Ohio Valley Railroads

The LM&M Railroad is a southwestern Ohio tourist railroad that operates excursion trains in and around the town of Lebanon, Ohio. The railroad is a division of the Cincinnati Railway Company and is a for-profit corporation. The LM&M specializes in short rides with events targeted mainly at families with small children.

History

Excursion trains in Lebanon originally began when the Indiana and Ohio reopened the ex-CL&N Lebanon branch in 1985. The lightly used Mason Subdivision provided the perfect line for the newly christened “Indiana and Ohio Scenic Railway”. The railroad operated passenger excursions between Lebanon and Mason.

When the I&O was sold to Railtex in 1996, owner Thomas B. McOwen chose to keep the passenger subsidiary separate from the sale. The new Indiana and Ohio Rail Passenger Corporation acquired trackage rights over the I&O system and continued to operation in Lebanon under the Turtle Creek Valley Railroad name. The name was changed again in 2001 to the Turtle Creek & Lebanon Railroad in honor of contributions the city made to required track repairs.

In 2006 the I&O Passenger Corp. was sold to a new group of investors becoming Cincinnati Railway Company. The operation in Lebanon was renamed again to the current title; the Lebanon, Mason & Monroe Railroad. The LM&M then began to focus more on family entertainment as part of their new business strategy.

The LM&M normally runs along a 4.4 mile route from Lebanon to a picnic grove just before Hageman Junction. In the fall the trains run a bit farther to a local farm. However, when a recent bridge outside of Lebanon was found to be unsafe they were forced to run out of Mason for much of the 2009 season.

In 2006, the LM&M carried more than 46,000 peoples on round-trip excursions. For more information about the LM&M and to order tickets, please visit their website.

Equipment

The LM&M’s sole locomotive, CNRY #55, was originally ordered by the Pere Marquette Railroad in 1947, shortly before its purchase by the C&O. The locomotive was delivered by EMD to the C&O in May 1950. Numbered as #5704, it served as a road switcher in general freight and passenger service all over the C&O and later Chessie System. It was sold to the I&O and used for freight as well as excursion service. Number 55 is generally thought to be the oldest GP7 in continuous operation.

The coaches were originally built by Pullman in 1930 for the DL&W as self-propelled commuter coaches. Each car came equipped with four 3000 Volt DC 230 horsepower electric motors. They later served for the Erie Lackawanna, Conrail, and finally New Jersey Transit until 1984. Then they were sold as surplus to the I&O. The I&O shortly thereafter removed the catenary, painted the cars, and set them up for use in excursion service on local I&O lines. The cars are numbered 101-104 and named after one-time station stops south to north along the Mason subdivision (Mason, Hageman, Turtle Creek, Lebanon).

Finally the open-air gondola car, number 100, was originally built by the Lehigh and New England Railroad in 1934. It had a 40-ton capacity. The I&O purchased it from the Maryland Midland Railroad in 1984 and converted it to passenger service. Later a small box was fitted to the rear with a horn and light, allowing the gondola, in addition to the Mason coach, to be used for reverse operation.

Recently, the Cincinnati Railway (LM&M’s parent company) have purchased a number of former Montreal commuter coaches that can occasionally be seen in operation in Lebanon.

Radio Frequencies

161.385 – Road Channel (shared with I&O)

Photo Galley

References

• “History.” Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad. Accessed 3 Sep 2010.