masthead_shortlines
Featured Shortline
rustbelt rustbelt_route

ysrr_logoYoungstown & Southeastern

tag_quote

The Youngstown & Southeastern Railroad operates and maintains nearly 40 miles of track in Ohio and Pennsylvania, between Youngstown and the Greater Pittsburgh region. Connections are made with the Norfolk Southern Railway in Youngstown, Ohio, and with CSX Transportation in Lowellville, Ohio. Multiple attractive sites are available for large-scale economic development directly adjacent to the YSRR tracks. In conjunction with a regional logistics provider, YSRR offers rail-truck transloading services through the Signal Rail Terminal for customers without direct rail access. Railroad switching service is performed five days per week, and can be adjusted to conform to customers’ traffic levels and needs.

Indiana Boxcar Corporation

ysrr_state The Youngstown & Southeastern Railroad is a shortline subsidiary of the Indiana Boxcar Corporation (IBCX), providing freight service and railcar storage between Youngstown, Ohio and Darlington, Pennsylvania. The line is owned by the Columbiana County Port Authority and is leased to the Eastern States Railroad, which is owned by the line's primary shipper. Freight service and maintenance on the line is contracted to the Youngstown & Southeastern. Interchange is with CSX Transportation in Lowellville and the Norfolk Southern in their Hazelton Yard in Youngstown. A primary business is railcar storage, but several online industries are switching as well as a transloading facility. Active locomotives are stored and serviced at North Lima; a locomotive dead line is stored east of Negley, Ohio, at the former Youngstown & Southern engine facility.

This trackage was originally owned by the Youngstown & Southern Railway (YS), which existed from 1904 to 1993, including a period as an electric interurban passenger railway between 1907 and 1948. It was later jointly owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad and Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad.

ysrr_map

YSRR route map / web

ysrr_guide2

1988 Official Guide ad / collection

ysrr_guide1

1982 Official Guide ad / collection

Motive Power

Youngstown & Southeastern #18

  • builder:Electro Motive Division
  • model:GP18
  • type:B-B road switcher
  • built:Jan 1960, EMD #25456
  • series:350 produced 1959-63
  • engine:EMD 567D1 (16 cyl, 1800 hp)
  • notes:
  • blt Chicago Rock Island & Pacific #1339
    to Chicago Rail Link #14
    to Indiana Boxcar Corporation #18
    on Youngstown & Southeastern
  • builder

    Youngstown & Southeastern #77

  • builder:Electro Motive Division
  • model:GP9
  • type:B-B road switcher
  • built:June 1954, EMD #19554
  • series:3436 produced 1954-59
  • engine:EMD 567C (16 cyl. 1750 hp)
  • notes:
  • blt Bangor & Aroostook #77
    to New Castle Industrial #77
    to Indiana Boxcar Corporation #77
    on Youngstown & Southeastern
  • builder
    tag_jump

    See also our New Castle Industrial Railroad shortline scrapbook for more #77 photos

    Youngstown & Southeastern #222

  • builder:Electro Motive Division
  • model:GP9
  • type:B-B road switcher
  • built:Jan 1958, EMD #23868
  • series:3436 produced 1954-59
  • engine:EMD 567C (16 cyl. 1750 hp)
  • notes:
  • blt Illinois Central #9368
    to Illinois Central Gulf #9368
    to MidSouth #9005
    to Tishomingo Railroad #222
    to Indiana Boxcar Corporation #222
    on Youngstown & Southeastern
  • builder
    tag_jump

    this locomotive also posted in midsouth rail

    journal_rwh
    January 2016

    A main reason I chase shortlines is the search for first generation diesel motive power, and North Lima, Ohio, did not disappoint. The Youngstown & Southeastern is a bastion of first gen movers, with a great deadline at the old Youngstown & Southern shops east of Negley and small stable of active units on hand in North Lima. Of course I'm never sad to run across another Paducah rebuild still in service, and the #8343 (below) looks great in the green and white company scheme. The familiar GP10 frog-eyes headlight and the paper air filter cowling are welcomed sights. But the real treat for me in exploring North Lima was #222. I was delighted to discover her Illinois Central lineage, and even more thrilled when some digging turned up time on the MidSouth. Along with sister #9004 (show here), #222 (then #9005) was in a small handful of high-nosed units that worked for the MidSouth. There's a good chance I saw the unit somewhere in Mississippi during my years chasing MidSouth movements, but I never snapped a photo -- only sister #9004, on a dark day in Meridian, Ms, back in the late 1980s. These days, #222 looks no worse for the wear, given her age and mileage. She still wears the maroon-red paint of previous owner Tishomingo -- another Deep South pike. A missing number board, painted-over name blocks, some bumps and bruises on the pilots ... but otherwise 222 is an untouched Geep 9 from the heyday of the Mainline of Mid-America. Like me, she's a Southerner, sojourning above the Mason-Dixon line.

    Youngstown & Southeastern #8343

  • builder:Electro Motive Division
  • model:GP10 "Paducah rebuild"
  • type:B-B road switcher
  • built:Jun 1954, EMD #19375
  • series:3436 produced 1954-59
  • engine:EMD 567C (16 cyl. 1750 hp)
  • notes:
  • blt Illinois Central #9040, rebuilt #8040
    to Illinois Central Gulf #8040
    to Indiana Boxcar Company #8343
    on Youngstown & Southeastern
  • builder

    Rolling Stock

    Crouse Mills True Value Store

    Across Route 7 from the Youngstown & Southeastern Railroad office in North Lima, Ohio, is Crouse Mills True Value Store, a general purpose hardware store that includes a large collection of model railroad supplies inside and three pieces of rolling stock outside the store.

    tag_pin

    Click to see the Crouse Mills True Value Store plotted on a Google Maps page

    Locationstag_locations

    tag_pinYoungstown

    tag_pinNorth Lima

    tag_pin

    Click to see the North Lima office area plotted on a Google Maps page

    Along the Line

    Action

    tag_lagnLagniappe

    journal_rwh
    January 2016

    I enjoyed a wonderful Saturday afternoon solo railfanning across the state line over in Ohio, tracking the Youngstown & Southeastern from end to beginning, from Darlington northwest to Youngstown. The line is in rough shape throughout, particularly on the southern end -- lightweight and rusted jointed rail with lots of kinks and dips. If they still make it down that far, they must take their time along the way. I began to get a sense of the line's chief income, and perhaps its dim future, as I found more and more long cuts of stored unit hopper cars in every siding -- railcar storage, that last gasp of shortline income. Beyond that, it was tough to spot an active shipper. Still, the old Youngstown & Southern route is a lovely one -- exponentially so in autumn, I'm sure. The line meanders through coarse woods and passes through tiny villages on its way north to Columbiana and an impressive tunneling under the old Pennsylvania (now Norfolk Southern) mainline. North Lima and the small motive power stable made the entire trek worthwhile. I was lucky to catch an employee in the office late on a Saturday afternoon. He confirmed my hunches: They only run a few days a week now, rarely go all the way to the end, and are making money on storage and not much else. Still, he was kind enough to grant me permission to walk the property and take my roster shots before the sun set over the county and the day grew old. I'm glad I made the trip to get to know this little pike, as one wonders just how long it will be before the sun sets completely on the old Y&S right of way.

    Links / Sources

    This page was updated on 2019-02-04