The Ferrona yard sits 1.08 miles from the centre of this city, inside the place rather than out on a haul road, recorded under Norfolk Southern in the North American Rail Network maintained by the Federal Railroad Administration and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Nine miles west of here is Ohio
That yard sits close to a state line, and it changes the shape of the market. The Youngstown installation lies about 9.2 miles west at Vienna Center — in Ohio — and the Haselton yard about 12.7 miles south-west is in Ohio too.
Further west it is Ohio the whole way: the Lordstown yards about 19.9 and 20.1 miles, the CSX autoload about 20.0 miles, and the Foxconn assembly plant about 20.0 miles.
So a working radius of twenty miles out of this city is mostly another state, which changes registration regime, posting authority and inspection rules on a lane that never felt like a long one.
On this side of the line it runs north-east and south
Those Ohio sites are not the only ones. North-east the Shenango yard lies about 11.5 miles at Greenville, the Greenville Shops about 12.6 miles, and White Rock Silica Sand about 12.5 miles with eight people on the books.
South the country turns to stone and armouries: the New Castle maintenance shop about 16.7 miles at Oakwood, the Bessemer Quarry Plant about 17.4 miles with seven people, the McQuiston Mine about 17.4 miles with three, and the New Castle yard about 19.7 miles at South New Castle.
South-east the Cress Pit about 19.7 miles at Volant runs 23 people, and the New Castle readiness centre is about 19.8 miles out.
A truck out of this valley usually crossed a state line most weeks, so it carries two inspection cultures and often two registration histories. Neither is a problem to us; both are worth having the paperwork for.