CHRONOLOGY/HISTORY OF THE
FAIRPORT, PAINESVILLE & EASTERN
RAILROAD/RAILWAY
(A key to
sources is listed at the bottom of the page)
The FP&E was incorporated on July 18, 1910 for the purpose
of establishing a rail line between Fairport Harbor and Austinburg. [O1,5]
(Sources 1 and 6 state the date of incorporation as 7/16/1910, but
though the Articles of Incorporation were signed on that date, the filing date
of the documents with the State of Ohio was 7/18/1910.)
It was not owned by any other
corporation or entity. [AR,1]
Though the FP&E and Diamond Alkali had some common
shareholders, and though the railroad was built in conjunction with and
primarily to serve the Diamond Alkali's newly-constructed Painesville plant,
the companies were independent of each other. [AR,2,5]
(Click here to learn
about the unique relationship between the Diamond and the FP&E.)
Surveying for the FP&E's main line began in the fall of
1910, and construction of the railroad from the connection with the Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad in Fairport Harbor to the connection with the New York
Central Railroad at Painesville took place in 1910 and 1911. [AR,7]
The railroad began operations on
January 6, 1912. [AR,1,2,7,8]
As of June 30, 1917 the FP&E main line was 4.853 miles long,
and there were 3.398 miles of yard tracks and sidings. [1]
Also as of that date, the FP&E
owned 2 steam locomotives, 14 freight cars, and 1 work car. In addition, the FP&E temporarily leased
a locomotive from the Nickel Plate Road (New York, Chicago & St. Louis
Railroad). [AR,1]
The FP&E built a dock facility along the Grand River in
Fairport Harbor; upon completion (just after 6/30/17), the dock and a
locomotive crane were sold to Diamond Alkali. [AR,1]
In 1926 the FP&E constructed a roundhouse/car repair shop
with a turntable, an office building, and additional connecting and yard
tracks. (Until this time, the FP&E
had been renting space from Diamond Alkali for housing and repairing their
equipment and for doing their paperwork; by 1925, Diamond Alkali's business had
increased to the point that they needed to use all of their facilities, and
they notified the FP&E that they needed to move out in the near future). [2,3]
Also in 1926 the FP&E purchased 100 70-ton open-top hoppers
from Diamond Alkali (Diamond Alkali was the original owner of these railcars,
having taken delivery of them in October 1922). [4]
(For more about the FP&E's freight cars, see my FP&E Freight Car Roster page.)
As of 1927 the FP&E had direct connections with the NYC at
Painesville and the B&O at Fairport Harbor; there was interchange traffic
with the NKP, but it was handled via the B&O (from the B&O-NKP junction
in Painesville to the B&O-FP&E junction in Fairport Harbor). [5]
In 1927 and 1928 the FP&E constructed an extension of their
main line from a point just north of their interchange tracks with the NYC at
Painesville to a point just outside the limits of the village of Madison—a
distance of about 6 miles. The primary
purpose of this extension was to establish a direct connection with the NKP at
Perry; the secondary purpose was to take another step toward reaching
Austinburg. [5,7,8]
When the FP&E received approval
from the Interstate Commerce Commission to build the extension to Madison, it
also received approval to construct a spur from a point near the end of the
extension southward to a point on the northern bank of the Grand River—a
distance of approximately 2 miles. The
purpose of the spur was to access shale beds on the bank of the Grand River for
the Diamond Alkali's Standard Portland Cement Plant (which owned or controlled
the shale beds). The spur was never
built because "the attitude of officials of Ohio toward grade crossings
changed," and instead of being allowed to cross South Ridge Road at grade,
the FP&E was required to have their spur pass over the road—something which
was deemed by the railroad to be too expensive. [5,6]
During the construction of the
extension the FP&E built a new interchange connection with the NYC at
Perry. The new interchange tracks were
placed in service on July 25, 1930.
