FAIRPORT,
PAINESVILLE & EASTERN
RAILROAD/RAILWAY
The
Gist of It …
The Fairport, Painesville & Eastern
Railroad was a short line railroad located in northeastern Ohio. It was established in 1910, and was intended
to extend from Fairport Harbor (in Lake County) to Austinburg (in Ashtabula
County). Though the FP&E briefly
made it as far east as Harpersfield Township (just east of the Lake
County-Ashtabula County border), it never made it to Austinburg, and for most of
the railroad's existence Perry, Ohio was the eastern end of the line. The FP&E was an independent railroad
until 1968, when the Norfolk & Western Railway and the Penn Central Company
jointly took control of it. Despite
being owned by a couple of 'big railroads' and having a slightly different name
(Fairport, Painesville & Eastern Railway instead of Fairport,
Painesville & Eastern Railroad), the FP&E continued to operate
until it was merged into the N&W in 1984.
The former FP&E main line between Perry and Fairport Harbor still
exists today, but now it is just a branch line of the Norfolk Southern Railway,
and is known as the Fairport Industrial Track (part of the Pittsburgh
Division).
Some
Background …
I have been interested in trains since my childhood, so
having been born and raised in the city of Painesville it was natural for me to
have an interest in my hometown railroad (actually the FP&E went through
Painesville Township rather than the city of Painesville proper, but that's
close enough for me). In addition to
the hometown connection, it turns out I have some family connections to the
FP&E as well: My great-grandpa John
S. Merrill was on the FP&E's Board of Directors circa 1913-1917, and my
great-uncle Bill Lockhart was an Engineer on the railroad from 1936 to 1951
(roughly). Since I grew up in the
1970s—long after my relatives' experiences with the railroad had passed—I had
no awareness of the family connection to the railroad; instead, my interest in
the FP&E was sparked by my experiences of the railroad as a youngster:
seeing yellow diesels with loud clanging bells switching cars in the West Yard
whenever my parents took my sister and I to a function in Fairport Harbor
(usually the Mardi Gras).
Up until the end of 2008, I had a
very small collection of materials about the FP&E, and thought that there
wasn't much more information to be had.
Then a discussion on the Yahoo Group "clevelandrails" led me
to do some web searching, and suddenly I found leads to a whole slew of
information I didn't know about before: Interstate Commerce Commission
reports. Fortunately, I found a library
close to home that had all the ICC reports ever published, and was able to make
copies of every ICC report I could find on the FP&E. These documents, along with other materials
I found/collected afterward, enabled me to figure out a good portion of the
history of the rail line—and now I'm ready to assemble this information to
share with others.
By following the links below you
will find information such as a detailed chronology/history of the FP&E
that I wrote, scans of some maps I have, a detailed roster of the FP&E's
diesels, and pictures of some of those diesels. In addition, for those that want to collect their own materials
on the FP&E, I have some information on resources you can find/use. And since you can't really talk about the
Fairport, Painesville & Eastern Railroad/Railway without talking about its
most important and largest customer—the Diamond Alkali Corporation (later
Diamond Shamrock)—I have some information about the Diamond's Painesville Works
as well.
The
Good Stuff …
Click here to read a
chronology/history of the FP&E.
Earlier
versions of this history can be found in posts I made at the
"clevelandrails" Yahoo Group, and on George Elwood's website
"Fallen Flags and Other Railroad Photos" (go to http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/fpe/fpe.html
and scroll down.)
Click here for maps of the
FP&E.
Click here for the
FP&E's diesel locomotive roster/history.
(I have
very little information on the FP&E's steam locomotives, so until that
situation changes this is the only locomotive roster I have to offer.)
Click here for some pictures
of FP&E diesel locomotives.
Click here for the FP&E's
freight car roster.
Click here for a guide to
some FP&E resources.
Click here for information
about the Diamond Alkali/Shamrock Painesville Works.
Click here for
aerial photos of FP&E and Diamond facilities.
Questions? Comments?
Contact me at:
Created
by Scott Nixon
July 2009
Updated: September 2009