The Cincinnati, Lebanon, and Northern (CL&N for short) was a small railroad built in southwest Ohio in the late 19th century. I’ve dedicated this blog to documenting the history and legacy of that railroad, but for those who just found the site I thought I would take the opportunity to write an introduction and short history on Lebanon’s railroad.
For many years Lebanon had desired a railroad. The town, located on the Warren County highland (between the Great and Little Miami Rivers), had stagnated while railroads were built in the surrounding towns. It’s hard to underestimate how important railroads were to America’s developing industrial economy in the decades after the Civil War and Lebanon feared it was being left behind.
More than once Lebanon tried to get a spur built off of the Little Miami Railroad. Then the town tried to support the futile Cincinnati, Lebanon, and Xenia road. After years of courting and pleading for a connection to a major line, Lebanon merchants and citizens finally decided to take matters into their own hands. The decision was made to construct a three-foot narrow gauge railroad from Cincinnati, through Lebanon, to Xenia. The Miami Valley Narrow Gauge Railway Company was incorporated on November 7, 1874 and groundbreaking was made on September 1, 1876.
It wasn’t long before financial problems began for the new railroad, a pattern that would be often repeated for the line. Most of the right-of-way from Cincinnati through to Waynesville was purchased and the grading was underway, but raising capital to finish construction became a problem. The company went into receivership and in 1880 it was sold to the Toledo, Delphos, and Burlington Railroad (TD&B).
The TD&B had big plans to expand and develop a large midwest narrow gauge system. Already the TD&B had a mainline into Dayton, and they wished to finish the line into Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Northern was incorporated in 1880 as a subsidiary of the TD&B in order to build a narrow gauge line from Cincinnati to Dodds (a small village 5 miles north of Lebanon). The railroad finally came to Lebanon on February 17, 1881. The TD&B also constructed a connecting line between Dodds and the Dayton and Southeastern Railroad line going into Dayton (at a place which came to be called Lebanon Junction). The two lines combined to form the Cincinnati Division of the TD&B.
The TD&B (later merging to become the TC&StL), however, had their own problems. Over-expansion and cheap narrow gauge construction were becoming problems. Their mainline stretching from Toledo to St. Louis became a reality, but it was severally under capitalized. Maintenance on the line north of Dodds and elsewhere in the system became a nightmare, and the inherent difficulties with interchange would prove disastrous. The TC&StL eventually collapsed and went into receivership in 1883.
While the TC&StL would drag the Cincinnati Northern into bankruptcy, it was actually the most well-constructed part of the narrow gauge system and made enough profit to remain competitive. Through the efforts of Albert Netter and a number of Cincinnati investors they were able to purchase the Cincinnati Division. It would reorganize as the CL&N. The line running from Dodds to Dayton was purchased by seperate owners and would reform as the Dayton, Lebanon, and Cincinnati (DL&C).
The CL&N operated as a local narrow gauge suburban road for a few more years. Profits alternated between modest and non-existent. The railroad did prove itself in a the Ohio River flood of 1884, being the only Cincinnati railroad to remain in operation during the flood. The CL&N would come to be known as the ‘highland route’ for service during floodtime.
In 1896 the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) purchased the CL&N in order to secure another entrance into Cincinnati in the event of another flood, as well as preventing competing railroad from purchasing the line and using it to compete with the PRR’s Little Miami Division. Shortly before this purchase the CL&N was made standard gauge to appear better to potential buyers.
After purchase by the PRR, the CL&N remained independent as a separate division. The Middletown and Cincinnati (M&C), an independent railroad running from Middletown to the Little Miami Division was also purchased by PRR in 1905. The DL&C, which by this time had built it’s own route into Dayton, was purchased by the PRR in 1915. These two railroad were merged into the CL&N system, creating one standard gauge railroad connecting Dayton, Lebanon, Cincinnati, and Middletown in southwestern Ohio.
Thus the fate of the CL&N would be tied to that of the Pennsylvania, the great “standard of the world”. The CL&N’s independent operation ended in 1925 when the PRR consolidated it’s holdings by forming the Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Detroit Railroad. However, this railroad existed mainly on paper as part of the entire Pennsylvania system.
By this later date competition with the automobile severely hurt passenger traffic. The deathknell for passenger service on the CL&N was the requirement for all trains to use Cincinnati’s new Union Terminal. The last passenger train left Lebanon on February 1st, 1934 almost 53 years to the day since the line was constructed. In the coming decades many of the stations would be torn down to reduce taxes.
By the late 1960′s railroads everywhere were in decline. Competition from the new interstate highway system compounded by legacy tracks and regulation would nearly lead to the death of railroads in the United States. The PRR controlled over 10,000 miles of track, much of it in local light-density lines like the CL&N. 11 miles of track north of Lebanon to Lytle was abandoned in 1952.
In 1968 the PRR and the New York Central (NYC), merged to form the Penn Central (PC). 3 miles of track north of Brecon was abandoned, cutting the line into two sections through till this day. All service through the Deer Creek Valley into the Court Street Depot, as well as from Hageman Junction to the Little Miami Division. was permanently suspended. Today, a Greyhound Bus terminal stands on the former downtown yard.
Yet Penn Central could not stop the bleeding of cash from America’s railroads. When the PC went bankrupt the US government stepped in and formed the Consolidated Rail Corporation (or Conrail for short). Conrail acquired from the PC the CL&N mainline through Norwood into the new industrial parks of Blue Ash, as well as the former M&C mainline from Middletown through Hageman to Mason. It also gained control of short sections of the former CL&C near Dayton and Hampsted. It was up to Lebanon businesses to pay operating expenses for the Lebanon branch and save it from abandonment.
In early 1977, a number of Lebanon businesses banded together and saved the line from abandonment. It would be a historic decision for Lebanon’s future. In 1984, the up and coming regional railroad the Indiana and Ohio (I&O) purchased the Mason subdivision from Conrail, including the Lebanon branch. Later in 1986 the I&O would purchase the Blue Ash subdivision. An attempt was even made to reconnect the former CL&N trackage, which failed due to NIMBY opposition in the nearby suburban developments.
The I&O, today owned by Rail America, continues to operate the freight business through Norwood, as well as the online businesses near Mason. In 1985 the I&O began operating an excursion business from Lebanon to Mason. When the I&O was sold to Railtex, this was spun off as the I&O Passenger Corporation owned by Mr. Thomas McOwen. Today the passenger operation lives on as the Lebanon, Mason and Monroe Railroad (LM&M) under the ownership of the Cincinnati Railway Company.
Over 132 years since the groundbreaking of the CL&N, the railroad still provides a service to people in the Lebanon area. With this blog I attempt to pay homage to the history without forgetting to report on the present. For further reading, I recommend some of the articles below: