Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway
standard gauge | |
Previous gauge | originally 3 ft (914 mm) |
---|
The Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway (CL&N) was a local
The line was completed in 1881, and the CL&N was formed in 1885. The company went through multiple
Passenger services from Cincinnati terminated at Lebanon until the early 1900s. Passenger service was eliminated circa 1910 and restored as of 1915, extended to Dayton until 1928. Passenger trains were eliminated entirely in 1934.
History
Planning and grading, 1850–1876
The town of
To enter the city of Cincinnati, the CL&X would join the
The 1870s fad of the
Slow stock subscriptions delayed surveying until June 1875, when a line was located between Xenia and the
Construction and early operations, 1876–1885
President
The
The TD&B absorbed its subsidiary, the
CL&N, 1885–1926
The newly organized CL&N initially operated a main line from Court Street in Cincinnati to Dayton, leasing the track from Dodds to Lebanon Junction from the Cincinnati Division trustees, and
Throughout the CL&N's independence, various larger companies were looking to acquire it, mainly for the valuable Court Street terminal property. The most persistent rumor was that the
As a part of the Pennsylvania system, the CL&N continued to operate its own property (which included the line north of Dodds after 1914) until January 1, 1921, when it was leased to the Pennsylvania. Starting at the end of 1918, the
Other lines, 1889–1915
The 16.96-mile (27.29 km) line north of Dodds, built by the TD&B to connect the Cincinnati Northern to the D&SE at Lebanon Junction, was sold separately at the June 1884 foreclosure sale, to its first-mortgage bondholders for $20,000. Initially operated under lease by the CL&N, service was discontinued in April 1887 when the ex-D&SE was converted from
Lewis died in 1893, and in the next decade the DL&C built no new lines. However, a group of investors bought the company, including the Dayton terminal property, in 1901 for $250,000 from Lewis's heirs. The first segment of the line into downtown Dayton was completed in late 1902, branching off the main line at
The other line eventually acquired by the CL&N was the
Sorg died on May 28, 1902, and six days later the CL&N, owned by the Pennsylvania since 1896, bought its property for $400,000 and began operating it as a branch. The DL&C would be acquired twelve years later, after the Great Dayton Flood of 1913. The CL&N and DL&C, built on the highlands between the river valleys, combined to provide the only access into Dayton during the disaster. The Pennsylvania realized that the DL&C would make a good acquisition in the event of future flooding, and had the CL&N buy and begin operating the DL&C for about $700,000 in December 1914. (Through service between Cincinnati and Dayton had begun that summer.) The DL&C built a short connection from Lebanon Junction to the Panhandle Route at Clement in early 1915, and on July 1 its property became that of the CL&N.[20]
Abandonments, 1917–1975
Competition from interurbans, specifically the Cincinnati-Lebanon Interurban Railway and Terminal Company, took away passengers from the CL&N beginning in 1903. But the interurban began to decline, going out of business in 1922, and it was motor vehicles that would kill the CL&N's passenger service. The first line to go was the Middletown Branch, discontinued in 1917; the short branch to Montgomery became freight-only in 1926. All service north of Lebanon ended in 1928, and in 1931 only one mixed train between Court Street and Lebanon was left on the schedule.[21][22]
The less-convenient
With passenger service gone, and several cross-connections to other Pennsylvania lines, the CL&N was no longer needed as a through route. Several years after the Montgomery Branch was fully abandoned in 1933, the Pennsylvania discontinued freight service between Blue Ash and Mason and between Lebanon and Lytle; trains continued to reach Lebanon via the Little Miami Railroad and Middletown Branch. Service was resumed on the entire line during World War II, but the Lebanon-Lytle segment was torn up in 1952.[23]
After the Pennsylvania merged into Penn Central in 1968, a 3-mile (4.8 km) piece north from
Sales, 1975–present
When the
Ownership of the remaining segments—Brecon to Mason, Hageman to Lebanon, Lytle to Hempstead, Pasadena to Patterson Road, and Hageman to Middletown Junction—remained with the Penn Central trustees, although, with local funding, Conrail operated the two segments from Hageman to Lebanon and
The IORY began running
As of 2022, two segments on the southern part of the former line are in use by IORY as the Blue Ash Subdivision and Mason Subdivision, with a gap between them, while a short section of its northernmost extent is used as a siding by Norfolk Southern. The rest of the track has been removed, although the right-of-way is discernible in places.
