Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway (1916–88)
| Reporting mark | WLE |
|---|---|
| Locale | Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia |
| Dates of operation | 1877–1949 |
| Successor | Nickel Plate Road |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway (reporting mark WLE) was a Class I railroad mostly within the U.S. state of Ohio. It was leased to the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate Road) in 1949, and merged into the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1988. A new regional railroad reused the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway name in 1990 when it acquired most of the former W&LE from the N&W.
At the end of 1944, W&LE operated 507 miles of road and 1003 miles of track; that year it reported 2371 million net ton-miles of revenue freight and 0.002 million passenger-miles.
The original Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway's oldest predecessor rail line began in Ohio, with the organization of the Carroll County Railroad on March 9, 1850.
The Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad was established on April 6, 1871, and was first built as a 3 ft (914 mm) gauge narrow gauge line between Norwalk and Huron, Ohio. Service began on the new line on May 31, 1877. However, the new road was unable to attract regular traffic, or financing for expansion, and had closed within two years.
With investment by railroad financier Jay Gould in 1880 and financial reorganization, the line was converted to standard gauge and construction began again. Service from Huron to Massillon, Ohio, was opened on January 9, 1882, and new lines were constructed that eventually reached the Ohio River and Toledo. The W&LE also developed new docks on Lake Erie at Huron that opened May 21, 1884, when the first cargo of iron ore was received.
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