It's urban! It's rural! It's urbrural? The Ohio and Pennsylvania Railway is a geographically diverse short line railroad service. Mile post 0 of the line is located just outside of downtown Youngstown, Ohio. This end of the railroad passes through an urban inner-city setting. The line passes vacant steel mills. Other light to moderate industrial plants dot the line as it journeys southward. Four miles from it's origin, the scene changes to residential as the railroad line passes through the upper south side. The railroad line begins to cross main traffic arteries and crossing gates become more commonplace. As the line approaches the Youngstown suburb known as Boardman, both residential and light commercials can be seen as the line continues to progress southward. The line passes over the Ohio Turnpike, the most important east west travel artery in the state. The landscape gradually changes to low hills and farmland about 15 miles from Youngstown. The train passes into Columbiana County and as the train passes through the village of Columbiana, the urban setting becomes no longer. Still the train continues southward. The hills gradually increase in size and developed areas become fewer and farther between. 22 miles into the line, the line turns and begins heading east at Signal. At one time, the line use to divide with one section heading towards Lisbon. The other section continues it's eastward trek. As the train passes the 23 mile post, streams begin to criss-cross under the tracks. Large rock outcrops stand adjacent to the lines. At Mill Rock, the line passes through a rock cut that many years ago was blasted apart with explosives to make room for the rail to go through. The railroad continues crossing small metal railroad bridges as the creeks become small streams. Mile post 29 approaches as the train passes over the Ohio/Pennsylvania state line. The line becomes more and more like a scenic railroad than a cargo operation. The North Fork of the Little Beaver Creek meets up with the line and tags along until Darlington. Then it parts and goes it's separate way. The line has now reached mile post 35 at Darlington and the line's current ending place. It's hard to believe that this is the same line that was described at the start. The line's starting and ending points could not be more extreme. Urban, bustling, busy, industrial can all be used to describe the line's Youngstown origin. Rural, farmland, agricultural, relaxed, peaceful and serene can all be good descriptors of the line that has much to offer. See you at the next crossing!
Very Brief Summary of the CQPA Line The railroad line is owned by the Columbiana County Port Authority. It was leased to the Ohio Central in December of 2004. Previously, it was leased to the
Dardanelle & Russellville Railroad Railroad out of Dardanelle, Ark. It was purchased from Rail Ventures Incorporated (or RVI). RVI acquired the Youngstown and Southern Railroad in November of 1996.
Starting and Ending Information Starting Location: Hazelton Yard, Youngstown, Ohio (Mile Post 0) Ending Location: Darlington, Pennsylvania (Mile Post 35.7)
Mile Posts 0.0 Youngstown, OH
5.5 Boardman, OH
8.0 Woodworth, OH
10.8 North Lima, OH
15.7 Columbiana, OH
22.2 Signal Jct, OH
23.7 Rogers, OH
28.8 Negley, OH
30.7 West Darlington, Pa
32.6 Cannelton, Pa
35.5 Darlington, Pa
visitors have crossed these tracks.
Disclamer: This is a personal web page. The Information expressed here does not represent the official views of the Ohio Central Railway Inc, the Ohio and Peennsylvania Railroad, the former Central Columbiana & Pennsylvania Railroad or the Central Columbiana Port Authority or anyone else but myself for that matter. Rumors of me being run over by a train again are greatly exaggerated!
