The Akron Barberton Cluster Railway is a

Class III railroad Railroad classes are the system by which freight railroads are designated in the United States. Railroads are assigned to Class I, II or III according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With a ...

that operates on of track in and around

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

History

ABC Railway's beginnings trace back to the organization of the

Akron and Barberton Belt Railroad The Akron and Barberton Belt Railroad was a switching railroad that was built to serve various industries around the cities of Barberton and Akron in Ohio. It was formed through the consolidation of several formerly independent lines that total ...

(ABB) which was formed in 1902. ABB owned of track in and around Akron, Ohio. By the 1980s, ABB's traffic had fallen due to a lack of business in the tire industry in Akron. In 1994, the new Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway (WE) purchased the ABB. After the ICC and W&LE signed an agreement and contract in 1993, W&LE made arrangements to form a new railroad in Akron using the former ABB as its basis. In early 1994, WE created Akron Barberton Cluster Railway (ABCR) from the former ABB assets. It also included the former Erie main line from Barberton to Rittman and from Kent to Ravenna, Ohio sold by Conrail. In 1997, ABCR was granted permission to tear out 45% the former ABB "Loop" line which looped from the grade in Barberton and Firestone Park to the WE's Brittain Yard in Akron. In 1999, ABCR took the line out of service, and in 2001, they tore the line out completely with expenses paid off by parent railroad company, WE.

Current system

ABCR has

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may c ...

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

's New Castle Subdivision from the yard in Akron south to Barberton, where it swings off around their headquarters area. ABCR is headquartered in a small building off a local road in Barberton, Ohio. ABCR uses the restored

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Northeastern United States, originally connecting Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, with Lake Erie at Dunkirk, New York. The railroad expanded west to Chicago following its 1865 ...

line from Barberton to

Rittman, Ohio Rittman is a city in Medina and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. All but a small portion of the city is in Wayne County, within commuting distance of Akron, Canton and Cleveland. The population was 6,131 at the 2020 census. Geography ...

. In 2002, the railroad acquired the line to the

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

factory in northern

Ravenna, Ohio Ravenna is a city in Portage County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 11,323 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located east of Akron, Ohio, Akron. Formed from portions of Ravenna Township, Portage Co ...

. ABCR has purchased trackage rights with METRO Regional Transit Authority in 2006, to connect to the Canton area.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akron Barberton Cluster Railway Ohio railroads Switching and terminal railroads