Camp - Railroad Depots of Southwest Ohio

I appreciate the contribution of photographs and data from the following individuals and organizations: Baltimore and Ohio Historical Society, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum, Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Society, Cincinnati Museum Center, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Cincinnati Railroad Club, Dayton Metro Library, Dan E. Finfrock, Wendell McChord, Middletown Public Library, Norfolk and Western Railway Historical Society, Norfolk-Southern Corporation, David P. Oroszi, Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society, Gary D. Rolih, Stephen B. Smalley, Smith Library of Regional History, Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, the University of Toledo Carlson Library, the Virginia Tech University Library, and to many others credited in the photograph captions. All have contributed in some way, through words, maps, photographs, or inspiration; some recently, some many years ago.

I have also found the following references useful for telling the story of Ohio depots: Robert L. Blacks The Little Miami Railroad ; Jim Blounts Railroads of Butler County ; George H. Burgess and Miles C. Kennedys Centennial History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company 18461946 ; the Cincinnati Railroad Clubs Cincinnati Union Terminal: the Design and Construction of an Art Deco Masterpiece ; Carl W. Condits The Railroad and the City ; John R. Grabbs The Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad, and its SuccessorThe Baltimore and Ohio: The Study of this once Great Route Across Ohio 18511988; Alvin F. Harlows The Road of the Century ; John W. Haucks Narrow Gauge in Ohio The Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway ; David McNeils Railroad With Three Gauges The Cincinnati, Georgetown and Portsmouth RR and Felicity and Bethel Railroad ; various volumes of the Ohio Railway Report and Poors Manuals; John A. Rehors The Nickel Plate Story ; Dayton, Ohio Railroad HistorySummary compiled by Kirk Reynolds and David P. Oroszi; various issues of The Sentinel ; Stephen B. Smalleys The Cincinnati, Georgetown and Portsmouth Railroad ; Robert F. Smiths From the Ohio to the Mississippi A Story of a Railroad ; Rick Tipton and Chuck Blardones The Pennsylvania Railroad in Cincinnati ; Scott D. Trostels The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad Henry Fords Railroad ; John H. White Jr.s On the Right Track Some Historic Cincinnati Railroads, and various railroad trade journals.

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One

BALTIMORE AND OHIO LINES

The Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton opened between the namesakes in fall 1851. In 1863, the CH&D entered into a lease agreement with the Dayton and Michigan Railroad, which had begun construction at Dayton north to Toledo in 1852. The Junction Railroad completed a line from Hamilton to Oxford by 1859 and eventually reached Indianapolis, but financial difficulties led to its reorganization as the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Indianapolis in 1872 under CH&D control. The CH&D also controlled the former Eaton and Hamilton Railroad, which ran between Hamilton and Richmond, Indiana, between 1866 and 1888 and the Louisville, Cincinnati, and Dayton Railroad, which in 1887 opened from Middletown to Hamilton. Narrow-gauge trains were running on the Dayton and Southeastern Railroad by 1877 between Dayton and Washington Court House and on the Dayton, Covington, and Toledo Railroad from Stillwater Junction to West Milton in 1879. Both lines eventually were converted to standard gauge and passed under CH&D control by 1891. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) took over operation of all remaining CH&D lines in 1917.

The Marietta and Cincinnati (M&C) Railroad (formerly the Belpre and Cincinnati Railroad) completed the Cincinnati end of its line in fall 1854. The original terminus was Loveland and a connection with the Little Miami line, which carried M&C passengers into Cincinnati. This arrangement continued into the late 1860s when the M&C bridged the Little Miami River at Loveland and built its own line into downtown Cincinnati. The M&C became a B&O property in 1882 and merged into the B&O Southwestern in 1889. Cincinnati gained another line when the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad began construction down the Ohio River Valley in 1852. Hoping to interchange with the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, the O&M was built to broad gauge6 feet between the rails. The stretch from Cincinnati to Seymour, Indiana, was completed in 1854. The company converted to standard gauge in the summer of 1871 and became part of the B&O Southwestern in 1893.

This June 1920 photograph was taken by Miami Valley Conservancy officials while designing flood control projects in the Dayton area. It shows a newly constructed B&O combination depot on the relocated former Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton line at Vandalia. This was a popular depot plan; depots of this design were built at many stations on the entire B&O system. Before the realignment, the CH&D depot at Tadmor served passengers from Vandalia. (Miami Conservancy District photograph.)

Whitfield was served by this two-story depot with living quarters for the agent on the second floor as shown in this c . 1917 photograph. The depot remains as a residence. (B&O Railroad photograph, the Hays T. Watkins Research Library, B&O Museum, Inc.)

An earlier CH&D passenger depot in Miamisburg was washed off its foundation and destroyed during the 1913 flood. The B&O replaced it with this brick depot. The depot is still used by CSX. (Photograph by the author.)

The joint passenger depot of the CH&D and Cincinnati Northern at the diamond in Carlisle is seen in this northern view up the CH&D dating to the early 1900s. Across the diamond is a frame B&O design interlocking tower. Pipes control the interlocking signals at the crossing. All are now gone. (Dan E. Finfrock collection.)

Poast Towns depot dates to at least the 1860s. The CH&D completed their line through here in 1851. Behind this passenger depot is a large freight house that also provided an area to store grain. (Middletown Public Library collection.)

When the CH&D built through Middletown, they stayed west of the Great Miami River. Brick passenger and freight depots replaced an 1851 frame depot sometime in the 1870s1880s. The second passenger depot was destroyed and the freight house damaged in the 1913 flood. This passenger depot, built to B&O plans, replaced the washed away structure in 1914. The last passenger train left in 1971, and the depot was demolished shortly after. The freight house still stands. (Authors collection.)