This railroad began in 1852 as the Cleveland, Norwalk, and Toledo Railroad, among the first passenger rail lines connecting Cleveland and Toledo. In 1869 the line was merged into the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern system, which later became part of New York Central. At its peak in the early twentieth century, the route was a part of NYC's busy Buffalo-Chicago passenger mainline. The line's eastern end lay at the LS&MS track on the west side of Elyria. From here, the route headed southwest to Oberlin, where it turned westward and continued to Norwalk, passing through the towns of Kipton, Wakeman, and Collins. From Norwalk, the railroad continued to Toledo alongside the Wheeling & Lake Erie/Nickel Plate/Norfolk & Western to Fremont. The line joined the northern LSMS line to Toledo at Millbury Junction
Passenger service on the line was terminated in 1949, and traffic in general started to decline around this time as NYC began routing freight trains on its more direct lakeshore line to the north. The railroad had fallen into disuse by the 1970's and was deemed unfit
for absorption into Conrail. The line was abandoned concurrent with that company's formation in 1976. The right of way between Elyria and Kipton has been preserved as a bike path, and many mileposts and other artifacts along the route have also been saved. The Oberlin passenger station also remains standing with a caboose on display. The remainder of the right of way hasn't been preserved very well but can be found easily.
Towns on the line from Elyria to the west are Oberlin, Kipton, Wakeman, Collins, Norwalk, Monroeville, Bellevue, Klines, Clyde, Fremont, Lindsey, Elmore, Genoa and then to Millbury Junction.
Reference: Joseph P. Schwieterman, "When the Railroad Leaves Town," 2001
