Grimms Bridge Tunnel is an abandoned tunnel along the Youngstown & Southern Railroad Smith’s Ferry Branch in eastern Ohio.

Pittsburgh Coal constructed the 1,200-foot tunnel at Grimms Bridge circa 1932, ⁴ and the concrete-lined tunnel was built by the Booth & Glinn Company of Pittsburgh. It also included a railroad trestle over Beeler’s Run near Fredericktown that was erected by the McClintock-Marshall Contracting Company of Pittsburgh.

Operation of the Smith’s Ferry Branch began in mid-1936 with 50 to 60 carloads daily. ³

Active service continued on the Smith’s Ferry Branch until 1967 when a landslide filled the south portal of the Grimms Bridge Tunnel. ² The landslide originated from a strip mine that had been operated by the Tassi Coal Company, which had gone bankrupt. Due to the finances of the line’s owner, the tunnel remained partly buried.

The Y&S sought federal permission to abandon all but the northernmost mile of the Smith’s Ferry Branch on April 26, 1977. ¹ The motion was not granted. In 1995, the Y&S filed to abandon 12 miles of the Smith’s Ferry Branch, and all but the northernmost mile ⁵ at Negley was removed in 1996.

The tunnel is slated to be renovated for use as part of the Great Ohio Lake-to-River Greenway, a 110-mile rail-to-trail from Pittsburgh to Ashtabula, Ohio. ⁶