Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway

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Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway
standard gauge
Previous gaugeoriginally 3 ft (914 mm)

The Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway (CL&N) was a local

railroad in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, connecting Cincinnati to Dayton via Lebanon. It was built in the late 19th century to give the town of Lebanon and Warren County better transportation facilities. The railroad was locally known as the "Highland Route", since it followed the ridge between the Little and Great Miami rivers, and was the only line not affected by floods such as the Great Dayton Flood
of 1913.

The line was completed in 1881, and the CL&N was formed in 1885. The company went through multiple

narrow gauge Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad, it was not a major line, in part due to its steep approach to downtown Cincinnati
. For this reason, portions of the line have been abandoned, beginning in 1952 with a segment north of Lebanon.

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.

tourist trains
on a portion of the line near Lebanon.

History

Planning and grading, 1850–1876

The town of

1854 map of the D&C and CL&X

To enter the city of Cincinnati, the CL&X would join the

receiver for the CL&X, who in March 1869 sold the unfinished railroad, which had cost $83,885, to 40 area residents for $4,000. Five trustees would ensure that the property was not sold without a majority of its owners consenting. Twenty years after its canal connection was destroyed, Lebanon was still without a modern connection to the outside world, and its economy continued to stagnate.[3]

The 1870s fad of the

Hercules and the Carter, where Hercules tells a stuck carter that he will not assist unless the carter himself is willing to help. In November 1874, residents of Lebanon and the surrounding area organized the 3 ft narrow gauge Miami Valley Narrow Gauge Railway (renamed Miami Valley Railway in October 1876), which would complete the unfinished CL&X as a branch of the D&SE.[4]

Slow stock subscriptions delayed surveying until June 1875, when a line was located between Xenia and the

horse car lines in Walnut Hills, which would provide Miami Valley passengers with a more direct entrance to downtown Cincinnati than the circuitous M&C. However, in August, an even more direct route south of Norwood, through the rugged Deer Creek Valley, was suggested, by which the Miami Valley could obtain its own access to Cincinnati. After imposing heavy restrictions, which would require the construction of several trestles and a tunnel, the Cincinnati City Council granted the right-of-way through the valley, including Eden Park, to the railroad company. The owners of the old CL&X grade sold it in April 1876 for $8,000 in stock of the new company, and most of the land outside Cincinnati had been bought by that summer. The Miami Valley resolved in May 1876 to build only north to Waynesville, a village southwest of Xenia, where the projected Waynesville, Port William and Jeffersonville Railroad and Jeffersonville, Mt. Sterling and Columbus Railroad would extend to Columbus, crossing the D&SE at Octa. (The former completed most of its line, but abandoned it in 1887; the latter was able to grade only a portion.)[5]

Construction and early operations, 1876–1885

President

trackage rights into Cincinnati. However, it was nonpayment of interest on bonds that forced the Miami Valley into receivership in January and foreclosure in March 1880. Another decade had passed and Lebanon still lacked a railroad.[6]

The

narrow gauge Cincinnati Northern Railway as its successor on June 8, 1880. (The TD&B would also acquire the Dayton and South Eastern in February 1881.) At first the TD&B and Cincinnati-area residents shared stock and management equally, but soon this was changed so that the former party would control all the stock for ease in future consolidation, and the latter would locally manage the road. As the TD&B was in the process of building into Dayton from the north, it was decided that the new company would not use the grade all the way to Waynesville. Instead, the TD&B would construct a connection from the D&SE at a point they called Lebanon Junction, now inside Dayton near the intersection of Woodman and Rainier Drives, to the small village of Dodds. There the Cincinnati Northern would begin, following the Miami Valley's route through Lebanon to Cincinnati. Construction resumed in late 1880, and proceeded rapidly thanks to funding from Ohio and Northeastern capitalists. Mixed train operations between Lebanon and Norwood, where connections could be made with the M&C, began on May 30, 1881, and on September 5 the line was opened south to a streetcar connection at Oak Street, just north of the tunnel. Service was extended through the tunnel to the Eden Park entrance on January 12, 1882, and on February 13 a temporary Cincinnati depot opened just north of Court Street. With the completion of the TD&B's branch from Lebanon Junction to Dodds in December 1881, the Cincinnati-Dayton line was finally complete; Jackson County coal was first shipped over it in February 1882. Two short branches to the suburbs of Montgomery and Avondale—the latter built separately as the Spring Grove, Avondale and Cincinnati Railway (SGA&C)—opened on November 14, 1881 and July 1, 1882, respectively. C&E operations to Court Street began by April 1882, using the Cincinnati Northern south of a junction at Idlewild, and in October the Cincinnati Northern laid tracks across that street into its permanent depot at the southeast corner of the Broadway Street intersection.[7]

Map
Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad system, as of 1884, through the states of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio

