The Mahoning Coal Railroad (MCR) was a railroad line in the U.S. states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Incorporated in 1871, it largely linked Youngstown, Ohio, with Andover, Ohio. It had a major branch into Sharon, Pennsylvania, and several small branches and spurs to coal mines and iron works along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. The railroad leased itself to the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway in 1873. The lease was assumed by the New York Central Railroad in 1914, when that company consolidated with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. The New York Central merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968 to create the Penn Central. Despite abandonment of much track, bankruptcy of the Penn Central in 1970 eventually caused the MCR's dissolution on January 7, 1982.
Incorporation and main line construction
The Mahoning Coal Railroad Company was incorporated in the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania on February 25, 1871, with a capital investment of $70,000 ($ in dollars). The Cleveland-based company received a charter to build a line from Youngstown, Ohio, to Brookfield Township in Trumbull County, Ohio. On December 9, 1871, a supplement to the charter was obtained allowing the company to build a line from Liberty Township in Trumbull County, Ohio, to the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway's Ashtabula Branch in Andover Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio. This branch required the company to increase its capitalization to $1.5 million ($ in dollars).
Work began on the standard gauge Youngstown-Brookfield-Liberty-Andover line in June 1872. It opened to traffic on August 3, 1873.
Construction of branch lines
As the Youngstown-Andover line was being built, the MCR constructed a long branch from Tyrrell, Ohio, to the coal mines in the southeast part of Vienna Township, Ohio (known as the "No. 9 Coal Bank Branch"), and a spur across the north side of Hubbard, Ohio to the blast furnaces of the Andrews & Hitchcock Iron Company.
On August 14, 1872, the MCR secured an amendment to its charter allowing it to build two new branch lines. The first was a long branch from Youngstown southeast to the hamlet of Struthers, Ohio. The second branch extended along the south side of the Mahoning River to the Foster #1 Coal Mine (537 West Hylda Avenue, Youngstown) and Foster #2 Coal Mine (intersection of Glenwood Avenue and Parkview Avenue, Youngstown) in the Fosterville neighborhood of Youngstown's south-southwestern side.
On May 1, 1873, the MCR was leased for 25 years to the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway (LS&MS), with 40 percent of the gross annual revenue retained by the original investors as rent. The LS&MS made the Youngstown-Andover Branch part of its Franklin Division.
In 1882, the MCR built a branch east to the Keel Ridge Coal Mines on the east side of Hermitage, Pennsylvania, from its Youngstown-Andover line near Brookfield Center, Ohio.
On July 1, 1884, the LS&MS and MCR amended their lease, making it perpetual. The agreement also transferred the rights of way, track, and all equipment of the MCR to the LS&MS, effectively ending the MCR's independent existence as a railroad.
A branch was built from the Ohio state line east into Pennsylvania just north of Sharon, Pennsylvania, in 1887. This line was built under authority of a charter held by the Stewart Iron Company, and was used to link the Stewart works to the Youngstown-Andover line.
In 1888, the MCR began and finished its Sharon Branch, a branch from its Youngstown-Andover line into Sharon. On the Ohio side of the border, this included track from Doughton, Ohio (a now-abandoned village which used to exist on the north edge of what is now the Pine Lakes Golf Club on the west side of Hubbard) to the Pennsylvania state line. For the track on the Pennsylvania side, the MCR purchased the right of way from the Mahoning and Shenango Valley Railroad, which had a Pennsylvania state charter giving it authority to build there. The Hubbard spur was abandoned when the Sharon Branch was finished. A line from the Sharon Branch northeast to Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, was also completed at this time (under authority of the charter of the Chenango Valley Railroad.
The MCR bought the Mahoning and Shenango Valley Railroad, the Chenango Valley Railroad, and the Stewart Railroad in 1890. It issued $400,000 in preferred stock to raise the money for the purchase. The Mahoning and Shenango Valley Railroad then became part of the LS&MS' Franklin Division.
The Vienna coal mine branch was torn up in 1899.
In 1903, the LS&MS built a "low-grade" line parallel to the MCR from Carson, Ohio, to Brookfield Center.