11/11/06
I added a link to Light Rail Cincinnati, a site about introducing light rail to the Cincinnati metro area. I have also updated the map. There are more abandoned railroads and interurbans traced out, and I have started mapping the streetcar lines in Dayton. That information is still incomplete, but it's a start.
6/1/06
Many new photographs have been added to show the Norfolk & Western Railway through Norwood, the Cincinnati & Columbus from Milford to Fayetteville, and the Cincinnati, Milford & Blanchester from Milford to Blanchester. I'm still working on getting some map updates done, but it's slow going with so much information to get into it.
1/30/06
I keep forgetting to do this, but I finally added a link to the site Kings Mills Trolley Station, a description of Daniel Bingamon's home, which used to be the town's IR&T Rapid Railway station.
1/27/06
I photographed the entire length of the Cincinnati & Muskingum Valley Railroad (PRR Zanesville Branch) from Morrow to Wilmington. I will get it in the map at some point. I have also added many photographs of the C&LE route as it winds its way up the hill between Cumminsville and College Hill, as well as through Arlington Cemetery. I also added a few pictures of the IR&T carbarn in Deer Park, and the Kennedy Heights streetcar loop.
10/31/05
I have added several new pictures of railroads to the northeast of Cincinnati. I've tracked down the abandoned CL&N in Warren County, and around Lebanon. I have also added many pictures of the IR&T line through Mason, Kings Mills, and Lebanon. There is even evidence of buried tracks still remaining in Lebanon. There's also a bunch of new pictures of the CG&P line from Mt. Washington to Olive Branch and the Lake Allyn area. I also regnerated all the galleries with a new script that pre-loads the next picture in the series, so it should speed up browsing for people on slower connections.
8/12/05
I have updated the map. There isn't much new rail information, but the formatting has been mostly fixed, and I've gotten started on labeling the various towns and cities. I have a bunch of pictures of the CL&N and IR&T lines through Mason and Lebanon, as well as of the CG&P in Mt. Washington, Anderson Township, and points east. I should have those up shortly.
General Notes
While many cities around the country have web sites with information about former transit systems, there is precious little on the internet about Cincinnati. While there is some stuff out there about the city's streetcars, interurbans, and railroads, there is still a lot missing. Something that I have tried to find (unsuccessfully I might add) was a good map of the streetcar system. There are maps available in books, but they aren't always comprehensive, and modern road improvements make finding some of the routes difficult.
Most of the information on Cincinnati's transit history is in books and journals, which are inaccessible on the internet. Wagner & Wright's Cincinnati Streetcars is a very valuable 10 volume collection that has numerous historical information and photographs. Most of the pictures have been redistributed around the internet. Much of the information, however, is not published on the web. Also, most of these volumes are out of print, and some can be rather difficult to find. The Cincinnati Historical Society Library in Union Terminal has all volumes, but they can't be checked out.
Information on the interurbans is spotty. George Hilton and John Due's The Electric Interurban Railways in America is an excellent book about the interurban industry. It has been recently republished, and is readily available. However, aside from what I have quoted in the information section, there isn't much else in that book about the specific interurbans in Cincinnati. Some books have been published on individual interurbans, however. David McNeil has published books on the Cincinnati Georgetown & Portsmouth, Cincinnati & Columbus, and the Cincinnati Milford & Blanchester. The first two can be difficult to find, but the book on the CM&B was published in 2002, and is available in the Union Terminal Bookstore. These are excellent resources, containing maps, pictures, history, news events, and numerous business records (especially for the CG&P). There is also a book about the Cincinnati & Lake Erie, but it has been out of print for a long time, and I'm told that used copies are very expensive. Nothing has been written specifically about the Cincinnati Lawrenceburg & Aurora, the Cincinnati & Hamilton, or the three Interurban Railway & Terminal lines.
There is an excellent book about local railroads. The Railroad and the City by Carl Condit provides very useful information about the history of all Cincinnati's railroads, and how they've affected growth throughout the region. There is also some information on the interurbans. This book is over 25 years old now, so the latest railroad mergers by CSX and Norfolk Southern are not dealt with. It is still an excellent resource.
The Map
This site is mainly built around a map that I put together from many drives around town, maps that I've seen in books, and information from other knowledgeable folks. Let me start by saying that this map does not represent the system as it would have appeared at any one point in time. It's more a map of where there have ever been streetcar lines, as if you took all the maps ever made and overlaid them. The purpose behind this is for people who (like me) are curious about whether there are/were tracks buried under the road they're driving on, or if the trolley poles holding up the traffic lights were actually for streetcars (there's a handful that weren't). This map also shows interurban and mainline railroads. Again, this shows all alignments that I know of, and while I have tried to differentiate between active and abandoned railroads, I cannot be certain that lines aren't abandoned or just infrequently used. Of course, all the interurbans and streetcars are gone. Other transit infrastructure such as tunnels, major viaducts, canals, and major passenger and freight stations have also been added. Most of that information has been gathered from 1912 USGS topographic maps. Therefore, some later changes may have been missed, but the overall pattern is certainly right. While I have tried to make everything as correct as possible, I cannot make any guarantees about accuracy.
Pictures
While exploring around town looking for information I took pictures of my on-site reconnaissance, and I want to share them. The photographs have expanded in number to nearly 300. Already, a few pictures depict scenes that have since changed, removing traces of transit history that were once obvious. While most railroad aficionados take pictures of locomotives and other train movements, my focus is on rights-of-way, and other examples of the physical plant. These are the things that most people see, but tend to ignore. What may be the obvious remains of a railroad line one day, can be reduced to a mere memory after road construction or another building project. Someone could be living right on top of a line that was once an immensely important transit route for a community and not even know it. Photographs help bring to life some of the history that surrounds us.
I welcome any feedback, corrections, links, pictures, or questions you have, don't hesitate to e-mail me.
Click on the map to see a larger version and choose what area you want to zoom in on
Information
Cincinnati Route data from 1925
Pictures of What's Left
- Revealed Tracks
- Routes and Rights of Way
- End of Line Loops
- Trolley Poles
- Substations, Carbarns, and Powerhouses
- CL&A - Cincinnati Lawrenceburg & Aurora, Anderson Ferry - Aurora, IN, branch to Harrison
- Information
- Pictures of What's Left
- C&LE - Cincinnati & Lake Erie, Winton Place - Detroit, MI
- Information
- Pictures of What's Left
- Cincinnati & Hamilton, Hartwell - Hamilton
- Information
- Pictures of What's Left
- IR&T - Interurban Railway & Terminal: Rapid Railway, Kennedy Heights - Lebanon
- Information
- Pictures of What's Left
- IR&T - Interurban Railway & Terminal: Suburban Traction Co., Columbia - Bethel
- Information
- Pictures of What's Left
- IR&T - Interurban Railway & Terminal: Cincinnati & Eastern Electric Railway, Columbia - New Richmond
- Information
- Pictures of What's Left
- C&C - Cincinnati & Columbus, Norwood - Hillsboro
- Information
- Pictures of What's Left
- CM&B - Cincinnati Milford & Blanchester, Madisonville - Blanchester
- Information
- Pictures of What's Left
- CG&P - Cincinnati Georgetown & Portsmouth, Columbia - Russellville, branches to Batavia and Felicity
- Information
- Pictures of What's Left
- Cincinnati & Westwood, South Fairmount - Westwood
- Information
- Pictures of What's Left
- CCC&St. L - Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis (The Big Four)
- Now operated by Indiana & Ohio or Norfolk Southern
- Pictures of What's Left
- C&O - Chesapeake & Ohio
- Now operated by CSX
- Pictures of What's Left
- CH&D - Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton
- Now operated by CSX
- Pictures of What's Left
- CS - Cincinnati Southern
- Leased by Norfolk Southern
- B&O - Baltimore & Ohio
- Now operated by CSX
- Pictures of What's Left
- NYC - New York Central (Successor to the CCC&St. L)
- Now operated by Indiana & Ohio or Norfolk Southern
- PRR - Pennsylvania/Little Miami Railroad
- Now operated by Indiana & Ohio or Norfolk Southern
- Pictures of What's Left
- N&W - Norfolk & Western
- Now operated by Indiana & Ohio or Norfolk Southern
- Pictures of What's Left
- CL&N - Cincinnati Lebanon & Northern
- Now operated by Indiana & Ohio
- Pictures of What's Left
- L&N - Louisville & Nashville
- Now operated by CSX
- Pictures of What's Left
- Cincinnati Machine complex pictures
Cincinnati/Ohio Transportation Related Sites
- American Memory: Railroad Maps of Ohio Site with some high-quality scans of old railroad maps from the 19th century.
- Cincinnati-Transit.net A large and very thorough site "Dedicated to the history of and future plans for the city's transportation infrastructure."
