On June 1, 1887, the Lawrence Railroad became part of the Youngstown, Lawrence and Pittsburgh Railroad, which on August 1 merged into the PRR's Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Ashtabula Railroad, and on January 9, 1906, that merged with the New Castle and Beaver Valley to form the Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Ashtabula Railway, still leased to the PRR. The PFW&C bought the Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad by deed on July 1, 1865, making it its Akron Branch. The line ran from Hudson, Ohio, on the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad south through Akron, crossing the PFW&C at Orrville and continuing to Millersburg. In 1868 a short 3.5 mile (5.5 km) extension to the south was built, and on November 4, 1869, the PFW&C sold the line to the Pittsburgh, Mt. Vernon, Columbus and London Railroad. That company later became part of the PRR's Cleveland, Akron and Cincinnati Railway. On May 22, 1869, the PFW&C leased the Massillon and Cleveland Railroad, giving it a short branch from Massillon north to the Akron Branch at Clinton. On July 1, 1869, the PRR leased the PFW&C and began operating it directly, but on April 1, 1871, the PFW&C was transferred to the newly formed Pennsylvania Company. On December 1, 1871, the Pennsylvania Company leased the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad. Since January 25, 1860, the C&P had been operated jointly by itself and by the PFW&C, providing a branch of the PFW&C from Rochester, Pennsylvania, west and north, crossing the PFW&C at Alliance, Ohio, and continuing to Cleveland. Operation was transferred back to the Pennsylvania Railroad from the Pennsylvania Company on January 1, 1918. On February 1, 1968, the PRR was merged into Penn Central. The PFW&C stayed separate, filing for bankruptcy on July 14, 1973, over three years after Penn Central's 1970 bankruptcy. On April 1, 1976, the PFW&C became part of Conrail. Conrail downgraded the line, preferring other parallel lines. On June 2, 1994, the Norfolk Southern Railway bought 18 miles (29 km) from Gary to Valparaiso, which had been out of service since 1991, for $1.4 million. They soon bought 61 more miles (98 km), from Valparaiso east to Warsaw, and acquired trackage rights east to Fort Wayne. With the August 22, 1998, breakup of Conrail, the line was split at Crestline, Ohio. West of Crestline, including the section that had been owned by Norfolk Southern since 1994, went to CSX Transportation, along