Mr. P. Explores...The Lake Shore Electric Railway Ruins
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2017
- In this edition, we head out to Bay Village, Ohio to take a look at what remains of the old Lake Shore Electric Railway, which saw its demise in the late 1950's. Once connecting Cleveland to Toledo and points west, the interurban railway once spanned the various creek valleys of the western lake shore suburbs of Cleveland. In what is today the Huntington Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks, a good deal of the original bridge is still standing, a testament to 1900's engineering know-how. Enjoy the exploration!
Intro Music: Grant Lee Phillips - "I Often Dream of Trains"
Outro Music: Ben Folds Five - "Theme From Dr. Pyser"
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I remember this concrete from my childhood, in the early 1960s. We lived in Sheffield Lake. At that time, people still talked about having ridden it. Along one of the roads my parents often drove between our home and the city, much of the raised roadbed was still clearly visible. There were many who complained about the closing of the line, as they preferred it to riding a bus, or having to drive and deal with parking.
I'd enjoy knowing where these historic photos came from, just as future generations will want to know who shot your terrific photos and videos.
Good catch. RR fans have a strict vernacular and gear up for boo-boos in describing components. But, you've pointed out a location of a historic Interurban route, most of which have left little trace they ever existed. Their successors, the bus system, worked hard to eradicate Interurbans from the landscape. The large bus manufactures had a particular grudge against them, probably because they represented a way to connect two places without roads. Thanks again, keep up the good stuff.
The Smith Court underpass in Rocky River was once a route for the Lake Shore Electric. As it left Rocky River center, the LSE continued west, made a curve north, passed under the freight railroad, then turned west again towards Bay Village. The underpass is the same as it was in the 1930s.
A few corrections. A railbed is where the ties sit for the steel rail. What you were looking at is the abandoned grade. You were looking at bridge piers, not abutments. An abutment supports the bridge on either end. This bridge, called the Huntington Trestle was built in 1925. It was the longest and tallest reinforced concrete railroad bridge in the country at the time. The large vertical structures are the bridge piers while the horizontal connections between the piers are called struts. The piers were reinforced with about 40,000 pounds of old 45 pound rails. Sometime in the 1950's there was an attempt to demolish the bridge structures using dynamite. After going through about 1,000 pounds of dynamite and only demolishing one set of piers it was decided it wasn't economic to continue with demolition. Because the construction of the piers and struts was so stout, you are able to see the bridge structures today. I have no doubt that, if a girder bridge were laid across the piers today, it would have no trouble holding a modern interurban car.
Those piers sure were built to last. It's kind of a waste to think they were used for a mere 13 years before the LSE line was shut down permanently.
Similar piers over Cahoon Creek were demolished a few years back, though. Hopefully the same won't be done to the ones at Huntington. They are practically a landmark.
The Lake Shore was abandoned in May, 1938.
Nice job on the vid....THXS Do yo have any data on the Toledo end??? I'm researching the Cinci & Lake Erie Railroad, it started in Toledo went to Cinci. also stop in Deshler. Closed in 1939.....
Shame to see all that history gone...
why did we have to lose the ake shore electric railway :(
Everyone started buying cars
Surprised if hasn't been obliterated by time. Fascinating
MrPsWorldHistory i just finished reading a huge book on the lake shore electric. Lots of great photos but unfortunately none of this trestle
MrPsWorldHistory the Lake Shore Electric Story by Harwood and Korach. Indiana University Press, published in 2000