The Cincinnati, Columbus and Hocking Valley Railroad is a defunct railroad that was later purchased by the Ohio Southern, and was a route extending from Sedalia to Kingman via Jeffersonville, Ohio. It was once proposed as a connection between Columbus and Cincinnati generally along what is now the Interstate 71 corridor.
History
The Waynesville, Port William & Jeffersonville Railroad (WPW&J) was proposed as a narrow gauge railroad between the Little Miami Railroad at Claysville Junction to Jeffersonville, where it would junction with the Dayton and Southeastern.(2) The line would parallel the Little Miami south to Waynesville.(1) Although most investors were related to the Springfield, Jackson and Pomeroy Railroad, no work was completed.
From November 28, 1883 to May 31, 1884, the Ohio Southern held ownership over the WPW&J, and 15 miles were completed from Jeffersonville to Port William by October 1877.(2) In November, the line was reorganized as the Columbus, Washington & Cincinnati (CW&C), and the line was proposed between Columbus and Cincinnati. Under the CW&C, the line was finished to Claysville Junction, now Roxanna, via McKay’s Station.
A map of the Cincinnati, Columbus and Hocking Valley Railroad from 1881. The orange line represents the alignment completed under the CW&C, where it was completed from Claysville Junction at the Little Miami Railroad via McKay's Station to Jeffersonville. The green line represents the Ohio Southern route from McKay's Station to Kingman. The portion from McKay's Station to Claysville Junction was abandoned in 1887. Map source from the Library of Congress, identified by Jeffrey Jakucyk.
In March 1884, part of the CW&C was purchased by the Ohio Southern in order to complete a Columbus to Cincinnati route on a different alignment, especially as it descended into the Little Miami valley.(2) The portion of the CW&C from McKay’s Station west to Claysville Junction was abandoned in 1887, and the new alignment would diverge from McKay’s Station to Kingman. The Ohio Southern was only able to complete the segment from Sedalia to Jeffersonville and McKay’s Station in 1895, a distance of 31.1 miles, before they exhausted their funding. The line was built as a standard gauge.(2) With very little of the railroad having been completed, and the portions that were completed being isolated, the Ohio Southern did not generate a profit.(1)
A map of the Cincinnati, Columbus and Hocking Valley Railroad from 1887. Map source from the Library of Congress, identified by Jeffrey Jakucyk.
The Ohio Southern went into receivership on May 9, 1895 because of a northerly extension of Lima proved to be too much of a financial strain.(2) The railroad went into receivership on May 9, 1895 and was purchased by a bondholders’ purchasing committee on October 15, 1898.(1) The portion of the railroad from Jeffersonville west to Kingman was abandoned on November 18, 1932,(1) just short of a connection at Waynesville at the Little Miami,(2) and the segment from Jeffersonville east to Sedalia was abandoned in 1941,(2) short of a connection to the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus.
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