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