Columbus and Xenia Railroad
Overview | |
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Headquarters | 4 ft 10 in (1,473 mm) |
Length | 54.7 miles (88.0 km)[1] |
The Columbus and Xenia Railroad was a railroad which connected the city of
Formation and fundraising
The Columbus and Xenia Railroad (C&X) was chartered on March 12, 1844.
The Little Miami Railroad linked Cincinnati and Xenia in 1845,[5] and the C&X was intended to link Columbus to Xenia—creating the first rail link between Columbus and Cincinnati.[6][7] In its charter, the C&X was authorized to issue $500,000 ($16,400,000 in 2023 dollars) in stock,[8] but the incorporators had difficulty raising funds and initiating construction.[9] Two years later, the state authorized Greene County to purchase $50,000 ($1,700,000 in 2023 dollars) of company stock, and the town of Xenia to purchase $5,000 ($200,000 in 2023 dollars) of company stock. The following year, the state authorized Franklin County and the city of Columbus to purchase $50,000 ($1,600,000 in 2023 dollars) of company stock each. The General Assembly also amended the C&X's charter to permit it to seek loans up to $300,000 ($9,800,000 in 2023 dollars).[10] Greene County was authorized to purchased another $50,000 ($1,600,000 in 2023 dollars) in stock, and Xenia to purchase another $6,000 ($200,000 in 2023 dollars) in stock. Madison County was authorized to purchase up to $20,000 ($700,000 in 2023 dollars) in stock.[3]
By April 1845,[3] the company had raised just $200,000 ($6,500,000 in 2023 dollars).[4] With funds still in short supply, no survey of the route had been made by February 1847.[11] The state legislature amended the company's charter in February 1848 to permit it to increase the stock by $1 million and to obtain loans in any amount necessary to complete the road.[3]
Construction
Selecting the route
The C&X now had enough funds to begin construction of the line, but not enough to complete it. The company was now faced with selecting a president who not only had to be an able fund-raiser but who also could oversee construction of the line without incurring any cost overruns. Alfred Kelley agreed to become president of the railroad in spring or summer of 1847[12] at a salary of $500 ($16,350 in 2023 dollars) a year.[9] Kelley, a Cleveland lawyer, had been elected the first mayor of the newly-incorporated Village of Cleveland in 1815. As a member of the Ohio General Assembly, he championed the construction of canals, and as a Canal Commissioner oversaw the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal.[13] Known as the "father of the Ohio and Erie Canal",[14] Kelley was one of the most dominant commercial, financial, and political people in the state of Ohio in the first half of the 1800s.[15]
One of the ablest bankers and financiers in Ohio,[16] Kelley personally went to New York City to sell C&X bonds, and raised enough money to not only complete construction of the railroad but also to buy locomotives and rolling stock to equip it.[17] Kelley had accompanied the surveyors when they located the route of the Ohio & Erie Canal,[18] and now he and engineer Sylvester Medbery[4] traveled along the likely routes surveying them together. Kelley personally approved the route of the C&X.[17]
Grading and tracking the line
Construction on the C&X began when contracts were issued in October 1847 for grading of the line from the west bank of Scioto River in Columbus west to Georgesville.[19] The 13 miles (21 km) west of Georgesville went under grading contract in September 1848,[20] and the last 15 miles (24 km) to Xenia were under contract two months later. Grading was expected to be complete by February 1, 1849.[21]
Work constructing the
For the actual track, Kelley contracted with Sir John Guest & Co. of Wales in the United Kingdom for T rails.[25] The C&X was one of the first railroads in Ohio to use T rails instead of strap rails.[17] The 200 short tons (180 t) of rails[26] did not arrive in Cleveland until July 1849,[25] delaying the laying of track until the fall.[26]
Opening the road
A locomotive was shipped via canal and rail to Columbus, where it assisted with the laying of track.[27] Mild winter weather allowed track to be laid more quickly than expected. With only 4 to 5 miles (6.4 to 8.0 km) of track left to lay on February 9, 1850,[28] the company rushed to write rules and regulations for operating its road and to hire conductors and track workers.[29]
Tracklaying was complete on either February 19[30] or February 21, 1850.[31] The first test train ran over the track on February 22.[31] Passengers, which included railway officials, civic leaders, and businessmen, traveled while seated on a flatcar. The journey took 3 hours and 5 minutes.[27]
The Columbus and Xenia Railroad began regular service on February 27, 1850.[30][32] The train was pulled by the Washington, a locomotive built by the Bolton Works of Cincinnati.[31] There were no passenger or freight stations between Columbus and Xenia, only halts. The halts were incomplete; there were no platforms, shelters, or signals, just wide mudflats.[32] On March 2, members of the Ohio General Assembly rode the line in a special train to celebrate the road's opening.[27]
Although the cost of constructing the road had been estimated at $600,000 ($22,000,000 in 2023 dollars) in May 1849,[33] the final cost proved to be $1.4 million ($51,300,000 in 2023 dollars).[27]
The C&X bridge over the Scioto River opened on December 14, 1850.[30] This allowed the railroad to reach its permanent freight and passenger station, located on High Street at Naughten. This large, barn-like structure covered three tracks, all of them at-grade.[34] The location of the station had been controversial, as both sides of the river wanted the station.[27] The 1851 station had several small additions made to it in the early 1860s, to accommodate train traffic during the American Civil War. A new Union Station was built north of it in 1875, and the 1851 station demolished.[34]
The C&X built a brick building on west side of High Street (across the street from the depot) as its corporate headquarters in 1853.[27]
Expansion and merger
In 1853, the Columbus and Xenia Railroad and the Little Miami Railroad entered into a contract to operate as one line.[27] This joint operating agreement ended in 1869, at which point the C&X agreed to permanently lease itself to the Little Miami Railroad.[27] A year later, the Little Miami (and its leased lines) were leased to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, which eventually became a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad.[27]
Citations
- ^ Ohio Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs 1888, p. 912.
