A Railroad is Built

As early as 1831 charters had been granted to companies to build railroads in the Miami Valley, but is was not until 1831 that the first railroad reached Middletown. The canal, until that time, had served the people of this area with adequate transpiration facilities. The first charter was issued to The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad on March 2, 1846, and the railroad was completed five years later.

In 1850 the first annual report of the road was published. At that time it was expected that the road would be completed by the next year. In January, 1830, the contract had been made for the best quality of rails, sixty-five pounds to the yard, which were to be delivered at New Orleans by December, 1830. The cost of the iron laid down at Cincinnati was to be less than $50 per ton of 2,240 pounds. The Mad River and the Lake Erie Company was completion their road, which was to meet the C. H. and D. at Dayton and increase the usefulness of both lines. The Columbus and Xenia railroad also made plans to extend its road to Dayton.

Mr. Cist, writing in the Cincinnati Advertiser, declared: "I put my prediction on record, that there will be no more important or better dividend paying road in the United States than this must prove." Many people invested money in the railroad’s stock.

The C. H. and D. had a natural approach to Cincinnati. It was the outlet for a large part of the fertile Miami Valley, which was one of the most prosperous and fertile sections of the state. It has access to a terminus on the Ohio River at Cincinnati.

In June, 1850, Mr. L’Hommedieu, president of the C. H. and D. and the two principal engineers, John Woods and Mr. Shoemaker, arrived in Dayton. They reported that $100,000 was needed to complete the railroad. If the money could not be obtained, the railroad would have to be delayed. The money was raised, and on August 29, 1850, two boat loads of iron arrived at Dayton, and construction began at that point.

The stock of the C. H. and D. was readily sold, for this railroad appeared to be of permanent value. It was located along a thoroughfare of trade and travel from the North and Northwest into Cincinnati. The route furnished three hundred passengers daily to the stages and canal packets. Since the road was to connect with other railroads leading from central and northern Ohio, a million dollars worth of stock was bought by wealthy men who were cautious investors. The total cost of the road was $1,500,000; the board issued $500,000 in bonds, payable in ten years at seven per cent.

Middletown felt prosperity; the age was alive with progress. Railroads were being built throughout the country, furnishing a new method of transportation. The editor commented: "In the last century mighty changes have taken place. News flies by lightening, and traveling is done by steam. Telegraphs are being constructed from one village to another. Railroads are becoming as thickly over the Union as water sources, and still the untiring energy and enterprise of the American people knows no end." The village of Middletown was watching the construction of her first railroad, and was hoping for the building of another line, which was to run east of the city.

In May, 1851, a survey had begun for a new railroad that was to run from Dayton to Cincinnati; it was to be twelve miles nearer than the road by Hamilton, and was to be called the "Shortline Railroad."

Meanwhile the C. H. and D. was progressing, and the work was to be finished by September 1, 1861. The people of Middletown could hear the shrill whistle of the locomotive a few miles below the town as early as August. The townspeople were not satisfied with this railroad, for it ran through West Middletown, and was located west of the river. They charged that it missed every town between Hamilton and Dayton, for it made as many turns as a serpent. The people felt that the interests of Carrolton, Miamsburg, Franklin, and Middletown, which had a total population of 5,000, had been disregarded. The company was accused of locating the road for the personal aggrandizement of a few, so that it could fill its own coffers. Many feared that the location of the railroad on the west side of the town would ruin it.

The leading citizens were given free tickets for the passage on care for the grand celebration, which was to take place September 18, 1831. The first-class cars were reserved for "the thousand a year men," and this distinction was not popular with the democratic citizens of Middletown. The laborer thought that he had as much right to ride in the first-class cars as anyone, and he could see no reason for the wealthy man’s getting free seats.

