| Marietta Subdivision | |
| Type: | Freight rail |
| System: | CSX |
| Status: | Active |
| Locale: | West Virginia, Ohio |
| Start: | Belpre |
| End: | Marietta |
| Owner: | CSX |
| Operator: | Belpre Industrial Parkersburg Railroad |
| Tracks: | 1-2 |
The Marietta Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation and operated by Belpre Industrial Parkersburg Railroad in the U.S. states of West Virginia and Ohio.[1] The line runs from Parkersburg, West Virginia, west to Belpre, Ohio, and north via Marietta to Relief (near Beverly, Ohio)[2] along a former Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road line. Its south end is at a connection to the Ohio River Subdivision; the line crosses the Ohio River on the Parkersburg Bridge between Parkersburg and Belpre.[3] [4]
The short piece of the Marietta Subdivision from Moore Junction northeast to Harmar (part of Marietta) opened in 1857 as part of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad.[5] The Union Railroad, from Moore Junction south to Belpre, opened in 1860.[6] The Parkersburg Bridge opened in 1871, connecting Belpre to the B&O's Parkersburg Branch.[7] In the 1880s or 1890s, the Zanesville and Ohio River Railway built from Harmar northwest past the current end of the line towards Zanesville. The lines became part of the B&O and CSX through leases and mergers. The Parkersburg Branch east from Parkersburg (formerly part of the Monongah Division) is now gone; the only connection there is with the Ohio River Subdivision.