- ^ Ohio Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs 1906, p. 57.
- ^ a b c d Ohio Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs 1888, p. 917.
- ^ a b c Hooper 1920, p. 225.
- ^ Schwieterman 2001, p. 248.
- ^ Churella 2013, p. 267.
- ^ Lee 1892, p. 913.
- ^ Ohio Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs 1888, p. 915.
- ^ a b Cole 2001, p. 52.
- ^ Ohio Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs 1888, p. 916.
- ^ "Railway Statistics". The Cleveland Herald. February 23, 1847. p. 2.
- ^ Marvin 1954, p. 263.
- ^ Havighurst 1977, pp. 79–84, 88.
- ^ Myers & Cetina 2015, p. 15.
- ^ Havighurst 1977, p. 79.
- ^ Scheiber 1978, p. 387.
- ^ a b c Bates 1888, p. 175.
- ^ Scheiber 1978, p. 370.
- ^ "Columbus and Xenia Rail Road". The Cleveland Herald. October 21, 1847. p. 3.
- ^ "Rail Road Lettings". The Cleveland Herald. September 25, 1848. p. 3.
- ^ "Columbus and Xenia Railroad". The Cleveland Herald. November 15, 1848. p. 2.
- ^ a b "Another Railroad". North American and United States Gazette. February 8, 1849. p. 1.
- ^ "Columbus and Xenia Railroad". The Cleveland Herald. June 18, 1849. p. 2.
- ^ "Columbus and Xenia Railroad". The Cleveland Herald. July 5, 1849. p. 3.
- ^ a b "Receipts of Railroad Iron at Cleveland for Nine Years". The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review. May 1858. p. 631. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
- ^ a b "Railroad Matters". Daily National Intelligencer. August 22, 1849. p. 3.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hooper 1920, p. 226.
- ^ "Pepper and Salt". Scioto Gazette. February 9, 1850. p. 2.
- ^ "Columbus and Xenia Railroad". The Daily Ohio Statesman. February 16, 1850. p. 2.
- ^ a b c Cole 2001, p. 53.
- ^ a b c "The Columbus and Xenia Railroad". The Daily Ohio Statesman. February 22, 1850. p. 3.
- ^ a b "The Railroad Trip". The Daily Ohio Statesman. February 28, 1850. p. 3.
- ^ "Ohio Rail Roads". The Cleveland Herald. May 22, 1849. p. 2.
- ^ a b Camp 2008, p. 115.
Bibliography
- Bates, James L. (1888). Alfred Kelley: His Life and Work. Columbus, Ohio: Press of R. Clarke & Co.
- Camp, Mark J. (2008). Railroad Depots of Central Ohio. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Press. ISBN 9780738561745.
- Churella, Albert J. (2013). The Pennsylvania Railroad. Volume 1: Building an Empire, 1846-1917. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812243482.
- Cole, Chester (2001). A Fragile Capital: Identity and the Early Years of Columbus, Ohio. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Press. ISBN 9780814208533.
- Havighurst, Walter (1977). Ohio: A Bicentennial History. New York: Norton. ISBN 9780393056136.
- Hooper, Osman Castle (1920). History of the City of Columbus, Ohio, From the Founding of Franklinton in 1797, Through the World War Period to the Year 1920. Columbus, Ohio: Memorial Publishing Co.
- Lee, Alfred E. (1892). History of the City of Columbus, Capital of Ohio. Volume 1. New York: Munsell & Co.
- Marvin, Walter Rumsey (July 1954). "Ohio's Unsung Penitentiary Railroad". Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly: 254–269. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
- Myers, John; Cetina, Judith G. (2015). Irish Cleveland. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781467113496.
- Ohio Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs (1888). Annual Report of the Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs, to the Governor of the State Ohio, for the Year 1887. Columbus, Ohio: The Westbote Company, State Printers.
- Ohio Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs (1906). The Thirty-Eighth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs, to the Governor of the State Ohio, for the Year 1905. Columbus, Ohio: The Springfield Publishing Company, State Printers.
- Scheiber, Harry N. (Autumn 1978). "Alfred Kelley and the Ohio Business Elite, 1822-1859". Ohio History: 354–392. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
- Schwieterman, Joseph P. (2001). When the Railroad Leaves Town: American Communities in the Age of Rail Line Abandonment. Kirksville, Mo.: Truman State University Press. ISBN 9780943549989.
For further reading
- Steiner, Rowlee. A Review of Columbus Railroads. unpublished manuscript. 1952. (Available from the library of the Ohio Historical Society)