The Ironton was not your typical rundown, streak of rust short line. For one thing, it was profitable throughout almost
all of its history. The Ironton was fortunate and perhaps unique in experiencing two notable eras. Initially, it depended on
the leading anthracite iron company in the Lehigh River Valley and, for a time, the nation’s largest producer of merchant
iron. Even before Thomas Iron went into eclipse, the Ironton also served the heart of the nation’s fledgling cement
industry, Lehigh County. The Ironton was purchased by two of its connections, the Lehigh Valley and Reading railroads
which recognized its importance in delivering cement loads to their systems. The Ironton survived the demise of Thomas
Iron to enjoy another half century of operation as a cement hauler.
In the early 1900’s, the Lehigh Cement District was the world’s leading cement producer. It manufactured almost one
third of the Nation’s annual output. Lehigh County, on the west side of the Lehigh River, was the engine driving the
Lehigh Cement District’s output in the late 1890’s and very early 1900’s until it was surpassed by Northampton County,
on the east side of the Lehigh River. Even so, Lehigh County remained a major cement producer into the late 1950’s.
The Ironton and Lehigh Valley railroads served mills in Lehigh County but the Ironton counted a majority of the
county’s mills as its customers as it penetrated inland while LV ran only along the Lehigh River. The Ironton was really
distinguished as the “backbone” of Lehigh County’s cement industry. Lean times finally descended upon the Ironton in
the late 1950’s. By then, the antiquated cement mills of Lehigh County were largely replaced by newer mills in
Northampton County and the ICC had granted trucking firms the right to haul cement out of the mills. The Ironton barely
survived this change of circumstances until it and its owners were all rolled into Conrail.
