Addition Fostered Roster of Township
By Catherine Ellsworth (1976)
By Catherine Ellsworth (1976)
As early as 1836, far-sighted men of the area looked toward connecting the Lake Erie shore with the Ohio River by rail. It was not until 1872-73 that two roads south were realized. One passed through Plymouth, known as the Ashtabula-Jamestown Branch of the Lake Shore Railroad. It connected the coalfields of Pennsylvania to the growing Ashtabula Harbor facilities.
The railroad developed a yard south of Carson Road in Plymouth, known as Carson Yards. It became a prominent part of local railroading. The yards brought a "boom time" to the township from 1917 to 1920. Approximately 300 men were working in the car repair shop, coal tipple and yards. The coal tipple was located one mile south of Carson Road. It was a large wooden structure with tracks slanted to the top, which was roofed over like a covered bridge.
Two coal cars at a time were "pushed like the devil" to make the grade, with hope they didn't push them over the top. The contents of the cars were dumped into a bin from which engine coal tenders were filled with twenty tons at a time.
During these years, four trains were made up in the yards, switched and set out in eight hours. The record day was eight trains in eight hours.
A boarding house was built near the pond created by the moving of fill to build up the low areas for the tracks. Some 25 to 40 men boarded there. Five cooks fed them.
The end of the boom for Carson came when business dropped after World War I. The government, which had been operating the roads, turned back to the owners, and the seemingly endless funds were cut drastically. This marked the end of an era for Plymouth.
The railroad developed a yard south of Carson Road in Plymouth, known as Carson Yards. It became a prominent part of local railroading. The yards brought a "boom time" to the township from 1917 to 1920. Approximately 300 men were working in the car repair shop, coal tipple and yards. The coal tipple was located one mile south of Carson Road. It was a large wooden structure with tracks slanted to the top, which was roofed over like a covered bridge.
Two coal cars at a time were "pushed like the devil" to make the grade, with hope they didn't push them over the top. The contents of the cars were dumped into a bin from which engine coal tenders were filled with twenty tons at a time.
During these years, four trains were made up in the yards, switched and set out in eight hours. The record day was eight trains in eight hours.
A boarding house was built near the pond created by the moving of fill to build up the low areas for the tracks. Some 25 to 40 men boarded there. Five cooks fed them.
The end of the boom for Carson came when business dropped after World War I. The government, which had been operating the roads, turned back to the owners, and the seemingly endless funds were cut drastically. This marked the end of an era for Plymouth.