GENERAL Lorain is an important ore-receiving and coal-shipping port and is noted for its shipbuilding and ship-repair facilities. The port is located on the southern shore of Lake Erie and is about 28 miles west of Cleveland and 72 miles east of Toledo by water. Ore is received over two terminals, one of which is owned by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. and operated by the Toledo, Lorain & Fairport Dock Co., while the other is owned and operated by the National Tube Co. By means of electrically operated unloaders, ore can be unloaded at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad dock at a rate of 900 tons per hour and at the National Tube Co. dock at the rate of 1,500 tons per hour. Space is available at the rear of the latter dock to accommodate 1,900,000 tons of ore, limestone, and sand. During the decade 1929-38 an average of 2,638,339 tons of ore was received from Lake Superior shipping ports per year, accounting for considerably more than half of the total water-borne commerce of Lorain during the period. Receipts of iron ore in 1938 totaled 2,182,957 tons, over a million tons of which came from Two Harbors, Minn., slightly less but still over a million tons from Duluth-Superior, and the remainder from Ashland, Wis., and Marquette, Mich. Coal shipments from the port are all handled over the coal dock of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which is also operated by the Toledo, Lorain & Fairport Dock Co. This dock, which is approximately 12 miles above the mouth of the Black River, is 790 feet long and has 22 feet of water alongside at low-water datum. Coal shipments to United States ports, including a small amount of coal loaded on vessels for bunker purposes, averaged 1,177,388 tons per year during the 10-year period. During the same period coal was exported to Canadian ports on the Great Lakes in an average volume of 211,827 tons per year. The coal shipped from Lorain during the calendar year 1938 was destined chiefly to Duluth-Superior, Detroit, Wyandotte, and Milwaukee, although numerous other ports west and north of the port received coal and about 5,500 tons were shipped east to Ogdensburg. The total coal movement in 1938 was 746,963 tons. The American Shipbuilding Co. operates a plant at Lorain at which 6 new vessels can be constructed at the same time and 10 vessels requiring repairs can be accommodated. The company operates 2 graving docks in conjunction with the shipbuilding and repair plant which can accommodate the largest vessels engaged in the lake trade. Lorain is served by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the New York Central Railroad, the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, the Lorain & West Virginia Railway, and the Lake Terminal Railroad. The Lorain & West Virginia is a short line from Lorain to Wellington, a distance of about 25 miles, and the Lake Terminal Railroad is a subsidiary of the National Tube Co. and performs all of the switching service at its plant. The Lake Terminal Railroad connects with the other railroads serving the port. There are no regularly scheduled steamship services at Lorain, but the large bulk freighters in the lakes fleet call at the port with their cargoes of iron ore, stone, etc., or for cargoes of coal. |