With this new connection in place the FP&E shifted all of its loaded
interchange traffic with the NYC—both inbound and outbound—from Painesville to
Perry, and only empty cars were interchanged at the original FP&E-NYC
connection in Painesville. [7,TT]
In 1930 and 1931 the FP&E constructed an extension of their
main line from its current eastern terminus in Madison Township to Harpersfield
Township in Ashtabula County for the purpose of accessing shale beds for the
Diamond Alkali's Standard Portland Cement Plant (which owned or controlled the
shale beds). This extension saw traffic
for only 3 months—from 11/10/1931 to 2/6/1932—during which time only 310 loads
of shale were transported over the line from the shale beds to the cement
plant; no further operations occurred on the line after 2/6/1932. [6,7]
At the time of the Harpersfield
extension, the FP&E also requested permission to further extend their line
from Harpersfield Township to Austinburg to interchange with the Pennsylvania
Railroad (as was the original design/intention when the FP&E was created in
1910); the PRR and Diamond Alkali supported the request, while the NKP and the
NYC opposed it (both feared the PRR would siphon a large portion of interchange
traffic away from them). The ICC denied
the request, citing any gains in transport time claimed by proponents would be
minimal and would not justify the cost of constructing the extension (about
$1,000,000.00). [6]
In 1932 the FP&E again requested an extension of their main
line from Harpersfield Township to Austinburg; the PRR and Diamond Alkali again
supported the request, while the NKP again opposed it. In 1933, the ICC once again denied the
request—for the same reason as earlier, but adding that the case put forth by
the extension's proponents was even less compelling than in 1930. [7]
In 1933 the FP&E 'mothballed' it's main line from Perry to
Harpersfield Township: the track was left in place, but was taken out of
service. [AR]
In 1937 the FP&E changed the designation of its main line in
the Diamond Alkali area through a 'property swap' with that company; this
corresponded with a realignment of Fairport-Nursery Road, which was pushed
further south on the eastern portion of the Diamond's facility. The FP&E main line was changed from a
track that travelled through the plant (roughly southwest-to-northeast) to a
track that was recently built along the southern border of the plant complex
(parallel and to the north of the relocated Fairport-Nursery Road); the
property making up the former main line right-of-way was transferred from the
FP&E to Diamond Alkali, and the property making up the new main line
right-of-way was transferred from Diamond Alkali to the FP&E. [VM,V:"FPOE RR.pdf",V:"fpe
rr3.pdf",T:12A-059OLD2,T:12A-051OLD2]
In 1937 and 1938 the FP&E built a branch to serve the new
Industrial Rayon Corporation. This
branch was subsequently named the Rayon Branch. [VM,T:11B-043,CP1,CP2]
On November 6, 1942 a dispute between two labor unions over
which one of them should represent all FP&E employees resulted in a work
stoppage that shut down the railroad (at the time, the UMW—United Mine
Workers—represented the FP&E's maintenance employees, while the
BREF—Brotherhood of Railroad Engineers and Firemen—represented the FP&E's
operating employees). Since the
FP&E served 13 'defense plants,' the federal government stepped in and sent
US Army troops (the 730th Engineer Railway Operating Battalion) to Painesville
that night to operate the railroad until the two unions were forced to come to
an agreement by the War Labor Board a few days later (the agreement maintained
the status quo). [I]
In 1943 the track from Perry to Harpersfield Township was
removed. [AR]
In 1965 the FP&E's original interchange with the New York
Central in Painesville was abandoned. [AR]
As of 1966 the FP&E had a main line 8.52 miles long (from
the connection with the B&O at Fairport Harbor to the connections with the
NYC and the Norfolk & Western Railway at Perry), had 1.85 miles of branch
lines, and had 9.64 miles of yard tracks and sidings, for a grand total of
20.01 miles of track. [8]
In November and December 1965 the N&W and a majority of
FP&E's shareholders negotiated a deal that would allow the N&W to
purchase the FP&E. The FP&E would
not be merged into the N&W, but would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of
that railroad. [8]
In January 1966 the N&W requested
permission from the ICC for the deal to be allowed; at the same time, in
anticipation of being granted permission, they set up a subsidiary company—the
"FP&E Company"—to be ready to buy out the FP&E Railroad. (After the transactions were completed, the
N&W planned on changing the name of its subsidiary from "FP&E
Company" back to "Fairport, Painesville and Eastern Railroad Company"
or something similar.) In March 1966,
the NYC filed a petition with the ICC to be included in the transaction,
complaining that the N&W's sole control of the FP&E would mean that its
interchange traffic with the FP&E would be diverted to N&W, and that
only joint control would keep the competitive status quo. The B&O also filed a petition, but
stated that they had no problem with the N&W having sole control of the
FP&E, as it would not make a difference in B&O-FP&E interchange
traffic levels—they only wanted inclusion in the transaction if the NYC was
allowed to be included so as to share in the benefits of ownership (i.e., to
get its share of the income the FP&E generated). [8]
In March 1967 an ICC Hearing Examiner
recommended that the N&W be granted sole control of the FP&E; however,
in August 1967 the ICC as a whole decided that joint ownership of the FP&E
by the NYC and the N&W would be best for competitive reasons, and ordered
that a) both the N&W and the NYC split the shares of newly-formed FP&E
Company, and b) that the FP&E Company buy out the Fairport, Painesville
& Eastern Railroad. The ICC
excluded the B&O from the transactions because their interchange traffic
with the FP&E would not be threatened regardless of who controlled the
FP&E. [8]
The ICC decision took effect on
September 15, 1967, and the railroads were given 180 days from that point
(March 13, 1968) to consummate the transactions. Almost immediately, N&W filed a petition for reconsideration;
it was denied. [8]
Within months of the ICC's decision,
the NYC and the PRR merged to form the Penn Central railroad; in January 1968
and again in April 1968, the N&W filed petitions with the ICC to have the
August decision re-examined, claiming that the Penn Central merger altered any
competitive issues regarding FP&E interchange traffic, and that the N&W
should be given sole control of the FP&E.
