The line began operations in 1999 using former existing tracks from Manville to Newark that was once part of the original Lehigh Line which is still in existence and is owned and operated by Norfolk Southern Railway.
The Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad is a Class II railroad operating in New York and Pennsylvania.
The Flats Industrial Railroad is a Class III railroad that provides short-line commercial/industrial switching service in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, primarily with CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway.
The Youngstown and Southeastern Railroad is a short-line railroad subsidiary of Midwest & Bluegrass Rail that operates freight trains between Youngstown, Ohio and Darlington, Pennsylvania, United States. The line is owned by the Columbiana County Port Authority, leased to the Eastern States Railroad, which is owned by the line's primary shipper, and contracted out to the YSRR. Freight is interchanged with CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway at the Youngstown end.
The Youngstown Belt Railroad is a part of the Ohio Central Railroad System, which was bought by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. in 2008, serving the area northwest of Youngstown, Ohio. It began operations in 1997, mainly on ex-Erie Railroad trackage owned by the affiliated Warren and Trumbull Railroad (W&T), which acquired the "Lordstown Cluster" from Conrail in 1996. It also leases a short ex-Baltimore and Ohio Railroad segment from CSX Transportation, formerly operated by the W&T.
The Warren and Trumbull Railroad is a part of the Ohio Central Railroad System, which was bought by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. in 2008, operating three lines in and near Warren. It began operations in 1994 on a line formerly operated by CSX Transportation, and expanded in 1996 on two ex-Conrail lines.
Columbus and Ohio River Railroad is a railroad in the U.S. state of Ohio owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
Mahoning Valley Railway (MVRY) is a short-line railroad in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. It has an interchange with Norfolk Southern Railway at its east end. The west end is Youngstown Belt Railroad which is also owned by Genesee & Wyoming. This services Youngstown, Ohio area for its steel mills. The line connects Struthers, Ohio with Youngstown.
The Lehigh Line is a railroad line in central New Jersey, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway. The line runs west from the vicinity of the Port of New York and New Jersey via Conrail's Lehigh Line to the Susquehanna River valley at the south end of the Wyoming Valley Coal Region. Administratively, it is part of Norfolk Southern's Keystone Division and is part of the Crescent Corridor. As of 2021 the line is freight-only, although there are perennial proposals to restore passenger service over all or part of the line.
The Travis Branch is a branch of the Staten Island Railway in New York City, that operates from Arlington Yard to Fresh Kills, which is used for freight transportation along the West Shore, Staten Island.
The Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railroad (C&MV) was a shortline railroad operating in the state of Ohio in the United States. Originally known as the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad (C&M), it was chartered in 1848. Construction of the line began in 1853 and was completed in 1857. After an 1872 merger with two small railroads, the corporate name was changed to "Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railroad". The railroad leased itself to the Atlantic and Great Western Railway in 1863. The C&MV suffered financial instability, and in 1880 its stock was sold to a company based in London in the United Kingdom. A series of leases and ownership changes left the C&MV in the hands of the Erie Railroad in 1896. The CM&V's corporate identity ended in 1942 after the Erie Railroad completed purchasing the railroad's outstanding stock from the British investors.