The TD&B absorbed its subsidiary, the

Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City Railroad, commonly known as the Clover Leaf Route. In July, George Hafer of Avondale replaced William J. Craig of Toledo as receiver of the Cincinnati Northern Division, allowing it to recover from Craig's deferred maintenance. Hafer obtained a short-term lease from the trustees of the Dodds-Lebanon Junction line (officially the Cincinnati Division), allowing continued access to Dayton. Finally, on June 27, 1885, the Cincinnati Northern Division was sold for $200,000 to its bondholders, who incorporated the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway, with Hafer as president, on July 14 and transferred operations on August 1, 1885. The narrow gauge movement of the 1870s had failed, and all the ex-TC&StL lines were converted to standard gauge within the next ten years.[9]

CL&N, 1885–1926

Narrow gauge passenger train at Norwood Park (Smith Road), 1887, pulled by Brooks Mogul #6

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

Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railroad (successor to the M&C). After undertaking more improvements to the alignment, the company completed the conversion of the main line to Lebanon to standard gauge on September 16, 1894, although, until it acquired a full set of standard gauge equipment, much of the commuter service to Blue Ash continued to use the narrow gauge tracks.[10]

Map
Cincinnati, Jackson and Mackinaw Railway
system as of 1897

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

Cincinnati Northern Railroad, successor to the CJ&M, which had become part of the Big Four and terminated its use of the CL&N in 1901.[11]

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

Penn Central Transportation
.

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

DL&C train at Washington Street, 1912

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

Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (Panhandle Route, part of the Pennsylvania system).[18]

The other line eventually acquired by the CL&N was the

Hageman, was complete by September 1891, and a 365-foot (111 m) truss bridge over the Little Miami River opened in early 1892, linking the line to the Pennsylvania. Access into central Middletown was delayed until December, when it was finally able to cross the CH&D to its depot. As opposed to the CL&N and DL&C, the M&C was straight and flat, giving a smooth ride, and turned a reasonable profit. The revenue was not enough, however, to pay off the bonds, and the M&C entered receivership in July 1894. The holders of liens against the property bought the line at foreclosure in October for $335,000, incorporated the Middletown and Cincinnati Railroad in December, and elected Sorg president.[19]

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

trackage rights on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (ex-M&C) south of East Norwood. This was never popular among CL&N riders, and the last scheduled passenger train on the former CL&N ran on January 31, 1934.[21][22]

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

Hageman, with Lebanon service now coming from the ex-New York Central at Middletown. The line through the Deer Creek Valley into Court Street was also abandoned, and the old freight depot was torn down in 1975.[23]

Sales, 1975–present

When the

Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) acquired the assets of the bankrupt Penn Central in 1976, it was allowed to choose which lines to keep and which to abandon. The line between Avondale and Brecon still saw heavy freight traffic, and there would still be a reasonable amount of traffic to Mason and Hempstead. Thus Conrail bought about half of the ex-CL&N, including the main line from Cincinnati to Brecon (Blue Ash Secondary Track), Mason to Hageman (Mason Secondary Track), Hempstead to Pasadena (Kettering Running Track), and Patterson Road to Dayton (DP&L Industrial Track), as well as Middletown to Hageman (Middletown Secondary) and Hempstead to Clement (Clement Running Track).[24][25]

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

Kettering
.

public transit line. (IORY continues to operate freight on both these segments.)[27][28]

The IORY began running

tourist trains on the Lebanon segment in 1985. The passenger operations were split in 1996, going through several renamings to Turtle Creek Valley Railway,[29] Turtle Creek and Lebanon Railway,[30] and finally Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad.[31] Three short segments of line at Middletown and Dayton remained with Conrail until its 1999 breakup, when the Norfolk Southern Railway acquired Conrail's assets in southwestern Ohio.[32]

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

Sketch of an 1885 wreck on the longer S-shaped trestle, looking north

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

cut-and-cover Oak Street Tunnel north of McMillan Street. The line started its gradual descent as it left the tunnel, generally following the existing ground level and crossing streets at grade.[38]

Hopkins Avenue depot in Norwood, early 1890s

Double tracks initially stretched from Court Street to near Fredonia Avenue, where the 1.25-mile (2.01 km)

bicentennial celebration, the city of Silverton built a replica of its former CL&N station with a museum inside.[41]

Just beyond East Norwood, the Pennsylvania built

Turtle Creek, to Lebanon.[44] The Pennsylvania tore down the original Lebanon passenger station in 1960, replacing it (for freight purposes) with a smaller building from Kings Mills on the Little Miami Railroad. The Lebanon Council of Garden Clubs acquired the land in 1972, tore down the freight depot, and erected a replica of the old passenger depot in its place, with a gift shop inside.[35]

