Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway

The current Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway is the second regional railroad to bear that name. In 1990 the Norfolk & Western Railway, a subsidiary of the Norfolk Southern Railway, sold portions of its lines in Ohio and Pennsylvania, including most of the lines of the original W&LE and the Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad, as well as a lease on the Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railroad, all to the Wheeling Acquisition Corporation -- a total of nearly 350 miles. At its formation, trackage rights were granted the WE by CSX Transportation from Connellsville, Pennsylvania to Hagerstown, Maryland -- a remnant of the old Alphabet Route of which the original W&LE was a participant. Total miles of operation for the regional near 900, and principal offices and locomotive shops are in Brewster, Ohio. WE currently handles steel and raw materials to and from five different mills, aggregates from three different quarries, chemicals, industrial minerals, including frac sand, plastic products, grain, food products, lumber, paper, and petroleum products.