The Pittsburgh & Lake Erie (P&LE) built the Lake Erie & Eastern (LE&E) Railroad. It ran from Struthers, Ohio to Brier Hill, Ohio, a distance of about 7 miles. The road opened on June 14, 1912. The P&LE switched the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company (YS&T) company’s Campbell works from their big yard in Struthers, Ohio. The P&LE wanted access to the lucrative steel business with the YS&T at their other mill in Brier Hill, further west in the valley. The LE&E established that connection and gave the P&LE access to Brier Hill.

 

Today it is all gone.

 

C&O 4-8-4 No. 614 came through Youngstown on the Chessie Safety Express in 1981. She’s eastbound on the ex-B&O Chicago Main.

 

The LE&E, up on the embankment at the left, was still there in 1981. It was a double-track, CTC railroad.

 

Click on the picture for a larger view.
Here’s another view of the LE&E, taken in June of 1975, looking east from the Market Street Bridge in Youngstown. The railroad was busy then!
The same location as the 614 photo above, as it looks today, from Google Earth.

 

The B&O/CSX main is still there, but the LE&E has been swallowed up with trees and overgrowth.

 

Click on the picture for a larger view.

This is why the LE&E will never become a bike trail.

 

The entire LE&E railroad ran through Youngstown on an embankment. Today, large pieces of the embankment have been removed to accommodate new industry. This picture shows just one of several places on the line where the embankment was removed so new industry could move in.

 

Click on the picture for a larger view.
Here is the video showing the G&W train running under the LE&E bridge referenced in the upper right of the above image.

 

The video was produced by Scott Taipale.