Youngstown and Salem Railroad
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rail transport |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Youngstown, Ohio , United States |
Area served | Youngstown, Ohio to Darlington, Pennsylvania |
| Products | Freight train services |
| Owner | Midwest & Bluegrass Rail |
The Youngstown and Southeastern Railroad operates as a short-line railroad under the ownership of Midwest & Bluegrass Rail, providing freight train services between Youngstown, Ohio and Darlington, Pennsylvania in the United States. The track is held by the Columbiana County Port Authority, leased to Eastern States Railroad (which is owned by the principal shipper), and managed by YSRR under contract. Freight connections are established with both CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway at Youngstown.
Initially established as the Youngstown and Southern Railway, it functioned from 1904 until 1993, including an electric interurban passenger service from 1907 through 1948, marking it as Ohio’s final line of this type. Later, ownership was shared between the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad. After a local firm acquired it in 1996, service was unlawfully suspended for nearly five years. Operations recommenced in May 2001 under the name Central Columbiana and Pennsylvania Railway. The YSRR took over in 2006 following two brief operational periods (each less than two years) by the Ohio Central Railroad System’s Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad. Ownership shifted to Indiana Boxcar Corporation until 2019.
Line description
The YSRR begins its route in southern Youngstown, Ohio, where it interchanges with CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway close to the Mahoning River. It then proceeds northwest along the riverbank before veering southwest to ascend into the elevated terrain of Boardman Township. Historically, the interurban line traced Front Street and South Avenue over the Mahoning River, followed by a private right-of-way between Wabash and Franklin Avenues, connecting with the current track east of South Avenue. Beyond Boardman, it crosses Norfolk Southern’s Fort Wayne Line at Columbiana. Near Signal, Ohio—where it shifts direction eastward—the line descends into the Little Bull Creek valley en route to Negley. From Negley, a former branch known as Smiths Ferry extended southward to reach the Ohio River at Smiths Ferry. The primary line continues eastward along North Fork Little Beaver Creek valley into Pennsylvania, concluding at Darlington; previously, it extended a short distance further to link with the Fort Wayne Line at New Galilee.
20th century
In May 1903, both the Youngstown and Southern Railway (Y&S) and Youngstown and Salem Railroad were incorporated; by October of that year, Y&S had absorbed Youngstown and Salem. The company launched operations in 1904 as a 16-mile steam-powered railway between Youngstown and Columbiana. Electrification occurred in 1907 with a three-mile extension reaching Leetonia on the Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad (Y&OR). Beyond passenger interurban service, Y&S mainly transported coal freight from both the electric Y&OR and steam-powered Pittsburgh, Lisbon and Western Railroad (PL&W). After entering receivership in 1915, it reorganized as the Youngstown and Suburban Railway in 1916.
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, industries within Mahoning Valley alongside the Pittsburgh Coal Company sought to establish a new rail connection between Youngstown and the Ohio River due to insufficient transfer facilities offered by existing railroads. Although their application was rejected by the Interstate Commerce Commission, improvements to transfer infrastructure were mandated. Subsequently, Pittsburgh Coal Company constructed a private railroad linking Smiths Ferry, Pennsylvania to Negley, Ohio via its Montour Railroad subsidiary connecting with PL&W and Y&S (which it had acquired in 1928). This network enabled substantial coal shipments from Ohio River mines directly to steel mills in Youngstown. The Y&S reverted to its original name in 1944 and absorbed PL&W on January 1, 1945.
Following World War II, Consolidated Coal Company sold its rail holdings to the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), which jointly with Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE) assumed control of Y&S starting December 31, 1946. Passenger services ceased in 1948—the final interurban operation in Ohio—and portions of track were abandoned. By 1960, Y&S had transitioned entirely to diesel locomotives. After Penn Central declared bankruptcy in 1970, P&LE gained full ownership of both Montour and Y&S.
Financial difficulties faced by P&LE during the steel industry’s decline in the 1980s led CSX Transportation to acquire its main lines by 1992. In 1993, the newly formed PL&W Railroad began leasing operations on Y&S lines before transferring this lease to Ohio Central Railroad System’s Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad (O&P) in 1995. Due to inactivity, the Negley-Smiths Ferry segment was abandoned in 1996; O&P continued operating only between Youngstown and Darlington. P&LE filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March of that year.
When O&P chose not to purchase leased tracks outright, ownership passed to Railroad Ventures, Inc. (RVI) in November 1996. RVI abruptly terminated the lease agreement, causing O&P to suspend service; following complaints from shippers, intervention by the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) resulted in a new lease arrangement. However, flooding shortly thereafter led to another embargo.
Although RVI’s initial STB authorization for purchase was denied due to concerns regarding common carrier responsibilities, approval was granted after assurances were made in April 1997. RVI then hindered repair efforts and filed multiple abandonment petitions; financial assistance from Columbiana County Port Authority (CCPA) aimed to preserve operations. The STB penalized RVI for failing service obligations and clandestine asset sales—including disposing of track materials soon after acquisition—and invalidated transfers of subsurface rights as well as contracts with local authorities. RVI’s interference with escrow funds delayed resolution until November 2001 when STB mandated direct fund transfers to CCPA.
21st century
On January 24, 2001, the Central Columbiana and Pennsylvania Railway (CCPA) obtained the line from RVI, and operations commenced on May 31 under the new subsidiary of Arkansas Short Line Railroads, Inc., running between Youngstown and Boardman Township. The full line became operational again on August 31 when a CQPA train arrived in Darlington. Although CQPA and its parent company Arkansas Short Line Railroads served nine customers, they encountered financial difficulties that hindered necessary repairs to support increased traffic, ultimately resulting in bankruptcy by June 2004. The Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad briefly took over operations in December 2004 but ceased following bankruptcy procedures. Subsequently, Total Waste Logistics, the line’s main customer, established Eastern States Railroad and took over the lease in November 2006. Eastern States then partnered with Indiana Boxcar Corporation, which formed the Youngstown and Southeastern Railroad subsidiary to manage operations.
In 2000, the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) implemented a three-part "Railroad Ventures test" designed to assess whether a non-operating lessor that maintains residual common-carrier responsibilities qualifies as a covered employer under the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. This evaluation requires that the company’s principal purpose is not to generate profit from railroad activities, that it neither operates nor retains operational control of the line, and that the operator is or would be considered a covered employer. RVI did not meet these criteria because its main objective was profiting from selling the railroad line. This decision represented a departure from previous rulings that excluded non-operating companies from coverage. Since then, this test has determined that Eastern States Railroad, created to maintain service continuity, is not covered, whereas Pennsylvania Lines, LLC—fully owned by for-profit Conrail—is classified as covered.
In 2019, Indiana Boxcar transferred control of its Youngstown and Southeastern Railroad operations to Midwest and Bluegrass Rail.