Railroad service reached Evansburg, later Conneaut Lake, in 1859 with a station at Stoney Point on the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, and passengers and freight then continued the three-mile trip into town by horse buggies and wagons. In 1881, Conneaut Lake gained a direct rail connection through the Meadville and Linesville Railroad, which served the ice industry and linked the town to the New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio Railroads at Meadville and the Pennsylvania and Lake Erie Railroad at Linesville. In 1892, the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad laid tracks along the canal's abandoned towpath to serve Conneaut Lake Park, bringing thousands of visitors and vacationers by excursion trains, with as many as eight sidings needed at the park. The B&LE RR once owned the park and was a prime factor in its promotion and growth, but better roads and the increasing use of automobiles and trucks contributed to the decline of rail service, and the last train passed through Conneaut Lake in 1969.