"Bent, Zigzag, and Crooked"

"Bent, Zigzag, and Crooked" (HM1I2R)

Location: Woodsfield, OH 43793 Monroe County
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Country: United States of America
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N 39° 45.528', W 81° 6.938'

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Inscription

The Bellaire, Zanesville, and Cincinnati Railroad

side 1
While it served a vital role in the Monroe County life, by 1886 the BZ&C had defaulted on its construction bonds and entered the first of many receiverships. Its 300 trestles and bridges were expensive to maintain; frequent landslides added to operating costs. Only the coal and oil booms of the 1890s, along with convoluted financing schemes, kept the railroad operating into the 20th century; a benefit for the people of Monroe County if not its stockholders. Reborn as the Ohio River and Western (locally called the "Old, Rusty, and Wobbly" in 1902, it continued to operate at a loss until the Great Depression. Hundreds turned out in Woodsfield on Memorial Day 1931 for the final run. Ohio's longest-lived narrow gauge railroad, it had lasted 52 years. This is the site of the former BZ&C rail yards.

side 2
Monroe County's rugged terrain hindered commerce and communication during the 1800s. In the early 1870s Woodsfield businessmen, led by banker Samuel L. Mooney, promoted a narrow-gauge railroad to connect to the Baltimore and Ohio at Bellaire. Narrow gauge railroads were popular during this boom era because they cost less to build and operate than standard-gauge lines and could traverse sharp curves and steep terrain. The Bellaire and Southwestern Railway was completed through Armstrong's Mills and Beallsville to Woodsfield in December 1879, giving Monroe County a welcome modern link to the rest of the country. Its initial success prompted its extension westward, and it was soon renamed the Bellaire, Zanesville, and Cincinnati Railway, reaching Zanesville via Caldwell in late 1883.

Details

HM Number	HM1I2R
Tags	Railroads and Streetcars
Marker Number	5-56
Year Placed	2003
Placed By	The Ohio Bicentennial Commission, Monroe County Tourism Office, The Ohio Historical Society
Marker Condition	No reports yet
Date Added	Saturday, November 29th, 2014 at 5:01pm PST -08:00

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Locationbig map

UTM (WGS84 Datum)	17S E 490094 N 4400993
Decimal Degrees	39.75880000, -81.11563333
Degrees and Decimal Minutes	N 39° 45.528', W 81° 6.938'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds	39° 45' 31.68" N, 81° 6' 56.28" W
Driving Directions	Google Maps
Area Code(s)	740
Which side of the road?	Marker is on the right when traveling South
Closest Postal Address	At or near 301-311 Mill St, Woodsfield OH 43793, US
Alternative Maps	Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap