History
Toledo, Delphos and Burlington Railroad
The Toledo, Delphos and Burlington Railroad extended from Toledo, via Delphos, Dayton, Chillicothe and Wellston to Dean. From Dean, it proceeded south to Ironton via the Iron Railroad (later part of the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton).
Wellston Division
In 1878, the Dayton and Southeastern (D&SE), later known as the CH&D Wellston Division, proposed a line southeast of Dayton towards Wellston.(3) The D&SE was completed in this regard in December.(1)
In Jackson County, the railroad followed Pigeon Creek from Vinton County to Byer, and arrived at Coalton from the northwest.(3) At Coalton, the railroad overlapped with the Springfield, Jackson and Pomeroy Railroad, which later became part of the DT&I.
The D&SE opened up the town to the coalfields north and northwest of the city, which spurred the development of additional coal mines in the region. The first mines along the route opened in the vicinity of Glen Neil, with spurs going to the east and west of the railroad.(3) At the northern edge of Coalton was one of the most famous mines in the region. Known as the Patterson Mine, it was owned by the Southern Ohio Coal and Iron Company — also known as the S.O.C.&I. mine, or “Sock-In-Eye.” John Patterson used the world’s first cash register at the Patterson mine’s company store, and led to the founding of the National Cash Register Co. in Dayton. In 1893, the Superior Coal Company purchased the mine and enlarged it, becoming the biggest underground mine in the county.(3)
The line was extended east to Wellston in 1880.(3) At Glen Roy, the Ohio Southern took a southern route into Wellston via Ironton Junction, and served several shaft mines.
In 1895, the Wellston & Jackson Belt Railway, later known as the Hocking Valley Railroad Jackson Branch, was constructed from McArthur Junction, near Dundas to Wellston and Jackson, paralleling the Ohio Southern.(3)
The first passenger train was run between Dayton and Wellston on December 28, 1893, running until February 1933.
South to Ironton
The Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad (TC&St.L) was completed in 1882 as a narrow gauge line from Ironton Junction south of Wellston to Bartles, and standard gauged in 1887 after going through receiverships and acquisitions beginning in 1884. The TC&St.L eventually became part of the CH&D in 1891. The line south of Ironton Junction included four tunnels:
- Tunnel #1 at Hoadley was brick lined.
- Tunnel #2 at Hoadley was 693 feet long with a rock interior and timber portals, and partially concrete lined in 1916.
- Tunnel #3 at Tar Kiln Run east of Dean, which has collapsed.
- Tunnel #4 at Royersville, which was operated by the Iron Railroad, later part of the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad (DT&I). This tunnel is unlined.
In 1916, some tunnel improvements were completed south of Wellston at Tunnel #2. Just one year later, however, the CH&D became part of the B&O Toledo Division and the railroad south of Wellston, totaling 35 miles, was abandoned.(1)(4) There was a lack of originating traffic along the CH&D due to a lack of minable coal and other industries.
Branches
The CH&D Buckeye Branch left Wellston going southeast, following Little Racoon Creek for several miles and then split into two branches at Downard.(2) The southern fork went through the vicinity of the Buckeye Furnace, while the northern branch traveled along Rich Run. The line was dismantled from the former Stone Wall Jackson Mine to #17 on the Buckeye Branch on February 23, 1942.(1) The remainder of the Buckeye Branch from McNally Pittsburg to #17 was abandoned on February 2, 1969.
South of Berlin Crossroads, the CH&D ran a spur line from the Ironton Branch to the McKell Mine.(2) Years later, the B&O SW would almost parallel the McKell spur with tracks into the Broken Aro strip mine tipple. Another spur at Gee Town, several mines south of Berlin Crossroads, served two mines.
Gallery
Sources
- “B &O Railroad Era.” Wellston Forum. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Aug. 2010. Article.
- Ohio Genealogical So Jackson County, Ohio Genealogical Society. “Mines of the Eastern Hill Coals.” History & Families of Jackson County, Ohio. Paducah: Turner, 1991. 35. Google Books. Web. 23 Aug. 2010. Article.
- Ohio Genealogical So Jackson County, Ohio Genealogical Society. “Mines of the Famous 2 ‘Quakertown Coal.’”I History & Families of Jackson County, Ohio. Paducah: Turner, 1991. 33-34. Google Books. Web. 23 Aug. 2010. Article.
- PDF.
Have researched former CH&D around Chillicothe. Just east of Mead paper mill, on route 753 south, are remains of yard once used by railroad to service mill. Railroad continued west, however, beyond the remains of the yard, there is virtually nothing left of notewortyiness. Understand there was a bridge in place south of Chillicothe, until late 1990s when it was washed out by flood, that carryed former CH&D over Scioto River. After crossing river, CH&D linked up to C&O to Richmondale, via trackage rights, then, went back to own rails to gain access to coal fields in Jackson County. Just for matter of record, I was born and spent some childhood years in Jackson, Ohio. Rember the idiling DT&I locos at sanding facility, just west of railroad crossing of main road leading into town.. Also, still visit Chillicothe every now and then to see relatives there, still find time to do a little "research". Thanks for opportunity to share some storys on this site. *Bridges that carried former B&O Parkersburg line east from Chillicothe to Parkersburg are still in place, although line has been removed through Chillicothe. However, just south of town, line does remain in place beyond river crossing to a point undetermined. Transfer track between present day CSX and present day NS still remains in place near former joint B&O-N&W depot on southeast edge of town. Can only assume present day CSX track remains in place to service rural elevator. Have been told CSX does still serve Mead Paper Mill, although most of dutys now executed by NS. Famous folklore Moonville Tunnel, near Athens, Ohio is on former Parkersburg line.
CSX bases a local (H-798) in the former Ohio Div yard in Chillicothe. Almost all of their work now is to switch the Glatfelter paper mill. The former Paint St yard on the east side of the mill is mainly used for storage of off lease pulpwood cars at the moment. H-798 will once a week or so head east on the former B&O Parkersburg Sub main to switch the former Mead warehouse complex at Schooleys. There's some sort of tank car transload operation and scrap paper business. The warehouse is owned by a local trucking company. The large ADM grain operation next to the old B&O yard is quite busy shipping unit grain trains. Their tracks were recently rebuilt along with the B&O tracks to handle six axle locos. For some reason almost all of the grain traffic for the 2010 harvest has moved via NS and the interchange track by the old depot. NS has trackage rights over CSX to access ADM.
Dayton to Washington CH (Fayne) on the Wellston was abandoned and removed in 1982. The line saw a quick burst of detour traffic in it's last couple of years as Queensgate was built in Cincinnati. Since your visit to Washington CH, the I&O has rebuilt the 2 remaining B&O tracks at Fayne (Luray pic) along with relaying the old DT&I-B&O Fayne interchange track. The 2 B&O tracks were tied into each other at the west (north) end and a new connection built onto the DT&I at Bush Rd. The new Konrad yard was finished in late November and new office being installed for the I&O as their Washington CH hub. The I&O has rerouted their DT&I traffic off of the NS trackage rights via Dayton and traffic is swapped at the yard each night between a Springfield and Cincinnati based crews.
>John Thompson
The CH&D was built before the C&O line. I don't know what sort of arrangement they made, but the C&O was definitely the dominant railroad in the joint use area. I'd be interested to know if they sold the right of way to C&O.