Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway

Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway

The Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway was a local passenger and freight-carrying railroad in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It was built in the late 19th century to give the town of Lebanon and Warren County better transportation facilities. The line was completed in 1881, and the CL&N was formed in 1885. Passenger services from Cincinnati terminated at Lebanon until the early 1900s. Passenger trains were eliminated entirely in 1934.

About Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway in brief

Summary Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern RailwayThe Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway was a local passenger and freight-carrying railroad in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It was built in the late 19th century to give the town of Lebanon and Warren County better transportation facilities. The line was completed in 1881, and the CL&N was formed in 1885. The company went through multiple bankruptcies until the Pennsylvania Railroad gained control in 1896. Passenger services from Cincinnati terminated at Lebanon until the early 1900s. Passenger service was eliminated circa 1910 and restored as of 1915, extended to Dayton until 1928. Passenger trains were eliminated entirely in 1934. Conrail sold the remaining trackage in the 1980s to the Indiana and Ohio Railway, a short line now owned by RailAmerica. That company continues to provide local freight service on the ex-CL&N. The Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad operates tourist trains on a portion of the line near Lebanon. In November 1874 residents of the Lebanon and surrounding area organized the 3 ft narrow gauge Narrow Miami Valley Gauge Railway, which would complete the unfinished CL&X as a branch of the DSE&X. Property owners in Norwood and Norwood Ridge, wishing to develop their land as suburbs, put forward a proposition to relocate the line through their land in exchange for free-of-way and steam-way. Slow stock subscriptions delayed surveying until June 1875, when a line located between Marietta and Cincinnati was located between Xenia and the west of Norwood.

In July 1861, the courts appointed a receiver for theCL&X, who in March 1869 sold the unfinished railroad, which had cost USD 83,885, to 40 area residents for USD 4,000. To enter the city of Cincinnati, the Cl&X would join the Dayton and Cincinnati Railroad, which was planning the 10,011-foot double-track Deer Creek Tunnel through the Walnut Hills, at Sharonville. The tunnel construction began in late 1852, but was forced to stop work by the end of 1855 due to lack of funds. Only grading between Sharon and Lebanon, mostly north of Mason, had been completed. In July 1853, the CL &X was finally organized under the charter in November. The CL&Z began construction in about April 1853 and began working on the line in about March 1855. In April 1855, it began construction on a line from Sharonville to Xenia, which was planned to use the New York and Erie Railroad’s 6 ft broad gauge. In March 1859, it completed the line between Sharonville and Xenia. In May 1859 the line was finally completed, and in July 1860, it connected to the Cincinnati and Ohio Railroad, which used a 3-foot narrow gauge line from the Jackson County mines through Xenia to Dayton, and a branch from Xenia through Lebanon would connect to the markets at Cincinnati. In August 1859 it connected with the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad.