In 1860, Ohio had more miles of rail than any other state in the Union. Located in the heartland of America, Ohio had both the natural resources and the geographic position to take advantage of them. Railroads replaced canals and became the key component of the state’s industrial economy. Eastern investors were quick to speculate in the railroad boom. Citizens banded together to convince the railroad to come to their town. Soon hundreds of lines criss-crossed the state, connecting small farming towns to the outside world.
Many of the light density railroads in Ohio were barely profitable in the best of times. Their companies lurched from one receivership to the next. Most were eventually sold to one of the larger railroad systems, and soon became a financial drain on their parent companies. Complicated Federal and State regulations made abandonment of these unprofitable lines nearly impossible.
The rise and fall of Ohio’s railroads mirrored the condition in the rest of the country. By the late 1960′s the major rail companies were in desperate condition. In 1970 the Penn Central collapsed in what was then the largest bankruptcy in American history. The Federal Government responded by creating Conrail and passing the Staggers Act.
The Staggers Act was largely responsible for deregulating the railroad industry. It managed to save the railroads from bankruptcy and nationalization. However, in the process the major railroads would divest thousands of miles of low-profit branch lines. Some of these would be sold to short lines, some would continue to operate through community subsidies, and many would be outright abandoned.
Today many of Ohio’s abandoned railroads have almost disappeared completely. Others are rapidly falling victim to progress and the sprawl of suburbia. Even lines still operating slowly change as they modernize. Ohio Valley Railroads serves to record the history of these and the many other railroad lines that made Ohio what it is today.
History
Ohio Valley Railroads began life on the web as Lebanon Railroads. The was founded in February 2008 and focused solely on railroads around the Cincinnati area. About a year later the decision was made to expand coverage to railroads all around the Ohio area, and Ohio Valley Railroads was born.
Contact
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