FAIRPORT, PAINESVILLE & EASTERN
MAPS
Background
I have been fortunate to have collected two rare system maps of
the FP&E during my lifetime. The
first map I obtained was a copy of the map used by FP&E employees in the early
1980s, and was actually given to me by an employee at the Yard Office when I
visited it in 1982 or 1983. The second
map I obtained was an older blueprint-style map from circa 1927, which I won on
eBay in 2008. Since then, I have found
another system map that was included in the FP&E entry of some older
editions of the Official Railway Equipment Register. All three of these maps are presented below in chronological
order. After you look over these maps,
make sure to read the Other Maps section further below for more neat maps to
view on the internet.
System Maps
Circa
1925-1926
This map appears in ORER editions from 1926 and 1927. The reason I have dated this map 1925-26 is
because it is after the Diamond's cement plant was completed in 1925 (see my Diamond/FP&E page for
details), but before the FP&E's roundhouse/turntable and yard facility were
constructed in 1926 (see my FP&E History page for
details).
Circa
1926-1927
This map appears in ORER editions from 1928 until 1931. This is basically the same as the
blueprint-style map I won on eBay, but since that map is 22" wide and in
color, it was easier to scan and present the smaller, black-and-white ORER
version here. (For those that are
interested in seeing the large map, I posted a scanned version of it in the
Photos section of the "clevelandrails" Yahoo Group; to see it, simply
join the group, and look for the FP&E Maps Photo Album.) The reason I have dated this map 1926-27 is
because it is after the FP&E's roundhouse/turntable and yard facility were
constructed, but before the connection to the NYC at Perry was constructed in
1928. An interesting thing to note is the
"wishful thinking" the map's designer had: all the blocks of land
marked "Industrial Sites" never really materialized—only two
industries established themselves on this section of the line, but they were
both near Perry, and they were both established several decades after this map
was created; also, as discussed in my FP&E History page, the
spur to the shale beds was never built.
Circa 1976
(Click on map to see it full-sized)
This is the map a FP&E employee gave me when I drove around
the FP&E facilities in the summer of 1982 or 1983. The map was given to me as two separate
pieces of legal-sized paper; I lined up the sheets and taped them together to
make one continuous map soon after I got home from that trip. The reason I have dated this map 1976 is
because someone indicated Erie Coke & Chemical on the map (which is the
company that bought Diamond Shamrock's coke plant in 1976), but the CEI spur to
the Perry Nuclear Power Plant is not present (it was constructed in 1977).
Other Maps
Though I believe the above system maps are the only ones that
exist, these are not the only maps regarding the FP&E that are
available: Thanks to the miracle of the
internet, there are several other kinds of maps that you can view.
Valuation Maps
The official Lake County website has valuation maps for all the
railroad property in the county, including the FP&E. Valuation maps show the property owned by
the railroads, but not necessarily all (or any) of the tracks. Still, these maps are neat to look at. To view the FP&E valuation maps (and, if
you want, save copies for yourself), go to this webpage …
http://www.lakegis.org/taxmap/scannedsurveys/Railroad
Valuation Maps/Individual Pdfs/
There are 6 maps for the FP&E, and what follows is a brief
guide to those maps/files.
The following three maps show the entire FP&E line, circa
1928:
"fpe rr1.pdf" - Western Division (NYC connection at
Painesville to B&O connection at Fairport)
"fpe
rr2.pdf" - Perry Division (NYC connection at Painesville to Perry)
"fpe rr.pdf" - Perry Division (Perry to Madison Township)
These three maps together form the 'geographically correct'
version of the 1926-27 system map I display above. Some interesting things to note from these maps:
▪
The FP&E divided their line into divisions—including having
separate mile markers for each division.
▪
Although later the beginning point of the railroad would be
considered Fairport Harbor (as is shown on the 1976 system map), according to
the mile markers on these maps, the beginning point for the Western Division is
the NYC connection in Painesville.
▪
A lot of the property on the Perry Division that the FP&E
bought originally belonged to "Frank M. Cobb"; now I have no proof of
this, but I am thinking that he must have been somehow connected to the
Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula interurban transit line, because those
pieces of property coincide with the old CP&A right-of-way.
▪
I believe Parcel 44 on the "fpe rr.pdf" map is where
the spur to the Grand River shale beds would have started.
The next two maps show a 'swap' of property between the FP&E
and Diamond Alkali in 1937 [there is no date on these maps, but I was able to
get a date from the tax maps for the area (I discuss tax maps further below)]:
"FPOE RR.pdf" - property the FP&E conveyed to Diamond
Alkali
"fpe rr3.pdf" - property Diamond Alkali conveyed to FP&E
As I mentioned briefly in my FP&E History page, these maps show how the FP&E redesignated
their main line—primarily in the eastern portion of the Diamond Alkali complex.
The last map/file, "fpe rr4.pdf", shows a larger view
of the beginning of the Perry Division, where the FP&E goes under North
Ridge Road and the NYC lines.
Tax Maps
The official Lake County website also has tax maps for the
entire county, which show property ownership boundaries, names and dates. There are no track details, but again these
maps are neat to look at. To view these
maps (and save your own copies in .pdf format), go to this webpage …
http://www.lakegis.org/default.aspx
… then click on PUBLIC ACCESS SYSTEM, click on YES on the
disclaimer page, click on ARCHIVED TAX MAPS, enter the VOLUME and PAGE (ignore
SUBPAGE1 and SUBPAGE2) for the map you want, and you will find both current and
older maps of a specific area in Lake County available to view.
Now you may ask, "Scott, how do I know what volume and page
to put in the little window?"
Well, I happen to have listed below each and every volume/page
combination that the FP&E shows up in.
The left-hand alpha-numeric code is the volume, the right-hand number is
the page. So now go have some fun!
FP&E Western Division (from west
to east):
14A 24
14A 23
14A 22
14A 26
12A 59
12A 54
12A 53
12A 51
12A 52
11B 40
11B 42
11B 39
11B 38
11B 29
FP&E Perry Division (from west to
east):
11B 29
11B 30
11B 31
11B 32
11B 33
3A 4
3A 12
3A 11
3A 18
3A 17
3A 26
4A 35
3A 34
4A 44
4A 43
3A 43
4A 53
4A 52
3A 52
3A 63
3A 72
3A 82
3A 81
1A 12
1A 13
1A 5
1A 8
2A 11
2A 12
2A 13
2A 8
2A 6
2A 3
1A 71
1A 68
1A 70
FP&E "Rayon Branch"
(from west to east):
11B 42
11B 43
11B 44
11B 45
11B 46
11B 50
NOAA Maps
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a
section of their website devoted to historical nautical charts of ports all
over the United States—including Fairport Harbor. These maps have great details for railroad tracks that surround
any given port, and Fairport Harbor is no exception; you can see the western-most
portion of the FP&E, and in many of the maps the western portion of the
Diamond Alkali/Shamrock complex. To
view these maps (and save copies for yourself), go to this webpage …
http://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/historicals/historical_zoom.asp
… then in the "Enter keyword(s)" field, type Fairport,
click on Submit Query, and the result will be charts of Fairport Harbor from
1901 to 1997.
The following charts will be of most interest for FP&E and
Diamond Alkali/Shamrock 'fans' (it's neat to see the progression of the
facilities and tracks over time in these charts):
|
YEAR |
NOTES |
|
1912 |
|
|
1917 |
Note how the Diamond's dock—built by the
FP&E but then sold to Diamond Alkali after it was |
|
completed in 1917—changed the topography
of the area along the Grand River compared to 1912 |
|
|
1924 |
|
|
1937 |
1935 shows the same details for the Diamond
plant, but doesn't show as much of it as 1937 |
|
1940 |
1943 & 1946 show the same details for
the FP&E and the Diamond as the 1940 map |
|
1956 |
1949 & 1953 are missing tracks that
reappear as they should in 1956; 1959, 1963, 1965 and |
|
1967 all show the same details for the
FP&E and the Diamond as the 1956 map |
|
|
1971 |
|
|
1978 |
|
Enjoy!
Created by Scott Nixon
July 2009