RAILWAYS from Beers History of Warren County, Ohio
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RAILWAYS

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Transcription contributed by Martie Callihan 1 December 2004

Sources:
The History of Warren County Ohio
Part III. The History of Warren County by Josiah Morrow
Chapter VI. General Progress
(Chicago, IL: W. H. Beers Co, 1882; reprint, Mt. Vernon, IN: Windmill Publications, 1992)

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. The first railroad in the Ohio Valley passed through Warren County. As early as 1832, the project was devised of forming a railroad line connecting the lakes and the Ohio River, and passing through the intermediate country between the two great State canals. For this purpose the Legislature granted a charter incorporating the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Company, and authorized it to construct a railroad from Sandusky City, on Lake Erie, to Springfield, in the Mad River Valley. Subsequently, the Little Miami Railroad Company was incorporated and authorized to construct a railroad along the valley of the Little Miami River, extending to Cincinnati on the south, and connecting with the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad at Springfield, on the north, thus forming a railway route across the State.

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The act incorporating the Little Miami Railroad Company was passed March 11, 1830. The capital stock authorized was $750.000, and the following named persons were appointed Commissioners for receiving subscriptions: Robert Buchanan, George W. Neff, Charles Schultz, of Cincinnati: William Lewis, of Fulton: Mathias Kugler. of Hamilton County: John Emery, of Milford; Jeremiah Morrow. M. Roosa, Thomas Smith. John M. Hadden, of Warren County, Allen Wright, of Lebanon: John Hadley, of Clinton County: James Galloway. Jr., R. D. Frosham, of Xenia; Bennett Lewis, of Clifton; John Hivling, Joseph Kyle, of Greene County; Peter A. Sprigman, James Boyle, Charles Anthony, of Springfield; John T. Stewart and Rowland Brown, of Clark County.

Stock books were opened and the subscriptions of individual stock wore liberally made. The city of Cincinnati became a subscriber to the amount of $200,000. Some counties through which the road passed made liberal donations, and the right of way was in many cases donated to the company by the land-owners. But the company met with great difficulties and discouragements. The road was built amid the doubts of many of the feasibility of railroads, the opposition of some and the most depressing financial embarrassments of the company. The State first promised assistance and afterward withdrew its proffered aid. Subscriptions by farmers were paid in cattle and other live stock, which were disposed of by the company often at a sacrifice to meet the more pressing demands of creditors. With no money in the treasury, there were judgments against the company, executions in the hands of the Sheriff, levies on the machinery and tools of the company, the road and fixtures in the hands of a trustee. The laborers with the shovel and pick surrounded the house of the Treasurer, William Lewis, of Fulton, demanding pay. But the courage of the President, Gov. Morrow, never gave way. He gave his time and energies for the success of the road and refused to accept compensation for his services. Laboring with a comparatively empty treasury, the company succeeded in pushing forward the work slowly. The work of construction was commenced in 1837: in December. 1841, the road was completed from Fulton to Milford, a distance of fifteen miles: some months later the road was completed to Foster's Crossings; in July, 1844, the first cars were seen in Deerfield: five months more, and they had reached the mouth of Todd's Fork; in August, 1845, the road was completed to Xenia, and. on the 10th of August, 1845, ten years after the road was chartered, the first train reached Springfield; and two years later, the Mad River & Lake Erie road united with the Little Miami at Springfield, making an uninterrupted railroad communication from the Ohio to the lake.

In the Cincinnati Gazette of December 15, 1841, was published the following account of the first grand excursion on the first railroad to Cincinnati:

"Fifteen miles of this road were opened yesterday. The company had invited the City Council and a large number of citizens to make a trip upon it, and a delightful one it was. The day, it is true, was overcast, but the excitement of the occasion, the conviction that now a work was commenced which would bind the extremes of the State together and give a new impulse to its prosperity, made all hearts glad and rendered the trip joyous in the extreme

"No accident whatever occurred during the excursion. At 11 o'clock we left the bridge at Fulton, and in an hour and a half were at Milford. We were delayed some time at the first ascent, in consequence of the earth falling upon the track, but this only served to try and prove the power of the engine for, notwithstanding the obstruction, it bore us safely through on an ascent of 125 feet to the mile. At Milford, we tarried near an hour, and while there, such of the citizens of that flourishing town as chose, were taken on a short excursion, while those of us who had gone up, rested awhile on terra firma.

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After this, we started on our return home, and reached Fulton in a little over an hour in safety.

"We have not time to go into detail, or to speak at, length of this railroad. We cannot forbear, however, to thank those who, through good and evil report, persevered in urging this enterprise forward. They have acted nobly and well; and the day in not far distant when all will admit, as we believe, that this is one of the most important works which have been undertaken for Cincinnati and Ohio.

"We felt strongly, as we were whirled along at rapid pace, what a change a few years had caused in this glorious West. There were men with us who could tell the tales of Indian warfare, of the hardships of our pioneer fathers, of the isolated condition of the new settlement, with all its dangers and difficulties and trials, and yet in their day they have lived to see the power of science turning this wilderness into a garden, and bringing distant points together as if they were one neighborhood. All honor to the enterprise and energy of that people who can work such wonderful changes.

"The names of the engine and cars were appropriate. It was the blending of State and National affection. The engine was called Gov. Morrow, reminding us of Ohio, and of what self-energy can accomplish; while the name of James Madison, inscribed on the leading car, enforced the doctrine taught by his life—that State enterprise could only succeed while the people of' a State were united together in harmony and affection."

After the trial trip in December, 1841, the road between Cincinnati and Milford was open to traffic, and daily trips were made, but it was two years later before any report of the operations was made. In December, 1843. the first annual report to. the stockholders was made by Jeremiah Morrow, President of the company. At this time, twenty-eight miles of road were in daily use, and the company owned one locomotive, two passenger cars, eight freight cars and three hand cars; 11,271 passengers were carried during the year, and the President reported that, with the machinery on hand, it was impossible to run the train regularly or do the business offered.

When the road was located along the bank of the Little Miami, it was believed that the numerous flour-mills along that stream would furnish an important part of the freight to be carried. The methods of constructing and operating a railroad at that time were far different from those now followed, and railroad travel was far less safe and comfortable than it is at the present time. The Little Miami was first constructed with wooden rails laid with strap iron. In 1844, the President congratulated the company that, in the last contracts for iron, the size had been increased to a width of two and one-half inches by a thickness of seven-eighths of an inch. Some miles of the road were first laid with poplar rails, which proved unfit for the purpose, and soon were taken up and replaced with white-oak rails. About 1848, the old flat-bar iron was removed and replaced with the heavy T-rail. Notwithstanding all the difficulties under which the road was operated, the President, in his second annual report, when but thirty miles were in use, said that the doubts of the advantages of railroad transportation had been already dispelled by the convincing evidence of facts. The price of all marketable commodities along the line had been increased, and, in a great measure, equalized, and wheat had, for some time, commanded the same price at every point on the road as in Cincinnati.

The Little Miami became an important railway. It became known as one of the safest and best managed railroads in the United States. It was long under the able superintendence of W. H. Clement. In 1869, the entire road was leased to the Pittsburg, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railway Company for

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ninety-nine years, renewable forever, at an annual rental of $480,000—eight per cent of its capital stock.

Very different was the history of the second railroad built to Cincinnati, the Great Miami, or Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton, which also touched our county. It was constructed in a little more than one year after it was put under contract. In one month a cash subscription was obtained for it in Cincinnati of three-quarters of a million of dollars, and its bonds sold at par from the start. For, when this road was commenced, in 1848, the practicability of railroads was fully settled.

The Hillsboro & Cincinnati Railroad Company was chartered in 1846, and, a few years after, had its road completed from Hillsboro to Loveland—a distance of thirty-seven miles. In 1861, this road was purchased by the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad Company. Ten and one-half miles of this line are in Warren County.

The Cincinnati, Wilmington & Zanesville Railroad Company was chartered in 1851. The road was opened for traffic in July, 1856. The line extended from Zanesville to Morrow, about ten miles of which are in Warren County. In 1870, this road was purchased by the Cincinnati & Muskingum Valley Railway Company.

The Cincinnati & Springfield Railway Company was projected in 1870, for the purpose of building a road to form, in connection with other railroads already constructed, a trunk line from Cincinnati to the Eastern cities. The sum of $265,000 was subscribed and offered as a donation to this company to secure the location of the road through Lebanon, but without success. The road was built through Dayton and Franklin. Only about four and one-half miles of this road are in Warren County.

The Cincinnati Northern Railway Company, having, in 1879, purchased at judicial sale, the uncompleted road of the Miami Valley Narrow Gauge Railway Company from Cincinnati to Waynesville, for $61,000, constructed a three-feet gauge road, and commenced the running of one train daily between Lebanon and Norwood, on May 30, 1881.

The Toledo, Delphos & Burlington Railroad was completed to the junction with the Cincinnati Northern, December 20, 1881.

There are now within the county limits seven railroads and eighty-five miles of track, exclusive of sidings and double track.


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