The Lake Terminal Railroad features a Pratt truss bridge and a Warren deck truss bridge over the Black River in Lorain, Ohio.
The Lake Terminal Railroad (LT) was formed by the Johnson Steel Company and other businessmen in September 1895 to provide railroad service for the Johnson Steel Company (which became the Lorain Steel Company in 1901 and National Tube Company branch of U.S. Steel in 1903) and to connect with the Cleveland, Lorain, & Wheeling Railroad (later merged with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad). 3 4
In March 1903, the New York, Chicago, & St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate) announced that it would make a direct connection with the LT via a bridge over the Black River to enable a direct connection to the National Tube facility. 1 It would provide relief from the overburdened lines operated by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad on the west side of the plant and provide a connection to the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway. The new Black River crossing, a Pratt through truss, was essentially completed by October. 2
Nickel Plate’s bridge was supplemented with a Warren deck truss in later years.
Information
- State: Ohio
- Route: Lake Terminal Railroad
- Type: Warren Deck Truss, Pratt Through Truss
- Status: Active - Railroad
Sources
- “Big Bridge.” Elyria Reporter, 12 Mar. 1903, p. 8.
- “Some Facts.” Elyria Reporter, 29 Oct. 1903, p. 8.
- Herdendorf, Charles E. “Railroads & Trolley Lines.” Bicentennial History of Sheffield, Ohio: 1815-2015, EcoSphere Associates, Put-in-Bay, OH, 2015, pp. 245–269.
- Brady, Dan. “National Tube Division – 1955.” Brady’s Bunch of Lorain County Nostalgia, 22 Mar. 2012.