The ICC denied both petitions.
[8]
The joint N&W/PC takeover of the
FP&E took place on August 15, 1968—an event that was signified by changing
the name of the "FP&E Company" (which was, in effect, a 'paper
railroad' set up to handle the financial and legal issues of the takeover) to
the "Fairport, Painesville and Eastern Railway Company" (the new
operating railroad). [8,AR,O2]
On the same day, the "Fairport,
Painesville and Eastern Railroad Company"—the original, independent
company chartered in 1910—changed its name to the "Fairport
Corporation," then dissolved itself. [O3,O4]
In 1976 and 1977 the Diamond Shamrock shut down its Painesville Works. The plant closing reduced the FP&E's
traffic by 56%. [O6,9]
(For more about the Diamond's Painesville Works, see my Diamond page.)
In 1977 Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. built a spur track
from the Perry Nuclear Power Plant to the end of the Rayon Branch. Though the FP&E operated over this
track, it was not owned by the railroad.
[Rc:V971-39,Sv:11B-49-1]
In 1980 Industrial Rayon closed its Painesville plant, causing
another significant reduction in the FP&E's traffic. [PT,9]
In October 1981 the B&O (Chessie System) abandoned its rail
line known as the Lake Branch from a point just north of Warren to the end of
the line in Fairport Harbor and Grand River.
From March to July 1982 all of the track was removed except for two
segments: 1) the section of track from the interchange with Conrail's
Painesville Yard to Grand River, which was used by Conrail under a trackage
rights agreement up to the time of the abandonment (and was subsequently bought
outright by Conrail after the abandonment), and 2) the section of track from
the junction of the FP&E and the B&O to the U.S. Industrial Chemicals
plant in Fairport Harbor, which was bought by that company so that it could
continue rail service via the FP&E (though the FP&E operated over this
track, it was not owned by the railroad). [BO,S,10,Rc:V348-491,Rc:V348-494]
In 1983 the FP&E moved only 1,415 revenue carloads. [9]
(To put this volume of revenue carloads into perspective,
compare this figure to any of the figures on my FP&E Traffic Data
page.)
As of the beginning of 1984 the FP&E had 4 office staff, and
13 'road' personnel: 1 yardmaster, 2 clerks, 5 trainmen, 3 equipment maintenance
men and 2 maintenance-of-way men.
[9]
Also as of the beginning of 1984, the FP&E had 5 remaining
diesel locomotives: 4 classified as operable, 1 classified as unserviceable. [9]
(For more about the FP&E's diesel locomotives, see my FP&E Diesel Roster page.)
As of 1983 the FP&E had been losing money nearly every year
since the Diamond Shamrock plant closed in 1976. The Penn Central Corporation (which still existed—albeit not as a
railroad—and which still owned 50% of the FP&E along with many other
non-railroad investments) believed the losses would continue for the
foreseeable future, and, wanting to rid themselves of a money-losing
investment, offered to sell their stake in the FP&E to the N&W. The N&W, also realizing the FP&E was
most likely never going to operate at a profit again, decided to move on the
PCC's offer—and further, decided merging the FP&E into the N&W was the
only way to continue to serve the remaining customers on the line without
constantly absorbing losses (making the line into a N&W branch was far more
economical than letting the FP&E exist as a separate entity). The N&W and the PCC made a stock
purchase agreement in December 1983, with the stock transaction to be executed
upon the ICC's approval of their plan.