Route description
Lying on the highlands between the
The line began on the east side of downtown Cincinnati, at the corner of Eggleston Avenue and Court Street. The site of the brick freight depot, closed in 1969 and demolished in 1975, is now owned by
Double tracks initially stretched from Court Street to near Fredonia Avenue, where the 1.25-mile (2.01 km)
Just beyond East Norwood, the Pennsylvania built
Leaving Lebanon, the line ascended a small gully and then headed north-northeasterly across the highlands to
Presidents
- J. P. Gilchrist (1852–1861)[3]
- Seth Silver Haines (1874–1879)[47]
- Nathan Keever (receiver, 1879–1880)[48]
- John M. Corse of the TD&B (1880–1882)[49]
- Elijah B. Phillips of the TC&StL (1883)[50]
- William J. Craig (receiver, 1883–1884)[51]
- George Hafer (receiver, 1884–1885; president, 1885–1896)[52]
Joseph Wood was the first of at least two Pennsylvania Railroad men elected president after that company gained control in 1896.[53][54][55]
Equipment
When the CL&N converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
The first
No. | Builder | Construct- tion no. |
Date ordered | Wheel arrange- ment |
Cylinders | Driver diameter |
Engine weight | TC&StL no.(1883–84) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Baldwin | 4207 | December 1877 | 4-4-0 | 12×18 in (460 mm) | 42 in (1,100 mm) | 42,650 lb (19,350 kg) | 2 | Named "Warren County No. 1" after the county containing Lebanon
|
2 | Baldwin | 4292 | About January 1881 | 4-4-0 | 12×18 in (460 mm) | 42 in (1,100 mm) | 42,650 lb (19,350 kg) | 4 | Ordered January 1878 by Eastern Railroad of Long Island in July 1879 and named "Leila"; sold to Cincinnati Northern in about January 1881 and named "Manhattan" after its former home (Long Island is near the borough of Manhattan )
|
3 | Porter | 401 | November 1880 | 2-4-0 | 10×16 in (410 mm) | 28,000 lb (13,000 kg) | 96 | Sold about 1888; named "Col. O.J. Dodds" after Ozro J. Dodds of the TD&B; used for light duty | |
4 | Mason
|
645 | March 1881 | T
|
13×16 in (410 mm) | 37.5 in (950 mm) | 72,000 lb (33,000 kg) | 54 | Wrecked February 15, 1883; similar design to the Mason Bogies used on the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad
|
5 | Mason | 581 | Spring 1881 | T
|
12×16 in (410 mm) | 42 in (1,100 mm) | 40,000 lb (18,000 kg) | 55 | Named "Admiral Almy"; ordered April 1877 by helper on the grade just to the north
|
6 | Brooks | 610 | November 1881 | 2-6-0 | 14×18 in (460 mm) | 41 in (1,000 mm) | 46,000 lb (21,000 kg) | 56 | Ordered November 1881 by Cincinnati and Eastern Railway , but delivered to Cincinnati Northern
|
7 | Brooks | 659 | February 1882 | 2-6-0 | 14×18 in (460 mm) | 41 in (1,000 mm) | 46,000 lb (21,000 kg) | 77 | |
8 | Brooks | 937 | June 1883 | 2-6-0 | 15×18 in (460 mm) | 37 in (940 mm) | 48,000 lb (22,000 kg) | 96 | |
9 | Brooks | 941 | July 1883 | 2-6-0 | 15×18 in (460 mm) | 37 in (940 mm) | 48,000 lb (22,000 kg) | 97 |
Standard gauge operations began in 1894 with five locomotives, and the narrow gauge equipment was kept temporarily for commuter runs to
Station list
Mileage from Cincinnati[59] |
Name | Notes |
