CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad

Open-knowledge reference entry

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 7, 2026
Entity authorityQ8058676 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad, or Y&OR, was one of the smaller interurban railways in the state of Ohio. Along with the Youngstown and Southern Railway, the Y&OR formed a traction link between Youngstown, Ohio and the Ohio River at East Liverpool. It served several coal mines in the area and it was distinguished by the unusual feat of electrifying a section of a steam railroad, the Pittsburgh, Lisbon and Western Railroad, as part of a trackage rights agreement. The Y&OR operated for 24 years.

History

In 1906, a group of promoters formed the Y&OR for the purpose of completing an electric railway link between Youngstown and the Ohio River. Initially they leased the tracks of the Pittsburgh, Lisbon and Western (PL&W) between Washingtonville and Salem and strung trolley wire over the seven-mile (11 km) stretch of tracks. Construction began from Washingtonville and by 1907 service had been extended south to Lisbon. By 1909, the entire route from Salem to East Liverpool.

Passenger operations were conducted using a group of five interurban coaches and three combines ordered from Niles Car and Manufacturing Company in 1907. Freight trains were initially hauled by steam locomotives but in 1913 the Y&OR ordered electric locomotives to replace them.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad” as open-knowledge reference entry. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1906, 1907, 1909, 1913—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Youngstown, Ohio and River can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as open-knowledge reference entry. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8058676. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1906, 1907, 1909 and 1913.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad primary sources, Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad archive and Youngstown research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Youngstown and Ohio River Railroad” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.