Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad
Encyclopedia
Incorporated on April 17, 1886, at Marblehead, Ohio
, the Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad (L&M) was a short standard gauge
railroad that spanned about seven miles (11.3 km) in length. It extended from Marblehead
through Lakeside
to a connection with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
(later the New York Central Railroad
) at Danbury (an unincorporated hamlet bordering Sandusky Bay
). A common carrier
, it carried both freight and passengers. It was abandoned as a common carrier railroad July 31, 1964, operated for the last time as a private industrial railroad in Summer 1978, and its tracks were removed in Fall 1997.
The L&M was primarily a limestone
hauler for the stone quarries at Marblehead. These firms sent out thousands of carloads per year of shell or "flux" stone to be consumed by blast furnace
s across the midwestern United States in the process of making steel
. When the original promoters were unable to build enough traffic to keep the line financially afloat, the railroad was purchased by the Cleveland, Ohio
-based Kelley Island Lime & Transport Company
(KIL&T) January 1, 1891, as its first step in buying out all of the quarries of Marblehead. After integrating these quarries into one large operation, KIL&T also used the L&M to move stone between various lime kilns and processing facilities. The line remained under control of KIL&T and its successors for its entire existence.
, who bought out the interests of the CT&L, incorporated the L&M, and began construction on or about October 1, 1886. The line was finished by the end of December. The first revenue freight ran on the line January 3, 1887, and passenger service opened January 17, 1887.
with a 4-4-0
wheel arrangement. It soon traded this machine to the Cleveland & Canton Railroad in exchange for a steam switch locomotive with a 0-6-0
wheel arrangement. The L&M owned an assortment of only 0-6-0 models over the years until the last steam locomotive left its property on January 31, 1953. The line's first two diesel-electric locomotives
were General Electric
70-ton
models. These were succeeded by one General Motors SW7
and two General Motors SW8
locomotives. Freight volume peaked in 1953, when the line hauled 3,134,403 tons of freight in 46,809 cars, almost all of which was outbound limestone
.
L&M passengers were carried at first with steam trains, then, beginning in 1910, with two gasoline rail motor cars. The first motor car was a four-wheeled Fairbanks-Morse
Model 24 carrying 35 passengers. The second, which operated from 1916 to 1930, was a 55 feet (16.8 m) McKeen car
carrying 48 passengers. Passenger ridership peaked around 1904 at roughly 19,000 passengers per year.
(TPC&L), a standard gauge electric interurban railroad, was built to Marblehead
in 1905 and also began to serve Lakeside
and Marblehead, the only two major settlements on the L&M, with passenger and freight service. Although steam railroads and interurbans were usually very fierce rivals, the L&M welcomed the new line with open arms because it provided a new outlet for freight traffic aside from its connection with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
. The two made a connection at a point named Violet, near Church Road, in rural Danbury Township
, until the TPC&L's track was abandoned in 1940.
In 1907, the L&M leased to the TPC&L a short section track extending from Marblehead to Ohlemacher's Dock, which faced north into Lake Erie
. The TPC&L electrified the track and sent its cars over it to meet ferry boats that took passengers from Marblehead to Sandusky
. This arrangement ultimately proved unfavorable, so in 1911, the L&M built and leased to the TPC&L a new track extension extending south from Marblehead to a dock facing south into Sandusky Bay
at Bay Point, where ferry boats took passengers to Cedar Point
and Sandusky over a shorter and much more direct route. This arrangement remained in place until June 30, 1926.
-based Standard Slag Company. Standard Slag quickly completed modernization of the quarries to mine the lower layers of dolomitic limestone then available. Stone was then moved around the quarry on conveyor belts and all outbound stone was shipped via lake freighter
, making the railroad largely obsolete. Only a handful of non-quarry customers remained; not enough to keep the L&M financially afloat.
The Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad was abandoned July 31, 1964, after hauling 85,280,000 tons of freight and almost 570,000 revenue passengers. Its property and infrastructure were transferred to Standard Slag, which kept it largely intact, operating it occasionally over the years for customers who preferred to receive stone by rail rather than water. The last train operated in November 1978, with Standard Slag locomotive number 51 (ex-L&M 14).
Standard Slag sold the quarry and railroad to Lafarge Corporation
in 1989. Lafarge scrapped the final locomotive in June 1995, and most of the line beginning in September 1997.
, was restored in 2003 and is now used as a multi-purpose meeting facility. The railroad's Danbury depot has been moved to Fremont, Ohio
, for use as a business. The line's engine houses and station in Marblehead are gone.
A portion of the line's right-of-way in Lakeside is now a walking path. None of the line's rolling stock
survives. A few sections of original track remain within Lafarge's quarry property.
Marblehead, Ohio
Marblehead is a village in Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. The population was 762 at the 2000 census.It sits at the tip of the Marblehead Peninsula, which divides Lake Erie proper from Sandusky Bay...
