Bessemer
and Lake Erie Railroad - (en)
The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad (B≤ AAR reporting mark BLE) was
a railroad company operating in western Pennsylvania and northeastern
Ohio. The railroad's main route ran from the Lake Erie port of Conneaut,
Ohio to North Bessemer, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, a distance of 139
miles. The original rail ancestor of the B&LE, the Shenango and
Allegheny Railroad, began operation in October of 1869. Rail operations
were maintained continuously by various corporate descendants on the
growing system that ultimately became the B&LE in 1900, until it was
purchased by Canadian National Railway in 2004. The B&LE and its
predecessors offered passenger service but, in 1955, the railroad became
strictly a freight hauler.
History
The Pittsburgh, Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Company was founded in
1897 by Andrew Carnegie to haul iron ore and other products from the port
at Conneaut, Ohio on the Great Lakes to Carnegie Steel Company plants in
Pittsburgh and the surrounding region. On the return trip, Pennsylvania
coal was hauled north to Conneaut Harbor. The company was created largely
out of a series of small predecessor companies including the Pittsburgh,
Shenango and Lake Erie Railroad, and the Butler and Pittsburgh Railroad
Company. The company was renamed the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad in
1900. Carnegie Steel had an exclusive 999 year lease to the PS&LE.
This lease was acquired by US Steel when that company acquired Carnegie
Steel in 1901.
In 1988, the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad became part of Transtar,
Inc. Transtar is a privately held transportation holding company with
principal operations in railroad freight transportation, dock operations,
Great Lakes shipping, and inland river barging that were formerly
subsidiaries of USX, the holding company that owns U.S. Steel. In 2001,
the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad became part of Great Lakes
Transportation, LLC. On May 10, 2004, Canadian National Railway acquired
the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad. Iron ore and coal are still the
route's major freight commodities.