On September 18 the train, or Iron Horse, arrived. The whole town, despite former grumbling, turned out to greet the locomotive and the crew. Even the bitterest enemies of the project were happy to see the completion of the road. Everyone who could get on the train climbed aboard and rode to Dayton. Many of the citizens who had been most opposed to the railroad were so pleased with the ride from Middletown to Hamilton to Dayton and back to Middletown that they decided to go once more to Hamilton and were tempted to go on to Cincinnati. Since it was growing late, they decided that they had better return to Middletown; they left the cars at Hamilton to return to Middletown by way of packet, which trip cost 50 cents. some left the cars midway between Middletown and Hamilton. These people returned home walking, running, wading in the river, and riding on rickety wagons. They were willing to put up with the inconveniences rather than lose a ride of a few more miles on the new train. It was a great day of celebration.

When the railroad was completed, the merchants of the towns along the line looked forward to an increase in trade. Home manufactures profited most. The C. H. & D. Railroad was prosperous. The net earnings of the road for the first six months of this operation amounted to 3 per cent of the total cost.

The company feared that a competitive railroad would be established to run east of the river. In its second annual report it stated that it had made a survey of all possible routes before building the road, and that to have adopted the shortest route between Cincinnati and Dayton would have been longest in running time. It would have involved the tunneling for one and one-half miles, and heavy grades which meant higher operating expenses. It stated that running parallel to the canal and turnpike would have meant unnecessary competition. The company believed that the country west of the Miami River furnished three-fourths of all the travel and produce from the northwest into Cincinnati. The adoption of the shorter route would have left Hamilton far West, and this town was furnishing more business than all the other villages combined. The company warned that the building of a railroad in the area between the Little and Great Miamis could no be paying proposition, for it would be located between and parallel with two other railroads, fifteen miles apart and already in successful operation.

Nevertheless the building of the Shortline road was not abandoned. A meeting was held at Middletown at Odd Fellows’ Hall for the purpose of securing stock for the contemplated railroad between Dayton and Cincinnati. A committee of six was appointed to secure stock and promote the building of the road. At Miamisburg a meeting was held at which $34,250 was raised.

In October, 1858, the Shortline railroad’s contract for building and equipping the entire road was closed. Messers, Williams, Buchanan, Reed, and Timanus were awarded the entire contract, including the tunnel. The cost of the road was to be $1,700,000, one half in cash and one half in bonds of the company. The contractors were to meet every expense except the building of depots and the securing of right of ways. A member of the firm to whom the contract was rewarded withdrew his bid, and the contract was relet to Farrel Dunham, DeGraff and Company. The road and tunnel were to be completed in 1854. The contract was $65,000 higher than the first award, but it was still within the engineer’s estimates.

Middletown wanted to be on the route of the new railroad, but some of the farmers hesitated to grant the right of way to the company. These farmers were urged to make fair and liberal terms to the promoters of the railroad, for this road would bring them closer to the Cincinnati market. Middletown, the largest town on the eastern side of the river, promised to furnish more passenger and freight business than any other town between Dayton and Cincinnati. When the Shortline railroad was located, Middletown was to be on the route. Claims of other routes were examined, but it was found that Middletown offered the best possibilities. So many obstacles to the building of this railroad developed that it was not completed until many years later.

Other projects were more successful. Dayton’s hydraulic was lined with mills, and every foot of water was in use. There was only one other means of getting power, and that was by boiling water--steam--but there was nothing to boil it with. Since coal was only one hundred twenty miles away in Jackson County, Daytonians started a project to lay rails to that mine. Wood was high--it cost $3.50 a cord. Coal could be brought to Dayton and sold for eight cents a bushel. As fifteen bushels were equal to a cord of wood, fuel costs could be out from $3.50 to $1.20. Coal did not require sawing or splitting.

The C. H. And D. continued to be successful. This railroad, which was sixty miles long, had cost $3,183,000. It had a total debt of $1,526,000, stock issued was $2,155,000. For the year 1857 the road earned $556,000, and the net profits for the year was $194,000.

Statistics of the C. H. and D. Railroad 1858