, the Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad (L&M) was a short standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
railroad that spanned about seven miles (11.3 km) in length. It extended from Marblehead
Marblehead, Ohio
Marblehead is a village in Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. The population was 762 at the 2000 census.It sits at the tip of the Marblehead Peninsula, which divides Lake Erie proper from Sandusky Bay...
through Lakeside
Lakeside, Ohio
Lakeside is a private community and census-designated place in northern Ohio, United States, on the shores of Lake Erie. It was formed in 1873 by members of the Methodist Church and remains a church-affiliated vacation resort. It is one of only a few continuously operating Independent Chautauquas...
to a connection with 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...
(later the 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...
) at Danbury (an unincorporated hamlet bordering Sandusky Bay
Sandusky Bay
Sandusky Bay is a body of water situated in between Erie, Ottawa, and Sandusky counties in the U.S. state of Ohio and just to the south of Lake Erie. Sandusky Bay runs from Muddy Creek Bay to Cedar Point, which is part of Sandusky....
). A common carrier
Common carrier
A common carrier in common-law countries is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport...
, it carried both freight and passengers. It was abandoned as a common carrier railroad July 31, 1964, operated for the last time as a private industrial railroad in Summer 1978, and its tracks were removed in Fall 1997.
The L&M was primarily a limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
hauler for the stone quarries at Marblehead. These firms sent out thousands of carloads per year of shell or "flux" stone to be consumed by blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
s across the midwestern United States in the process of making steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
. When the original promoters were unable to build enough traffic to keep the line financially afloat, the railroad was purchased by the 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...
-based Kelley Island Lime & Transport Company
Kelley Island Lime & Transport Company
Formed in 1886 on the Lake Erie Island of Kelley's Island, Ohio, the Kelley Island Lime & Transport Company was also known by its initials, KIL&T. It was once the world's largest producer of limestone and lime. The firm began quarry operations on Kelley's Island in 1886 and was dissolved in the...
(KIL&T) January 1, 1891, as its first step in buying out all of the quarries of Marblehead. After integrating these quarries into one large operation, KIL&T also used the L&M to move stone between various lime kilns and processing facilities. The line remained under control of KIL&T and its successors for its entire existence.
Origin
The Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad was the successor of the Cleveland, Toledo and Lakeside Railway, which was incorporated April 18, 1885, to build a steam railroad from the stone quarries at Marblehead to the tracks of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern at Danbury. The CT&L was promoted locally by Edgar H. Brennan, a civil engineer, who was unable to find enough financial capital to begin construction. The following year, Brennan made contact with Hiram A. Blood and a syndicate of other railroad promoters based in MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, who bought out the interests of the CT&L, incorporated the L&M, and began construction on or about October 1, 1886. The line was finished by the end of December. The first revenue freight ran on the line January 3, 1887, and passenger service opened January 17, 1887.
Freight and passenger service
The L&M at its opening used an American-type steam locomotiveSteam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
with a 4-4-0
4-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...
wheel arrangement. It soon traded this machine to the Cleveland & Canton Railroad in exchange for a steam switch locomotive with a 0-6-0
0-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels...
wheel arrangement. The L&M owned an assortment of only 0-6-0 models over the years until the last steam locomotive left its property on January 31, 1953. The line's first two diesel-electric locomotives
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
were General Electric
GE Transportation Systems
GE Transportation, formerly known as GE Rail, is a division of General Electric. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generation industries. It is based in Erie, Pennsylvania. Locomotives are assembled at the Erie plant, while engine...
70-ton
GE 70-ton switcher
The GE 70-ton switcher is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Electric between about 1942 and 1955. It is classified as a B-B type locomotive. The first series of "70 tonners" were a group of seven center cab locomotives built for the New York Central Railroad in November, 1942. These...
models. These were succeeded by one General Motors SW7
EMD SW7
The EMD SW7 was a diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between October 1949 and January 1951. It was powered by a V12 567A engine developing . 489 SW7 locomotives were produced. The majority of the SW7s were built by EMD Plant #3 in Cleveland, Ohio...
and two General Motors SW8
EMD SW8
An EMD SW8 is a diesel shunting/switching locomotive manufactured by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between September 1950 and February 1954. Power is supplied by an EMD 567B 8-cylinder engine, for a total of ....
locomotives. Freight volume peaked in 1953, when the line hauled 3,134,403 tons of freight in 46,809 cars, almost all of which was outbound limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
.
L&M passengers were carried at first with steam trains, then, beginning in 1910, with two gasoline rail motor cars. The first motor car was a four-wheeled Fairbanks-Morse
Fairbanks-Morse
Fairbanks Morse and Company was a manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, locomotives and industrial supplies until it was merged in 1958...
Model 24 carrying 35 passengers. The second, which operated from 1916 to 1930, was a 55 feet (16.8 m) McKeen car
McKeen railmotor
The McKeen Railmotor was a 6 cylinder petrol engine with a passenger capacity of 73. When McKeen Company of Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A. first unveiled the car in 1915, the McKeen was among the first engines with a gasoline-powered motor...
carrying 48 passengers. Passenger ridership peaked around 1904 at roughly 19,000 passengers per year.
Cooperation with an interurban
The Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside RailwayToledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway
The Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway was an interurban electrified railway system serving northwestern Ohio's Marblehead Peninsula.It was incorporated in 1902, began operating in 1905 and only ceased operations in 1958, much later than most other interurbans...
