Driving Trip - March 27, 2022

This is the latest installment in the series of driving trips of myself and my former coworker John. For those familiar with these trips, as always we hope you enjoy our latest adventure. For those unfamiliar, we hope you'll tolerate my ramblings about nothing in particular. A SPV Rail Atlas of Ohio will come in handy for following along.

Ohio is one of many midwestern states which used to be blanketed with rail lines. All 88 counties had at least one rail line, and the northern half of the state had lines going everywhere. The east and southeast parts of the state used to have more lines due to the coal mining operations in the region. Industry deregulation, change in energy policy, and basic economics have resulted in many lines being downgraded and/or abandoned over the years. John and I decided to revisit one of our earliest trip routes and find some of these lighter used or abandoned lines in eastern Ohio. With the weather starting to warm up it was important to get a trip in before the leaves started to set.

We headed southeast and crossed the former Toledo & Ohio Central (western) line in Pickerington now operated by the Kanawha River Railroad (part of Watco). This line was picked up from NS a few years ago and was the West Virginia Secondary in Conrail days. In Pickerington a nicely maintained depot and freight building, perhaps a personal residence, still sits next to the tracks.

The depot and freight house in Pickerington, Ohio still look good.

On the north side we see the train order signal is still in place. The next train can highball the station according to the signal. :)

This is looking southeast into Thurston. The train station in the photo link above used to stand approximately where the semi-truck is parked. Note on the left the curved concrete barrier which represents where the connection between the two mains used to be behind the station.

This view is looking northwest at the Rt. 256 road crossing. The switch off the main to the right leads to what's left of the T&OC eastern branch. That track ends a little beyond the grain elevator.

This cylindrical covered hopper has seen better days! It is spotted a little beyond the grain elevator seen above. The car has RULE 88 stenicled on it. Rule 88 references the AAR car interchange rules. The car also has SCRAP CAR stenciled on it so this car likely isn't going to turn another wheel.

Looking north on what would have been the T&OC eastern branch main. The existing main track is out of view on the left.

Looking south on what would have been the T&OC eastern branch main. The existing main track is on the right. An interlocking tower used to stand right around where the signal box is near the road crossing.

John noted just east of here a former Zanesville & Western depot was still standing so we followed the Z&W line east. While the SPV shows Conrail abandoning this, it may have been a Conrail "Day 1" abandonment based on the 1983 Historic Aerials photos showing no tracks at any of the road crossings east of here. Just a little east of Thurston is New Salem and sure enough a depot stands on a private residence next to the road.

The Zanesville & Western still exists! Here is the northwest side of the New Salem depot which definitely has seen better days.

The southeast side of the New Salem depot has the freight door. The building's original slate roof, likely extracted from local stone, is still in place.

We continued following the Z&W east where in Thornville the line was crossed in Glenford by the B&O Shawnee Branch from Newark south to Junction City and beyond. All of this is long gone and hard to dicern in most spots. Continuing east of Glenford we stopped in Glass Rock which used to have a silica mining operation. The operation closed in 2012 however the plant stopped taking cars in the mid-1990s when they switched to truck deliveries. Other than the earthen dam by the operation and some power lines there's nothing left of the plant. John remembers us stopping here when things were still in place but I don't recall a bit of it!

We crossed the RofW of the Z&W about 1/2 mile east of the plant where the track appears for the first time. Here are some photos.

This is where the RofW crosses Glass Rock Road looking west toward the plant. Nature has consumed the RofW but a mound is still visible thanks to the dusting of snow.

This is the view looking east at the Glass Rock Road crossing. This is where the track first appears along the line. Judging by the size of the trees it has been a while since the last train.

Here is the bridge mentioned above. It blends in nicely with nature.

The bridge is accessible if you feel like walking about 1/3 mile through some vegetation.

The line loops north then to the south around a hill into Mt. Perry. This is where the Zanesville & Western Scenic Railroad has its base for operations. The operation is cutoff from the rest of the country's rail network as the line is completely overgrown a few miles east of here. It would take a monumental effort (not to mention a lot of money) to reconnect the line to the rail network. Here are photos of the main line looking east and west from the Coopermill Road crossing.