- Cincinnati Transit List and brief history of Cincinnati's streetcar and interurban lines, and when they were abandoned/converted to trolley buses.
- Cincinnati Transit Historical Association "The CTHA is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving transit information, photographs, ephemera and memorabilia relating primarily to the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana region."
- Dave's Electric Railroads Numerous historical photos of streetcars and trolley buses from throughout the country.
- Cincinnati Street Railway
- Cincinnati & Lake Erie
- Ohio Electric Includes CG&P, CM&B, and the C&LE predecessor Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton.
- Dayton Trolley Transit Small site with history, maps, and pictures of Dayton's trolleybus system.
- DuckCreek.org "Pre-Interstate Urban Archaeology, Duck Creek Road Cincinnati and Norwood, Ohio." This site has a ton of information and pictures of this road that has been mostly obliterated by I-71.
- Hobo's Guide to the Pennsy "This page, and those below it, represent a community effort to document the history of the Pennsylvania Railroad, including all of her branches and ancestor lines."
- Interurban Railways in Ohio List and brief history of Ohio's interurban railroads.
- Kings Mills Trolley Station A description of Daniel Bingamon's home, which used to be the town's IR&T Rapid Railway station.
- Light Rail Cincinnati The Alliance for Regional Transit (ART) expects to make the civic case for higher-level transit, including light rail, in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Area.
- Little Miami Scenic Trail "This is just a quick and dirty attempt to get a trail guide out for the Little Miami Scenic Trail."
- NOAA Historical Map and Chart Project This site has very detailed topographic maps of Cincinnati from 1912.
- Search for "Cincinnati" as the keyword. The maps are listed by number. See here for a list of which maps show what neighborhoods.
- PUCO Interactive Railroad Map This huge map by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio picks up where mine leaves off. It shows all the abandoned railroads and interurbans in Ohio.
- The Railroads of Cincinnati Information and maps of Cincinnati's current railroads.
- Rails and Trails A neat site with old USGS maps of Cincinnati "devoted to transportation history and the conversion of abandoned roadbeds into rail-trails"
- A Trip on the Mill Creek A short gallery showing railroad bridges along Casey Walter's kayaking trip down the Mill Creek.
Other Transportation Sites
- Chicago "L".org "The internet's largest resource for information on Chicago's rapid transit system."
- Forgotten-NY Enormous site about everything from NYC subways and trains to lamp posts and alleys.
- North Shore Line Very extensive site on the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad (I grew up near the Shore Line right-of-way).
- The Transit Stations of Arthur Gerber Information and pictures of this architect's designs for North Shore Line stations.
- This site includes a submission from yours truly.
- Architecture Resume and Portfolio
- Includes some transit related projects:
- Mt. Adams Incline from a new Broadway Commons Park
- Cincinnati Area Transit System (CATS)
- North Shore Line Ravinia Station rendering
- North Shore Line Beech Street Station rendering
Many thanks to: Jim Barrie, Daniel Bingamon, David H. Fritze, Jim Hetzer, Tim Hoeflich, J.E. Landrum, Phil Lind, Patrick McDermott, Jake Mecklenborg, Tom Morrow, Bill Myers, Rick Myers, Mike Oestreich, Cliff Scholes, Dick Segerer, Jeff Wood, and anyone else I forgot to mention, for providing helpful information and other contributions to this site.
- Cincinnati-Transit.net
- Cincinnati Transit
- Condit, Carl W. The Railroad and the City: A Technological and Urbanistic History of Cincinnati. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1977.
- Hilton, George W. and John F. Due, The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford University Press, 1960.
- History of the Cincinnati Street Railway (Site no longer online)
- Interurban Railways in Ohio
- McNeil, David. Cincinnati and Columbus Traction Co.: Hillsboro Short Line, The Swing Line. 1996.
- McNeil, David. Cincinnati, Milford & Loveland Traction Company: The Kroger Line. 2002.
- McNeil, David. Life Along the Trolley Line. 1989.
- McNeil, David. Railroad with Three Gauges: The Cincinnati, Georgetown & Portsmouth Railroad and Felicity & Bethel Railroad. 1986.
- NOAA Historical Map and Chart Project
- Ordinance No. 322-1925 Council of the City of Cincinnati
- PUCO Interactive Railroad Map
- The Railroads of Cincinnati
- Rails and Trails
- Wagner, Richard and Roy Wright. Cincinnati Streetcars. Vols. 1-10.