[9]
On March 1, 1984 the N&W requested
that the ICC allow it to buy out the PCC's 50% share of the FP&E, and then
allow the N&W to merge the FP&E into itself. [9]
On May 7, 1984 the ICC granted the
N&W's requests, with the decision taking effect on June 13, 1984. [9]
On June 28, 1984 the FP&E was
officially merged out of existence.
[O5]
Sources
(For more
information about some of these sources, see my FP&E Resources page.)
|
AR |
Fairport, Painesville & Eastern Annual
Reports to the PUCO: 1912-20, 1922-61, 1963-74 |
|
TT |
Fairport, Painesville & Eastern
Employee Time Table #1, 2/1/1932 |
|
1 |
110 ICC 692, Valuation Docket 474: FP&E
RR as of 6/30/1917, published 4/3/1925 |
|
2 |
58 ICC 549, 10236: Diamond Alkali v
FP&E RR Co, 6/27/1919 |
|
3 |
105 ICC 334, Finance Docket 5199: Notes of
FP&E RR, 1/13/1926 |
|
4 |
105 ICC 297, Finance Docket 5246: FP&E
RR Equipment Trust, 1/14/1926 |
|
5 |
124 ICC 393, Finance Docket 6072:
Construction of Extension by FP&E RR Co, 4/28/1927 |
|
6 |
166 ICC 737, Finance Docket 6072: FP&E
RR Co Construction, 11/22/1930 |
|
7 |
193 ICC 375, Finance Docket 9599: FP&E
RR Co Proposed Construction, 8/9/1933 |
|
8 |
330 ICC 672, Finance Docket 23980: N&W
Rwy Co – Control – FP&E Co – Purchase – |
|
|
FP&E RR Co, 8/7/1967 [All documents: Applications, Briefs,
Decisions, etc.] |
|
9 |
ICC Finance Docket 30427: N&W Rwy Co –
Control and Merger Exemption – |
|
|
FP&E Rwy Co, 5/7/1984 [All documents: Application and Decision] |
|
10 |
STB Docket 565 Sub 11X: NYC Lines LLC/CSX –
Abandonment Exemption – |
|
|
Lake County, OH, 2002-2004 |
|
O1 |
State of Ohio, Articles of Incorporation,
FP&E RR, 7/18/1910 |
|
O2 |
State of Ohio, Amendment to Articles of
Incorporation, FP&E Company, 8/15/1968 |
|
O3 |
State of Ohio, Amendment to Articles of
Incorporation, FP&E RR, 8/15/1968 |
|
O4 |
State of Ohio, Certificate of Dissolution,
Fairport Corp, 8/15/1968 |
|
O5 |
State of Ohio, MEX Certificate, FP&E
Rwy Co, 6/28/1984 |
|
O6 |
Ohio EPA DSPW Site, Director's Final
Findings and Orders, 9/27/1995 |
|
VM |
Fairport, Painesville & Eastern
Valuation Maps, 1918-1937 |
|
V:XXX |
Lake County Railroad Valuation Map |
|
T:XXX |
Lake County Tax Map |
|
Sv:XXX |
Lake County Survey Map |
|
Rc:XXX |
Lake County Recorder Document |
|
CP1 |
Cleveland Press, 8/8/1936, "Rayon to
Build 7-Million Plant" |
|
CP2 |
Cleveland Press, 2/29/1940, "Rayon
Will Start Its Addition Soon" |
|
PT |
Painesville Telegraph, 8/6/1980,
"Shutdown Final for IRC Fibers in Painesville" |
|
BO |
Baltimore & Ohio, Application for
Abandonment and Discontinuance of Operations Between |
|
|
Copperweld and Fairport Harbor,
10/1/1980 |
|
I |
Industrialists in Olive Drab, Chapter 6,
"The Fairport, Painesville and Eastern Railroad Case, |
|
|
November 1942" |
|
S |
The Sentinel, "EM-1s On the Narrow
Gauge: B&O Lake Branch in the 1950s," July/August 1988 |
Created by Scott Nixon
July 2009
Updated: October 2010, April 2011