The Erie West Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

s of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 and Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. The line runs from Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...

 southwest along the shore of Lake Erie

Lake Erie

Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...

 to Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

 along the former New York Central Railroad

New York Central Railroad

The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...

 main line.

At its east end (west of downtown Erie), the Erie West Subdivision becomes the Lake Shore Subdivision

Lake Shore Subdivision

The Lake Shore Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of New York and Pennsylvania. The line runs from Buffalo, New York southwest along the shore of Lake Erie to Erie, Pennsylvania along the former New York Central Railroad main line.At its east end, the Lake...

; at its west end (east of downtown Cleveland), it becomes the Cleveland Terminal Subdivision

Cleveland Terminal Subdivision

The Cleveland Terminal Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Ohio. The line runs from a point northeast of downtown Cleveland southwest to downtown along the former New York Central Railroad main line....

. This subdivision is also known as the Great Lakes Service Lane.
Amtrak

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

's Lake Shore Limited

Lake Shore Limited

The Lake Shore Limited is a daily passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. The train runs between Chicago and Albany, NY, where it divides into two sections that provide thru-service to New York and Boston...

and Capitol Limited

Capitol Limited

Capitol Limited refers to three passenger train services, two of which ran between Washington, D.C. and Chicago, Illinois:* Capitol Limited , begun in 1981* Capitol Limited , started in 1923 and ended in 1971...

use the Erie West Subdivision.

History

The line was built by the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad and opened in 1852. Through mergers, leases, and takeovers, it became part of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway

Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway

The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, NY to Chicago, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie and across northern Indiana...

, New York Central Railroad

New York Central Railroad

The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...

, and Conrail. When Conrail was broken up in 1999, the main line east of Cleveland, including the Erie West Subdivision, was assigned to CSX. In 2007 in Painesville, Ohio

Painesville, Ohio

As of the 2010 Census, there were 19,563 people. As of the census of 2000, there were 17,503 people, 6,525 households, and 4,032 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,928.6 people per square mile . There were 6,933 housing units at an average density of 1,160.0 per square mile...

 on this line, a major freight train derailment occurred resulting in the spill of ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...

and a large fire.