---|---|---|
0.0 | Cincinnati, OH (Court Street Station )
|
Junction Eggleston Avenue Connection (0.9 miles to junction Undercliff Branch[60]) |
0.9 | Eden Park[61] | Closed by 1926 |
1.4–1.5[60] | (Oak Street Tunnel) | |
1.8 | Oak Street (Walnut Hills) | |
2 | Shillito Street[61] | Closed by 1903[62] |
2.1 | Avondale | Earlier Avondale Junction; Avondale Branch
|
3 | Woodward Avenue[61] | Closed by 1903[62] |
3.6 | Idlewild | Junction N&W |
4.2 | Ivanhoe | |
4.5 | Hopkins Avenue | |
4.9 | Norwood | Earlier Norwood Park[62] |
5.3 | East Norwood | Earlier Norwood;[61] junction B&O |
6.1 | McCullough | Junction Richmond Branch |
6.4 | Lester | |
6.7 | Pleasant Ridge | |
7.4 | Kennedy Heights | Earlier Kennedy[61] |
8.1 | Euclid | |
8.6 | Silverton | Earlier Moselle[63] |
9.1 | Deer Park | |
9.9 | Beechwood
| |
10.4 | Rossmoyne | Earlier Ballou[63] |
11.0 | Terra Alta | |
11.7 | Blue Ash | Earlier Hafer;[63] junction Montgomery Branch (1.4 miles to Montgomery) |
13.5 | Winslow Park | |
14.4 | Hazelwood | Earlier Rowena[63] |
15.4 | Brecon | Earlier Wheeler[63] |
16 | Morrison[61] | Earlier Troas;[63] closed by 1903[62] |
18.3 | Miltomson | Earlier Aldine[63] |
21.4 | Mason | |
23.4 | Stokes | Earlier Shakerton[63] |
24.9 | Hageman
|
Earlier Gravel Pit; Middletown Branch
|
26.8 | Turtle Creek | Earlier Avoca[63] |
29.4 | Lebanon | |
32 | Lelan[64] | Earlier Genntown;[61] closed by 1926 |
35.3 | Dodds | Earlier Utica[61] |
Kitchener[64] | Closed by 1926 | |
37.7 | Venable | |
39.2 | Edgewood | |
40.3 | Lytle | |
42.4 | Manor | |
45.1 | Centerville | |
47.4 | Oak Ridge | |
48.9 | Hempstead | Junction Hempstead Branch (5.1 miles to Clement, junction Dayton Branch[60]) |
50.4 | Pasadena | |
53.8 | NCR plant)
|
At Brown Street |
55.2 | Dayton (Washington Street) | |
55.5[60] | Dayton | Junction Dayton Union Railway (0.3 miles to Union Station[60]) |
Notes
- ^ Hauck, p. 173
- ^ Hauck, pp. 6–7
- ^ a b Hauck, pp. 8–10
- ^ Hauck, pp. 12–21
- ^ Hauck, pp. 21–27, 46
- ^ Hauck, pp. 29–42
- ^ Hauck, pp. 44, 48–64, 69–72
- ^ Interstate Commerce Commission, 42 Val. Rep. 1: Valuation Docket No. 1068, The Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company and its Leased Lines [including the Toledo and Cincinnati Railroad, successor to the TC&StL's Delphos-Dayton line] (1933)
- ^ Hauck, pp. 62-92
- ^ Hauck, pp. 94–106, 120–121, 160–162
- ^ Hauck, pp. 157–171
- ^ Interstate Commerce Commission, Thirty-First Annual Report on the Statistics of Railways in the United States for the Year Ended December 31, 1917, p. 481
- ^ Interstate Commerce Commission, Thirty-Second Annual Report on the Statistics of Railways in the United States for the Year Ended December 31, 1918, p. 758
- ^ Hauck, p. 194
- ^ Christopher T. Baer, PRR Chronology Archived 2008-12-02 at the Wayback Machine (Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society), 1921, 1925, 1956, accessed November 2008
- ^ a b Interstate Commerce Commission, 22 Val. Rep. 1: Valuation Docket No. 425, The Cincinnati, Lebanon & Northern Railway Company Archived 2013-01-31 at archive.today (1929)
- ^ Hauck, pp. 88, 140–151
