Cleveland Short Line Railroad
| Locale | within and south of Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1910–1915 |
| Successor | New York Central Railroad |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Length | 22 miles (35 km) |
| Website | csx.com |
The Cleveland Short Line Railway is a freight bypass around southern Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. A quasi-independent railroad organized by major shareholders of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, the shortline was intended to allow the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern to bypass the congested railroads in downtown Cleveland. The Cleveland Short Line has had a succession of owners, and is currently part of CSX Transportation.
The Cleveland Short Line Railway was chartered November 24, 1902. The incorporators, who were major shareholders in the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway (LS&MS), intended to construct a circumferential railroad from the LS&MS main line on the border between the Riverside and Bellaire-Puritas neighborhoods of Cleveland (an area known to railroads as "Rockport") to the LS&MS rail yard in Collinwood, Ohio.
Construction began in May 1906. The first 10.08-mile (16.22 km) section, from Rockport to the Lake Erie and Pittsburgh Railway (a block south of the intersection of Broadway and Harvard Avenues in the Slavic Village neighborhood, an area known to railroads as "Marcy") opened on February 24, 1910.
On April 1, 1911, the LS&MS entered into a 99-year lease of the Cleveland Short Line. The lease required the LS&MS to pay to the Cleveland Short Line each year an amount equal to 5 percent of its outstanding capital stock plus an amount equal to the interest on the Short Line's outstanding debt. The remaining 9.56 miles (15.39 km) of the line opened on July 1, 1912. By December 31, 1913, the LS&MS had purchased all the outstanding stock of the Cleveland Short Line.
The LS&MS merged with the New York Central Railroad (NYC) in December 1914, and the NYC absorbed the Cleveland Short Line in 1915.
The New York Central Railroad merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad on February 1, 1968, to create the Penn Central Transportation Company ("Penn Central"). The Penn Central declared bankruptcy on June 21, 1970. The Penn Central continued to operate into 1974, until President Richard Nixon signed the Regional Rail Reorganization Act on January 2. Most (but not all) of the Penn Central's tracks were turned over to a new corporation, Conrail. The Penn Central continued to operate as a freight-only railroad, but reorganization efforts failed. In March 1976, the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act folded the remainder of the Penn Central into Conrail as well.
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Wikipedia