The Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville was the shortest route between Cincinnati and Chicago. Today, much of the line has been abandoned.
History
Cincinnati and Indiana Western
The Cincinnati and Indiana Western Railroad was constructed between Cincinnati and Cottage Grove, Indiana, where it connected to the Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie Railroad.
Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie
Information coming.
Service began rolling through Butler County, Ohio on February 7, 1904. The entire line between Cincinnati and Chicago was completed on April 7, 1907.
In 1904, the Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad became the shortest route between Cincinnati and Chicago, at 284.5 miles.(1) It crossed all the watersheds in between, in what was called “a mountain railroad in Indiana.”
On June 23, 1910, after more than two years in receivership, the line became part of the Chesapeake & Ohio of Indiana Co.,(1) effective July 2, 1910. The railroad was later transferred to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Co. on October 1, 1934 (C&O).(1) In 1973, the line was merged into the Chessie System.(1)
In July 1978, the line from Cincinnati north to New Haven Road in Fernald, Ohio was abandoned, and the trestles from the Mill Creek valley north to Cheviot Hill were dismantled.(1) The line remained inact from Richmond south to Fernald, which was a Department of Energy (DOE) facility. A daily from Richmond to Fernald, based out of Cottage Grove, served the remaining customers. In 1991, Fernald’s mission was modified from that of processing uranium to cleanup after the end of the Cold War. In 1998, the DOE paid to have the large timber trestle at Okeana reconstructed with a new steel structure.
In 2002, the remaining fragments in Indiana were operated by Indiana Eastern.(1)
Gallery
Links
Sources
- Tipton, Rick. “The PRR in Cincinnati.” The Pennsylvania Railroad in Cincinnati. By Rick Tipton and Chuck Blardone. Altoona: Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society, 2004. 3-103.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[...] Richmond via U.S. Route 33 and had no intended destination. Following the tracks of the defunct Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie Railroad, later part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and today's Cardinal Greenway bike path, I came [...]