- ^ Hauck, pp. 198–200, 207
- ^ Hauck, pp. 151–155
- ^ Hauck, pp. 156, 208–215
- ^ a b Christopher T. Baer, Pennsylvania Railroad Company Discontinuance/Last Runs of Passenger Service Archived 2006-03-16 at the Wayback Machine (PDF) (Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society), accessed November 2008
- ^ a b Hauck, pp. 226–234
- ^ a b Hauck, pp. 266–273
- ^ Consolidated Rail Corporation, Maintenance Program and Track Chart: Southern Region, Columbus Division(PDF), correct to January 1, 1981
- ^ a b Hauck, pp. 277–286
- ISBN 0-89024-290-9, p. 157
- ^ Surface Transportation Board, Finance Docket No. 33524: Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority—Acquisition Exemption—Certain Assets of the Indiana & Ohio Railway Company Archived 2012-02-14 at the Wayback Machine, December 22, 1997
- ^ Surface Transportation Board, Finance Docket No. 33813: RailAmerica, Inc.—Control Exemption—RailTex, Inc. Archived 2012-02-14 at the Wayback Machine, January 10, 2000
- ^ Dayton Daily News, The Week's Best, August 16, 1998, p. 1B
- ^ Dayton Daily News, Holiday Calendar, December 5, 2002, p. Z3–12
- ^ Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad, Railroad History Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine, accessed November 2008
- Norfolk SouthernEngineering Systems), July 9, 1997
- ^ Hauck, pp. 84–87
- ^ Hauck, pp. 198, 208–221
- ^ a b Hauck, p. 273
- ^ Hauck, p. 99
- ^ Hauck, pp. 99–100
- ^ Hauck, pp. 24–26, 36, 59
- ^ Hauck, pp. 56–61, 99–102, 122–123, 129–130, 173–176, 222, 273
- Google Maps Street View: 4226 Montgomery Road, Norwood, Ohio, accessed November 2008
- ^ Hauck, pp. 273, 277
- ^ Hauck, pp. 197, 249–257
- ^ Hauck, p. 9
- ^ USGS topographic maps, accessed November 2008 via ACME Mapper
- ^ Hauck, pp. 34–35, 44–45, 143
- ^ Hauck, pp. 205, 273
- ^ Hauck, pp. 17, 40
- ^ Hauck, p. 41
- ^ Hauck, pp. 48, 75
- ^ Hauck, p. 76
- ^ Hauck, pp. 83, 89
- ^ Hauck, pp. 89, 92
- ^ Hauck, p. 170
- ^ Poor's Manual of the Railroads of the United States, 1901, p. 745
- Poor's Directory of Railroad Officials, October 1905, p. 62
- ^ Hauck, pp. 162, 287
- ^ Hauck, pp. 287–297
- ^ Hauck, pp. 290–296
- ^ Pennsylvania Railroad, Time Tables: Cincinnati-Lebanon-Dayton, in effect September 26, 1926 (Hauck pp. 233–234)
- ^ a b c d e Pennsylvania Railroad, C. T. 1000: List of Stations and Sidings, effective May 1, 1945, pp. 439–440, 448–449
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Cincinnati Northern Railway, Timetable, in effect September 5, 1881, (Hauck p. 302)
- ^ a b c d Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway, Time Table No. 8, in effect November 29, 1903 (Hauck pp. 193–194)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cincinnati Northern Railway, timetable in effect February 1, 1881 (Hauck p. 51)
- ^ a b Index Map: Valuation Sections 1, 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D Ohio, Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway, June 30, 1917 (Hauck pp. 141–143)
References
- Hauck, John W. (1986). Narrow Gauge in Ohio: The Cincinnati, Lebanon & Northern Railway. ISBN 0-87108-629-8.
- ISBN 0-8047-2369-9.