Pennsylvania Lines West of Pittsburgh. Central System. Predecessor and subsidiary companies.

The Central System of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Lines West Organization was formed on January 1, 1912, to assume the operation of the lines of the Cleveland, Akron and Cincinnati Railway Company and the Toledo, Columbus and Ohio River Railroad Company. The corporations were retained as shell companies. These lines were primarily north-south routes from the coal fields of Southeastern Ohio to the Lake Erie ports.

The Cleveland, Akron & Cincinnati Railway was formed in 1911 by the merger of the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus Railway and the Cincinnati & Muskingum Valley Railroad. The Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railway had its beginning as The Akron Branch of the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad Company which was built from Hudson to Akron in 1852. The name of the company was changed in 1853 to The Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad Company and continued construction to Millersburg, 48.6 miles from Akron, in 1854. This last named company was succeeded in ownership by the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway Company in 1865, which company built 3.5 miles south of Millersburg in 1868. The property was sold in 1869 to The Pittsburgh, Mt. Vernon, Columbus and London Railroad Company whose name was changed to Cleveland, Mt. Vernon and Delaware Railroad Company the same year. This latter company completed the line into Columbus in 1873, it went into receivership in 1880 and was reorganized as The Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railway Company in 1885.

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company had a substantial stock interest in the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon and Delaware Railroad Company until the receivership of 1880. The Pennsylvania Company acquired control of The Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railway Company in 1899. This railroad formed part of the through line between Cleveland and Cincinnati.

The Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley Railroad Company was constructed from a connection with the Little Miami Railroad at Morrow to Washington Court House, 41.47 miles, in 1853 by the Cincinnati, Wilmington and Zanesville Railroad Company which same Company built the line through to Zanesville 90.64 miles additional in 1854 and 1856. The road passed into the hands of a receiver in 1857 and was operated by receivers until 1864 when the Company was reorganized as the Cincinnati and Zanesville Railroad Company which operated the property until 1869 when it again went into receivership and was reorganized in 1870 as The Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley Railway Company. This company extended its line from Zanesville to a connection with the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway at Trinway, 16.1 miles, in 1871, and the entire line was operated by the latter under lease from 1873 until further financial difficulties were encountered and the property was operated independently until it was reorganized as The Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley Railroad Company in 1898.

This railroad was originally built to provide a line from Zanesville to Cincinnati as well as to reach coal deposits near its eastern end. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company obtained an interest in this company about 1871.

The Toledo, Columbus & Ohio River Railroad Company was formed in 1911 by a consolidation of The Toledo, Walhonding Valley & Ohio Railroad Company and The Cleveland and Marietta Railway Company.

The Toledo, Walhonding Valley & Ohio Railroad Company was in turn a consolidation in 1891 of the Northwestern Ohio Railway Company and The Walhonding Valley Railway Company. The Northwestern Ohio Railway Company was incorporated in 1876 and took over the lines that had been built in the interest of the Pennsylvania Company between Toledo Junction and Toledo. The Mansfield, Coldwater and Lake Michigan Rail Road Company built the railroad from Toledo Junction where it connected with the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway to Tiffin in 1873. The Toledo, Tiffin & Eastern Rail Road Company built from Tiffin to Woodville, the same year while the remainder of this line to Toledo, was constructed under the name of Toledo and Woodville Railroad. The City of Toledo had been authorized to build this railroad but the actual construction work was performed for the Pennsylvania Company as were the other two sections from Toledo Junction to Toledo. This last section was also completed in 1873.

The Mansfield, Coldwater and Lake Michigan Rail Road was planned to extend from Mansfield, Ohio to Allegan, Michigan. It constructed its railroad from Toledo Junction to Tiffin and did some grading and other construction work between Tiffin and Monteith, Michigan, and had completed the section from Monteith to Allegan. The unfinished section was never completed although parts of its right-of-way were used by other railroads in subsequent years. The line to Allegan was completed in 1871 and incorporated as the Allegan and Southeastern Railroad Company in 1878 and operated by the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Company until the end of 1882 when this 12 miles of railroad and some partially completed construction was sold to a predecessor of the Michigan Central Railroad Company.

The Walhonding Valley Railway Company was incorporated in 1889 to build a railroad from Bellaire to Mansfield, Ohio to tap the coal fields of southern Ohio and provide additional tonnage for the Port of Toledo. This Company purchased some right of way for a line from Loudonville when it was taken over as part of The Toledo, Walhonding Valley & Ohio Railroad Company in 1891. The latter company completed the construction in 1893. This railroad was financed by the Pennsylvania Company.

The Columbus, Sandusky and Hocking Railroad Company owned a railroad extending from Columbus to Sandusky and from Columbus to Shawnee, about 92 miles southeast of Columbus. The property was sold under foreclosure proceedings in 1902. The Pennsylvania Company through The Toledo, Walhonding Valley & Ohio Railroad Company purchased the property and franchises of the part of the line extending from Columbus to Sandusky. The southern portion of the railroad was sold to the Zanesville and Western Railway Company and is now part of the New York Central System.

The Cleveland and Marietta Railway Company, organized in 1886, was the successor of The Cleveland and Marietta Railroad Company. The property had been controlled for a time by the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad before the receivership which resulted in the reorganization of 1886. The Pennsylvania Company obtained control of this property in 1893. This railroad had been constructed from Marietta to Canal Dover in 1871-1874. This line served the southern Ohio coal fields and was acquired to obtain the tonnage for movement to the lake ports of the Pennsylvania Company.

The Pennsylvania Railroad interests determined in 1916 that an entry into the industrial area of Detroit was necessary in order to obtain a share of the traffic to and from the auto manufacturers and began the purchase of a right-of-way for the line. The Pennsylvania-Detroit Railroad Company was incorporated in 1917, and by arrangement with the Pere Marquette Railroad, obtained trackage rights which enabled it to confine its construction, so far as its main line was concerned, to about twenty miles between Carleton and Ecorse Junction. This line was built in 1922.

On December 10, 1925, the Pennsylvania-Detroit, the Cincinnati, Lebanon & Northern, the Cleveland, Akron & Cincinnati, the Toledo, Columbus & Ohio & Detroit Railroad Company. For bookkeeping purposes, the PO&D was merged into the Connecting Railway Company on May 31, 1956.

From the description of Corporate records, 1850-1956. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122393399