Panhandle Rail Line Anti-Abandonment Project
In the late 1980s the former Consolidated Rail Corp., acting on policies developed by predecessors Pennsylvania RR Co. and Penn Central Transportation Co., proposed to abandon and liquidate portions of their former subsidiary Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Rwy. "Panhandle" route between Pittsburgh-St. Louis, with major branches to Cincinnati and Chicago, to consolidate traffic onto its Pittsburgh-Ft. Wayne-Chicago and Pittsburgh-Cleveland lines, or leave traffic to CSX's Pittsburgh-Columbus route, Norfolk Southern's (now Wheeling & Lake Erie Rwy's) Pittsburgh-Bellevue route, or for I-70. In 1992, an academic and grassroots effort, including the Ohio Rail Development Commission (an independent agency of the Ohio Department of Transportation) acted to save the Line by convincing Caprail I., Inc., a bank subsidiary created in Ohio, to purchase and lease-to-own it to ORDC for 20 years. The East Ohio rail segment between Gould (south of Steubenville) and Newark, OH was one of the few if only successful rescue efforts of a major line segment in the U.S.
Documents:
Interstate Commerce Commission Decisions-
AB-167 12-4-1991 (PRL ICC AB-167 Sub#1088x 12-4-1991.pdf) 340KB
AB-167 10-17-1990 (PRL ICC AB-167 Sub#1088x 10-17-1990.pdf) 466KB
AB-167 12-5-1989 (PRL ICC AB-167 Sub#1088x 12-5-1989.pdf) 134KB
AB-167 7-31-1989 (PRL ICC AB-167 Sub#1088x 7-31-1989.pdf) 125KB
AB-167 6-7-1989 (PRL ICC AB-167 Sub#1088x 6-7-1989.pdf) 1.091MB
AB-167 11-23-1988 (PRL ICC AB-167 Sub#1088x 11-23-1988.pdf) 3.747MB
AB-167 8-12-1988 (PRL ICC AB-167 Sub#1088x 8-12-1988.pdf) 298KBTestimony-
Conrail Asst. VP Industrial & Market Development John P. Betak (PRL ICC CR Betak 12-13-1988.pdf) 663KB
Conrail Asst. Director Coal Source Development John F. Duink (PRL ICC CR Duink 12-13-1988.pdf) 451KB
Conrail Senior VP Operations Richard B. Hasselman (PRL ICC CR Hasselman 12-13-1988.pdf) 282KB
Shippers-
Coshocton Grain-
McGee-Landschulz & McConnell 11-22-1989 (PRL Shippers CG McGee-Landschulz McConnell 11-22-1989.pdf) 461KB
Strickland-McConnell 5-30-1991 (PRL Shippers CG Strickland-McConnell 5-30-1991.pdf) 116KBScio Pottery-
McJunkin-McGuire 10-6-1989 (PRL Shippers SP McJunkin-McGuire 10-6-1989.pdf) 68KB
Phillips-Dittman 7-25-1988 (PRL Shippers SP Phillips-Dittman 7-25-1988.pdf) 71KB
Phillips-McGee 7-25-1988 (PRL Shippers SP Phillips-McGee 7-25-1988.pdf) 46KB
Reese-McGee 7-18-1988 (PRL Shippers SP Reese-McGee 7-18-1988.pdf) 170KB
Schiering-Hurst 7-20-1989 (PRL Shippers SP Schiering-Hurst 7-20-1989.pdf) 145KB
Organizations-
Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development
ICC-Patton 6-3-1991 (PRL Orgs COAD ICC-Patton 6-3-1991.pdf) 109KB
Tuscarawas County Commissioners-
Tuscarawas County Commissioners Meeting to Discuss Property Tax Abatement for the Panhandle 5-8-1991 (PRL TCC Agenda 5-8-1991.pdf) 4.869MB
Ohio Central RR Co.-
Status of the Panhandle Rail Line Negotiation 5-10-1990 (PRL OCRR Status 5-10-1990.pdf) 347KB
Tuscarawas County Tax Abatement Request (PRL OCRR Connor-TCC 8-16-1991.pdf) 69KB
Ohio Dept. of Transportation-
ODOT-State Controlling Board Amendment Request 12-16-1991 (PRL ODOT-CAPRAIL 12-16-1991.pdf) 2.743MB
Penn Central Transportation Co. Archives
Pennsylvania Railroad Archives
Ohio Rail Development Commission Archives
East Ohio Panhandle Rail Line Anti-Privatization Proposal
of this page; updated
12-9-2006