Youngstown, Ohio: Mahoning & Shenango Railway

Description From 1893 until 1941, the Mahoning and Shenango River valleys of western Pennsylania and eastern Ohio were served by local streetcars and interurban railways. Originally built by separate companies, in 1905 they were unified into the Mahoning & Shenango Railway and Light system. In 1920 it was renamed the Penn-Ohio Electric System. At its peak, it provided service in and between Youngstown, Girard, Niles and Warren (Ohio), and New Castle and Sharon (Pennsylvania). Like most other interurban systems, the Penn-Ohio was hit hard first by the rise of the automobile, and then by the Great Depression, which caused mass unemployment in the area's steel mills and factories. Ridership fell by 45% between 1930 and 1931. The main interurban line from New Castle through Youngstown to Warren was converted to buses during 1931-32. The Youngstown - Sharon interurban survived until 1939. The last local streetcar line in Youngstown was converted to electric trolley buses in 1940. The final remnants, the local lines in New Castle, were converted to buses in 1941, just before the outbreak of World War II. A separate line, the Youngstown & Southern Railway, continued electric passenger service until 1948. Most of its trackage still exists, and is now operated by the Youngstown & Southeastern Railroad, a diesel-powered freight-carrying shortline. Timetable and Map This timetable and map shows the Mahoning & Shenango system in 1908. It does not show local lines which were built later, for example the Ohio Avenue and Trumbull Steel lines in Warren, or the Ohio Steel line in Youngstown. (Scanned from CERA Bulletin 108; pages are as printed there, probably not as in the original document.) Page 1 (4.1 MB) Main Line Local (Niles – Girard – Youngstown – Lowellville) City routes: Youngstown, New Castle, Warren, Sharon Page2 (2.9 MB) Mineral Ridge – Niles – Warren – Leavittsburg Youngstown – Sharon New Castle – Hubbard Junction Page 3 (1.3 MB) Limited Service (Warren – Niles – Girard – Youngstown – Lowellville – New Castle) Owl Cars (Girard – Youngstown – Lowellville) Sharon – West Middlesex Electric Package Express Page 4 (480 KB) Map On Dave's Electric Railroads: a Youngstown-Warren car at the Public Square in Youngstown. For more pictures, see here and scroll down to the Youngstown sections.

Chronology
Local Service	Begin	strong>End
Youngstown (horsecar)	1874	1891
Youngstown (electric)	1891	1940
New Castle	1890	1941
Sharon	1892	1939
Warren	1894	1927
Interurban Service
Niles - Mineral Ridge	1892-12-05	1927-06-14
Niles - Warren	1893-06-14	1931-12-31
Youngstown - Girard	1895-10-05	1931-12-31
Girard - Niles	1895-11-04	1931-12-31
Youngstown - Sharon	1901-10-28	1939-03-10
Warren - Leavittsburg	1901-11-27	1931-12-31
Youngstown - New Castle	1902-02-01	1932-10-15
New Castle - Hubbard	1902-08-16	1925-10-27
Wheatland - West Middlesex	1906-07-03	1932-11-20

References Central Electric Railfans Association, Bulletin 108, Electric Railways of Northeastern Ohio (1965) Richard Korach, The Penn-Ohio System (2006)