Looking west at Mt. Perry, OH, we find milepost 50 up ahead. Better get the vegetation clearing equipment out first before attempting to access this! The track is in place under all of the weeds.

Looking east at Mt. Perry things look much better! Equipment from the Zanesville & Western Scenic Railroad can be seen. The state has paved over the track at the crossing.

From here the track is inacessible as it zig-zags eastward around Jonathan Creek. We crossed the line at Workman Road and the only way you could tell where the RofW existed was the "State of Ohio - No Trespassing" signs.

A little east we picked up the line in Fultonham. John commented this was another relatively busy spot at one time when the coal mines were active in this part of the state. It's a very small town, but east of it can be found what's left of a large grain or cement elevator and it appears there may have been a quarry operation in the area as well. The 1960 aerial photos show several tracks in and around the noted industries. All of it is slowly being reclaimed by nature. The Z&W east-west line we have been following splits with one leg continuing northeast and another branch heading south. A connection exists between the two making a triangle. The track on the west side of town is jointed 127 lb., 1928 vintage rail. The junction where the line splits is just east of the U.S. 22 overpass. A transfer caboose and a few other odds and ends pieces of marooned equipment occupy the overgrown rails. A station or freight house, in dire need of some attention, also was present on the RofW.

Somewhere between Mt. Perry and Fultonham we crossed the track and I took this photo (looking west). The track and superelevated RofW still look pretty good.

On the west end of Fultonham the RofW is again completely overgrown and paved over. The stop sign could be either for road or rail traffic!

This is the west switch where the main diverts to the northeast. The bridge on the left crosses Jonathan Creek. The Rt. 22 highway bridge can be seen above it.

Looking west, here is the main track on the east side of Fultonham. The Rt. 22 bridge is in the background. The junction of the branch lines mentioned in the text above is behind me.

We are on the main track between Fultonham and Zanesville. This is looking southwest toward Fultonham. The switch is for the connection between the main and the branch line that heads south. Staying on the main takes you to Fultonham and Glass Rock.

Fipped around 180 degrees on the main from Fultonham and Zanesville. This is looking northeast. The historic aeriel photos there used to be a small yard in this area. This switch confirms the presences of at least one additional track off the main.

A few pieces of equipment are parked on the connection between the main and branchline track. This old switcher could have been used at the Glass Rock facility.

This is likely a former Conrail transfer caboose in red paint. With the track being owned by a Conrail predecessor, this could have been used when the Glass Rock plant was active.

Another Z&W depot! This depot, adjacent to the main between Fultonham and Zanesville, is very slowly being demolished by nature. This is looking northeast.

Here is the same depot looking southwest. This side doesn't look as bad. A feline was guarding the structure when we visited.

We opted to follow the branch south because the SPV map showed another split at Green Hollow Jct. and a tunnel near this location. State Route 345 follows the branch line south which appears in a couple spots where bridges cross a couple creeks. It's obvious this has been gone for a long time.

The branch heading south from Fultonham appears in spots. Here is what is left of a bridge over a creek.

At Green Hollow Jct. the line splits with a short section heading west and the main heading east toward the tunnel. The split to the west at Green Hollow Jct. shows on the 1948 topo map but is gone on the 1963 topo map and is not discernable today. After one unsuccessful attempt we did find where the tunnel used to be off of Township Hwy 169, however had it not been for a dip in the rolling hills we would have missed it.

The dashed line is approximately where the RofW used to be. The west tunnel portal is marked as well.

Instead of backtracking to Fultonham we kept following the main east to Crooksville. This is one of the more bizarre city names in the state whose name certainly does nothing for tourism (Is this the home of a prison? Can you trust anyone in this town?). Kind of like the old Chevrolet Citation car (Do you get a citation from the police if you drive one of these cars?). Anyway according to the web the town is named after a man by the last name of Crooks. In Crooksville the Zanesville and Western used to cross a north-south PRR line running from Zanesville to New Lexington. The junction was on the south side of town a little north of where Amerine Street crossed the PRR. Today the Z&W RofW is still visible in town with a long, narrow freight building parallel to the RofW. A truss bridge over the Moxahala Creek also still stands. The PRR line is active and is now operated by G&W.

The Z&W truss bridge over the Moxahala Creek in Crooksville can still be seen when the leaves are off the trees.

The G&W line was shiny so we follwed it south. This is an interesting piece of trackage which at one time sat dormant for a number of years before being revived by then Ohio Central to haul coal from near Glouster, OH to the AEP power plant in Conesville. The plant closed in 2020 however the line is still active to a spot called GOSTON on the SPV to service a landfill. Somewhere in my archives I have photos of the line before Ohio Central resurrected the line which at the time was heavily overgrown.

The line curves to the west and crosses Tunnel Hill Road a couple times. The road has this name because, well, it crosses over a tunnel on a hill! The road and the line parallel each other for a mile or so before the two meet. The tunnel is actually under the intersection of Tunnel Hill Road and Township Road 208 and is maybe a couple hundred feet long at the most. Even though you drive right over the top of the tunnel, getting to the tunnel itself would require a considerable hike due to the steep grade separation and vegetation between the road and the track. After cresting over the tunnel the road goes downhill and the landfill comes into view on the north side of the road. We saw two SD40-2s of some variety idling in the landfill's tracks but no activity was occurring.

This is the first road crossing east of the landfill close to a place marked as GOSTON on the SPV map. Looking east back toward the landfill, the track is still shiny here likely due to switching activities at the landfill.

Fipped around 180 degrees at GOSTON looking west. Again the rail is still shiny from pulling cars out of the landfill tracks. The wide RofW suggests more tracks here at one time, but the old topography maps don't support this theory.

We decided to keep following the line a little further into New Lexington to see if the line was active beyond this point. We got the answer to our question pretty quickly after driving over the Lover's Lane road crossing (actual name of the road!) and seeing the heavily rusted tracks with some grassy vegetation in the RofW in a few spots. So the last trains to polish these rails would have been in 2019 or 2020 depending on when the plant took their last load of coal.

No love on Lover's Lane! Looking east at the Lover's Lane road crossing the track is rusty and vegetation is starting to fill in some spots.

Looking west at the Lover's Lane road crossing we can see a red sign in the middle of the tracks in the distance. This is likely marking the "end of track" which might be referenced in a timetable.

In New Lexington the G&W line joins the Kanawha River Railroad line we saw earlier in Thurston. There basically is a very broad wye where the two lines meet on the southwest side of town. With the line toward the landfill not active, the only shiny rails are those on the southwest side of the wye. What we found interesting is that the track between the two legs of the wye never appears to have been used even when OC reactivated the line. A couple of the road crossings were paved over however the tracks and crossing signal protection are still in place. The rail by where the station used to be is also ancient: jointed 85 lb. 1909 vintage rail. The station platform is still visible however the station is long gone. A freight house is still on the property and used by railroad personnel.

Looking east in New Lexington. The track on the right is the main and the track on the left curves into an industry.

Looking west in New Lexington. The connection to the Kanawa River Railroad (ex-NS/T&OC) can be seen on the left. The main track is in the middle.

Looking east on the west side of New Lexington. This is the ex-PRR main before it connects with the active KRR main. This is the 1909 vintage track noted in the text.

Looking west on the west side of New Lexington. The active main can been seen on the left. What's left of the passenger station platform can also be seen. The station was basically at this point.

Two railroad structures still stand. A newer looking crew building boasts being injury free for 9191 days!

The freight house for New Lexington is also still standing. This may still be used by Kanawa River Railroad personnel.

We then double backed east following the G&W line. We drove through Crooksville up to the next town of significance called Roseville. I have a personal connection with this town because one summer when I was a kid my dad wanted to drive to the pottery locations in Roseville (this part of the state once had a number of pottery companies). For us kids it was an extremely boring trip but now I wish I had paid attention to what the track looked like. A large depot now occupied by a business still stands. This depot is somewhat oversized for the size of the town possibly indiciating that it had a lot of freight business. The rail next to the depot is jointed 131 lb. 1942 vintage rail.

Looking south in Roseville, the depot has been modified but still stands next to the rail. A pole from the pole line can also be seen.

Looking north in Roseville, this little bridge nicely frames the track. This many not even be tall enough for 19'0" cars!

Continuing north we arrived at the spot where the Z&W east-west line we were following earlier crossed State Route 93. While the track is gone there are still signs on either side of the road on the RofW stating "Property of State of Ohio - No Trespassing". We decided to backtrack west toward Fultonham crossing the RofW where we could. Here is a view east at the Crock Road crossing about a mile west of Rt. 93 near White Cottage. The track is still in place but buried in vegetation. We arrived back in Fultonham where John spotted an ancient water tower and old tornado siren in town.

Looking east near White Cottage, the track fades into the woods and the ground. A squirrel finds it useful as a lookout spot.

Next stop was Zanesville which is another city we have been to multiple times. South of downtown by about a mile a branch breaks off the existing G&W line to the northwest near a spot on the SPV map called Spangler. The SPV shows this line abandoned by Penn Central however it's very much active and services an Owens Brockway plant at the end of the line. The SPV shows the line continuing north-northeast into town where it crossed the Muskingum River to meet up with other trackage. Beyond the plant the SPV shows the track abandoned by the original Wheeling & Lake Erie which had trackage on the other side of the Muskingum River.

We took a quick look at the G&W (ex-CSX, B&O) trackage west of town. Several poles of the pole line still stand.

Looking east toward Zanesville, several poles of the pole line can be seen. Combined with the crossing protection lacking gates, this could be a scene from the 1980s.

Two units were parked in the small yard in Zanesville.

This ex-Conrail rebuilt B23-7 has been plying these rails for many years for Ohio Central and now for G&W.

Departing Zanesville eastward we followed the G&W trackage east. This line has picked up some customers over the past 10-15 years primarily due to the fracking boom. One of the first larger customers was a new bakery for Wendy's restaurants. The plant still takes in cars and we noticed a new rail customer (AMG Vanadium) in the same development as the bakery since the last time we stopped here. Further east we found a couple oil supply companies which had spurs. One of them looked to be receiving loads of pipe.

Next stop was Cambridge which is another location we have visited many times. Like so many other towns the rail scene is a shadow of its former self. The G&W line runs through a short tunnel on the west side of town then crosses Wills Creek. A nice depot still stands next to the line. Just beyond the depot is where a former PRR line headed north which will be our route out of town, but first a trip to Wendys for lunch was in order (this train driving trip is sponsored by Wendy's. Hey Wendy's - we're still waiting for the sponsorship check...).

After filling our stomachs we decided to follow what's left of a PRR line south out of Cambridge. This line branches off the G&W line a little east of downtown Cambridge and serves a couple customers south of town. The line continues into Byesville where the Byesville Scenic Railway makes its home. A well-maintained depot and an assortment of vintage signals dot the RofW. The operation is currently not running however the trackage showed signs of use.

Looking north in Byesville we can see the tourist train parked on the siding and a variety of signals. The railroad is supposedly dormant but the track was shiny.

Looking south in Byesville, the RofW is clear and the track is shiny.

Their trackage continues south to the town of Derwent where we found this power parked.

Near Derwent, this unit and caboose were parked at what's likely the end of the usable track.

Near Derwent, this CP caboose is a long way from its original owner's home. The road crossing is quite substantial for a mostly inactive piece of track.

The line appears to get overgrown beyond this point so we made the assumption there wasn't anything else to see and headed back north into Cambridge. We went back to the ex-B&O trackage and followed it east to the end of the line which is just beyond the I-77 overpass. The first time we stopped here both customers at the end (a lumber company and a plastics company) both had cars. Today it looks like the lumber company no longer takes cars (they were at the very end so they loaded/unloaded cars on the main track) and we could not definitively tell if the plastics company still took the occasional car or not. There's a scrap dealer also on the same spur but we did not see any evidence of recent activity.

Looking west toward Cambridge. The I-77 bridge is above the track. The lumber company on the right used to have a switch.

Looking east away from Cambridge and we find the end of the line. Judging by the dirt in the flangeways nothing has been through here in a while.

A little west of the photos above several poles from the pole line still stand and have wires and insulators.

Moving on we decided to follow a line abandoned by Penn Central (ex-PRR) north out of Cambridge. This was known as PRR's Marietta Division and based on this recollection was abandoned by Penn Central March 31, 1976, the day before Conrail started. The line broke off to the north just behind the depot.

In Cambridge looking east, the nice B&O depot and platform still look like they serve passengers. The B&O line is in front of the depot while the ex-PRR line broke off the B&O and went behind the depot to go north.

In Cambridge looking west from the station, the tracks are shiny and a car is spotted for a local company. The track goes through a small tunnel under the hill on the left in the distance.

North of Cambridge the line weaves back and forth amongst the hills and river valley. Much of it is far away from roads so we did our best to cross it where it made sense without losing too much time. John was certainly earning his keep trying to navigate us around the rugged landscape. It was all very pretty but also remote. The topo maps show several short sections of track which look like were built up on fills due to swampy conditions in some areas, so this line probably had a higher than usual amount of maintenance. The line also had a couple tunnels which again were far off the beaten path.

Just north of Kimbolton the line crossed Wills Creek and went over 8th Street. Here is a photo of the sturdy looking piers.

Just north of Kimbolton, the line crossed Wills Creek. These concrete piers are all that's left of the line abandoned in 1976.

Eventually we reached Newcomerstown where the PRR line crossed the PRR Panhandle Line (now operated by G&W). A cantilever signal bridge still stands at the diamond which used to have a block tower governing the crossing. Just north of the crossing we found a few poles from the pole line still standing.

We are basically on the north-south PRR RofW in Newcomerstown looking north. An old signal bridge for southbound movements still stands. The block tower would have been where the metal relay box is on the right.

A few blocks north of the junction with the east-west PRR Panhandle line the RofW parallels this road. If you look closely you can see a few poles from the pole line in the trees.

The line becomes a recreational trail a mile or so north of Newcomerstown.The trail is currently four miles long according to this site with plans to make it longer. It looked like in many cases they used the railroad's bridges over the many small creeks along the way. I'm sure one could find remanents of the railroad in spots along the way but we did not go on the trail.

Eventually the line basically parellels I-77 for a number of miles. We stayed on the also-parallel two lane road and noted that there were still several rail bridges in place over creeks and low spots. There's another tunnel however it would have required a bit of a hike so we kept driving until we arrived in Dover. The line takes a right turn under the freeway where it used to cross an active RJ Corman line (ex-B&O). A little east of the crossing is a truss bridge where a branch of the B&O line met the PRR line and crossed the Tuscarawas River on a set of truss bridges. The PRR line is gone but RJ Corman still has an active branch across the river to serve a couple customers.

Here is the RJ Corman shop and office in Dover with a couple units idling nearby.

We began to head back west and decided to drive by the Age of Steam Roundhouse near Sugar Creek. I got to take a tour of the facility several years ago before it was open to the public. It truly is like walking back into time when you enter the roundhouse. It is worth the trip to check out the facility and the rolling stock on hand.

Looking south into the Age of Steam property. This is a small part of their collection. The roundhouse is amazing!

Here's another view of some of the rolling stock. Note the turntable as well to the right of the steam engine tender.

The sun briefly made an appearance while we were at the entrance to the property. The roundhouse, though very recent, is from another era. It is worth the trip to see inside.

Working B&O signals and this caboose are near the entrance.

Next we made a brief stop in Coshocton. Instead of following the G&W (ex-OC, ex-CR, ex-PRR) mainline, we made a quick trip into town to see what was left of the old Wheeling & Lake Erie main. Answer: not much! The line is in a state of being dismantled as can be seen in the photos below. Somewhere in my archives I have photos of GTW 6325 and another steam engine parked in town on this line.

Looking north at Walnut St. in Coshocton, the W&LE line ends about 1/3 mile beyond this location.

Looking south in Coshocton we see what's left of the north switch of the wye in town. Oddly the switch lock was still on the switch.

Looking south in Mt. Vernon we see the north end of the B&O station still in great shape and nicely preserved. The grain elevator on the right is still in service.

Looking south in Utica. The B&O depot is on the right. As mentioned on previous trips, it's not a good idea to take photos while driving as this usually results in scenes with unusual angles.

With the light fading fast we headed back to home base. Only 379.3 miles on this trip. Time to plan the next trip.