In 1906, a group of promoters formed the Y&OR for the purpose of completing an electric railway link between Youngstown and the Ohio River.
Passenger operations were conducted using a group of five interurban coaches and three combines ordered from Niles Car and Manufacturing Company in 1907.
During the ensuing years of the 1920s the coal mines which provided much of the Y&OR's freight traffic began to play out and increasing use of automobiles eroded the line's passenger ridership.
The passenger equipment of the Y&OR was unusually homogeneous, with all eight cars having been built by the nearby Niles company in 1907.
Freight power consisted of three "steeplecab" electric locomotives built by Baldwin-Westinghouse, two dating to 1917 and the third to 1922.