BREWSTER, Ohio — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen went on strike at noon on Tuesday, November 11, against the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway, based in Brewster, Ohio.

About 140 engineers and conductors set up picket lines at four or five Ohio locations, including Canton, at 2800 Gambrinus Ave. SW, and Akron, at 1907 E. Market St.

The Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway is one of the nation’s largest regional railroads, with more than 425 employees and 840 miles of track across Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

The dispute is over the railway running trains with two non-union managers instead of a conductor and engineer. The union says the practice raises crew-safety concerns and is the same issue behind the 2013 strike, which was settled in federal court.

The union says the railway refused to commit in writing to honor the contract and the court decision, and says it will strike “as long as it takes.”

The railway, acquired in 2025 by FTAI Infrastructure Inc., had not responded by mid-afternoon.

Source: The Repository / CantonRep

Photo: A freight train in Elmhurst, Illinois. Photo via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).