Erie Railroad - Wadsworth OH

[Cactus Jack]

Looking over some old topo maps from 100 years ago there seems to be some lines radiating both to the north west and the Southeast of Wadsworth OH.

What were these branches all about and where did they go ? I don't have sufficient mapping to follow them very far.

[Spin]

Those served coal mines in Wadsworth Twp and Chippewa Twp from around the turn of the century into the 1920's and 30's. There was little else on the branches. There was a small station on the South Branch at Portage Street just north of Doylestown.

Part of the North Branch did last into the 1990's as far as College Street to serve a foundry. On the south end of the North Branch was Bearfoot Sole (correct spelling) which made Goodyear soles for boots.

Wadsworth kept switch crews quite busy into the 1980's.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Those served coal mines in Wadsworth Twp and Chippewa Twp from around the turn of the century into the 1920's and 30's. There was little else on the branches. There was a small station on the South Branch at Portage Street just north of Doylestown.

Part of the North Branch did last into the 1990's as far as College Street to serve a foundry. On the south end of the North Branch was Bearfoot Sole (correct spelling) which made Goodyear soles for boots.

Wadsworth kept switch crews quite busy into the 1980's.

Thanks for confirming, I was hesitant to respond since I wasn't 100% sure what those were. I also tried interpreting what he meant and it was throwing me off, so you did the job I couldn't.

[Spin]

If you are interested in those branches specifically, there is quite a bit of info (and maps) on the South Branch in a book called "The History and Legends of Rogues Hollow". You can read it online http://www.forgottenoh.com/Rogue/pages.html There is an article in a past issue of the Erie Lackawanna Historical Society's magazine.I'll get the author on board this forum, he loves to talk local Erie history.

If you are interested in Wadsworth itself there are history books available.

To find out where industrial sidings were, and who they served, get the Conrail Youngstown Division 1984 CTS Charts from http://www.multimodalways.org/archives/ ... 20ZTS.html These charts do not show the mainline trackage arrangements from the Erie/EL days, but it does show what industrial sidings existed. Even though some were never served in the Conrail days.

Since you're into exploring the mainline with rails-to-trails, there's another one from western Kent to Tallmadge, and a new one between Rittman and Creston. They hope to extend that one to West Salem someday.And the Cleveland branch between Mantua and Garrettsville is a trail now. I need to get out from behind the keyboard and make use of them more often!!!