(TPC&L), a standard gauge electric interurban railroad, was built to Marblehead
Marblehead, Ohio
Marblehead is a village in Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. The population was 762 at the 2000 census.It sits at the tip of the Marblehead Peninsula, which divides Lake Erie proper from Sandusky Bay...
in 1905 and also began to serve Lakeside
Lakeside, Ohio
Lakeside is a private community and census-designated place in northern Ohio, United States, on the shores of Lake Erie. It was formed in 1873 by members of the Methodist Church and remains a church-affiliated vacation resort. It is one of only a few continuously operating Independent Chautauquas...
and Marblehead, the only two major settlements on the L&M, with passenger and freight service. Although steam railroads and interurbans were usually very fierce rivals, the L&M welcomed the new line with open arms because it provided a new outlet for freight traffic aside from its connection with 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...
. The two made a connection at a point named Violet, near Church Road, in rural Danbury Township
Danbury Township, Ottawa County, Ohio
Danbury Township is one of the twelve townships of Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 4,631 people in the township, 3,869 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
, until the TPC&L's track was abandoned in 1940.
In 1907, the L&M leased to the TPC&L a short section track extending from Marblehead to Ohlemacher's Dock, which faced north into 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...
. The TPC&L electrified the track and sent its cars over it to meet ferry boats that took passengers from Marblehead to Sandusky
Sandusky, Ohio
Sandusky is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Erie County. It is located in northern Ohio and is situated on the shores of Lake Erie, almost exactly half-way between Toledo to the west and Cleveland to the east....
. This arrangement ultimately proved unfavorable, so in 1911, the L&M built and leased to the TPC&L a new track extension extending south from Marblehead to a dock facing south into Sandusky Bay
Sandusky Bay
Sandusky Bay is a body of water situated in between Erie, Ottawa, and Sandusky counties in the U.S. state of Ohio and just to the south of Lake Erie. Sandusky Bay runs from Muddy Creek Bay to Cedar Point, which is part of Sandusky....
at Bay Point, where ferry boats took passengers to Cedar Point
Cedar Point
Cedar Point is a 364 acre amusement park located in Sandusky, Ohio, United States on a narrow peninsula jutting into Lake Erie. Cedar Point is the only amusement park with four roller coasters that are taller than...
and Sandusky over a shorter and much more direct route. This arrangement remained in place until June 30, 1926.
Later years
In 1955, the Kelley Island Lime & Transport Company sold the L&M and the Marblehead stone quarries to Chemstone Corporation, a subsidiary of Minerals Corporation of America. Chemstone continued to operate the railroad as a common carrier, but freight volume quickly dropped as customers moved elsewhere and modernization of the quarry infrastructure required less use of the railroad. In 1962, Chemstone sold the quarry and railroad to the Youngstown, OhioYoungstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
-based Standard Slag Company. Standard Slag quickly completed modernization of the quarries to mine the lower layers of dolomitic limestone then available. Stone was then moved around the quarry on conveyor belts and all outbound stone was shipped via lake freighter
Lake freighter
Lake freighters, or Lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that ply the Great Lakes. The best known was the , the most recent and largest major vessel to be wrecked on the Lakes. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. In the mid-20th century, 300 lakers worked the...
, making the railroad largely obsolete. Only a handful of non-quarry customers remained; not enough to keep the L&M financially afloat.
The Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad was abandoned July 31, 1964, after hauling 85,280,000 tons of freight and almost 570,000 revenue passengers. Its property and infrastructure were transferred to Standard Slag, which kept it largely intact, operating it occasionally over the years for customers who preferred to receive stone by rail rather than water. The last train operated in November 1978, with Standard Slag locomotive number 51 (ex-L&M 14).
Standard Slag sold the quarry and railroad to Lafarge Corporation
Lafarge
Lafarge is a French industrial company specialising in four major products: cement, construction aggregates, concrete and gypsum wallboard. In 2010 the company was the world's second-largest cement manufacturer by mass shipped behind Holcim.-History:...
in 1989. Lafarge scrapped the final locomotive in June 1995, and most of the line beginning in September 1997.
Present day
The railroad's depot at Lakeside, OhioLakeside, Ohio
Lakeside is a private community and census-designated place in northern Ohio, United States, on the shores of Lake Erie. It was formed in 1873 by members of the Methodist Church and remains a church-affiliated vacation resort. It is one of only a few continuously operating Independent Chautauquas...
, was restored in 2003 and is now used as a multi-purpose meeting facility. The railroad's Danbury depot has been moved to Fremont, Ohio
Fremont, Ohio
Fremont Public Schools enroll 4,450 students in public primary and secondary schools. The district administers 9 public schools including seven elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school, Fremont Ross. In addition, the city is home to one private catholic high school, Saint Joseph...
, for use as a business. The line's engine houses and station in Marblehead are gone.
A portion of the line's right-of-way in Lakeside is now a walking path. None of the line's rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
survives. A few sections of original track remain within Lafarge's quarry property.