Leaving Lebanon, the line ascended a small gully and then headed north-northeasterly across the highlands to

Panhandle Route (now the Creekside Trail to the east) at Clement. Part of this line is still operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway, and to the south the right-of-way is being used for an extension of the Iron Horse Trail. The other branch headed northwesterly into downtown Dayton, steadily descending as it passed south of the University of Dayton and alongside the Great Miami River. The main passenger and freight depots were at Washington Street, which the CL&N passed over on the first such grade separation in Dayton. The first freight depot opened with the line in 1912, and was replaced in 1930 by a larger structure, itself torn down in 1966.[44][46]

Presidents

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+12 in (1,435 mm)

passenger cars on standard gauge trucks. These were replaced with standard gauge cars after the Pennsylvania acquisition in 1896.[56]

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
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

Blue Ash. Later acquisitions, as well as consolidations with other companies, raised the number to 23 in 1920, its final year of independent operation.[58]

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

  1. ^ Hauck, p. 173
  2. ^ Hauck, pp. 6–7
  3. ^ a b Hauck, pp. 8–10
  4. ^ Hauck, pp. 12–21
  5. ^ Hauck, pp. 21–27, 46
  6. ^ Hauck, pp. 29–42
  7. ^ Hauck, pp. 44, 48–64, 69–72
  8. ^ 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)
  9. ^ Hauck, pp. 62-92
  10. ^ Hauck, pp. 94–106, 120–121, 160–162
  11. ^ Hauck, pp. 157–171
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ 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
  14. ^ Hauck, p. 194
  15. ^ 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
  16. ^ 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)
  17. ^ Hauck, pp. 88, 140–151
  18. ^ Hauck, pp. 198–200, 207
  19. ^ Hauck, pp. 151–155
  20. ^ Hauck, pp. 156, 208–215
  21. ^ 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
  22. ^ a b Hauck, pp. 226–234
  23. ^ a b Hauck, pp. 266–273
  24. ^ (PDF), correct to January 1, 1981
  25. ^ a b Hauck, pp. 277–286
  26. , p. 157
  27. ^ 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
  28. ^ Surface Transportation Board, Finance Docket No. 33813: RailAmerica, Inc.—Control Exemption—RailTex, Inc. Archived 2012-02-14 at the Wayback Machine, January 10, 2000
  29. ^ Dayton Daily News, The Week's Best, August 16, 1998, p. 1B
  30. ^ Dayton Daily News, Holiday Calendar, December 5, 2002, p. Z3–12
  31. ^ Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad, Railroad History Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine, accessed November 2008
  32. Norfolk Southern
    Engineering Systems), July 9, 1997
  33. ^ Hauck, pp. 84–87
  34. ^ Hauck, pp. 198, 208–221
  35. ^ a b Hauck, p. 273
  36. ^ Hauck, p. 99
  37. ^ Hauck, pp. 99–100
  38. ^ Hauck, pp. 24–26, 36, 59
  39. ^ Hauck, pp. 56–61, 99–102, 122–123, 129–130, 173–176, 222, 273
  40. Google Maps Street View: 4226 Montgomery Road, Norwood, Ohio
    , accessed November 2008
  41. ^ Hauck, pp. 273, 277
  42. ^ Hauck, pp. 197, 249–257
  43. ^ Hauck, p. 9
  44. ^
    USGS topographic maps, accessed November 2008 via ACME Mapper
  45. ^ Hauck, pp. 34–35, 44–45, 143
  46. ^ Hauck, pp. 205, 273
  47. ^ Hauck, pp. 17, 40
  48. ^ Hauck, p. 41
  49. ^ Hauck, pp. 48, 75
  50. ^ Hauck, p. 76
  51. ^ Hauck, pp. 83, 89
  52. ^ Hauck, pp. 89, 92
  53. ^ Hauck, p. 170
  54. ^ Poor's Manual of the Railroads of the United States, 1901, p. 745
  55. Poor's Directory of Railroad Officials, October 1905
    , p. 62
  56. ^ Hauck, pp. 162, 287
  57. ^ Hauck, pp. 287–297
  58. ^ Hauck, pp. 290–296
  59. ^ Pennsylvania Railroad, Time Tables: Cincinnati-Lebanon-Dayton, in effect September 26, 1926 (Hauck pp. 233–234)
  60. ^ a b c d e Pennsylvania Railroad, C. T. 1000: List of Stations and Sidings, effective May 1, 1945, pp. 439–440, 448–449
  61. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cincinnati Northern Railway, Timetable, in effect September 5, 1881, (Hauck p. 302)
  62. ^ a b c d Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway, Time Table No. 8, in effect November 29, 1903 (Hauck pp. 193–194)
  63. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cincinnati Northern Railway, timetable in effect February 1, 1881 (Hauck p. 51)
  64. ^ 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

External links