Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad

The first railroad from Lake Erie to Columbus was proposed in 1831. Intended to run from Sandusky on the lake south to Dayton, with a branch to Columbus, no action was taken on this project.[1] On February 8, 1832, the Ohio General Assembly granted a charter to the Columbus, Marion, and Sandusky Railroad. This line was authorized to have its terminus in Columbus and run through the towns of Delaware, Marion, and Upper Sandusky before connecting with the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. No construction ever began on this railroad, either.[2]

The Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad (CC&C) was chartered by the state of Ohio on March 14, 1836,[3] and authorized to construct a railroad from Cleveland to Cincinnati, passing through the cities of Columbus and Wilmington.[4] The charter required that construction begin within three years, and that the road be completed no later than 10 years after the start of construction.[5] The incorporators of the new CC&C included John A. Bryan and others from Franklin County, as well as investors from Clark, Clinton, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Greene, Hamilton, Holmes, Knox, Lorain, Madison, Medina, Richland, and Wayne counties, met to plan the railroad.[2] Fundraising failed, no construction occurred, and the charter lapsed.[2][5]

In 1844, John W. Allen, Philo Scoville, and five other Cleveland business and civic leaders sought to revive the CC&C charter.[6] They succeeded in persuading the Ohio General Assembly to do so on March 12, 1845. The new charter specified that the railroad must construct a line between Cleveland and Columbus, and was permitted (but not required) to build a line from Columbus to Cincinnati.[4] The railroad also had the right to connect to any other railroad in the state.[7][lower-alpha 1]

A group of railroad investors met in Columbus on May 1, 1845, to discuss the organization of the railroad.[8] This group included William Dennison Jr., Lincoln Goodale, and Joseph Ridgway of Franklin County,[2] and Irad Kelley, brother of Alfred Kelley, from Cuyahoga County.[8] A temporary board of directors was elected, which included William Dennison Jr., Truman P. Handy, and Samuel Medary. The board agreed to open the corporate books and begin selling stock on June 3.[8] Shares worth more than $25,000 ($700,000 in 2019 dollars) were sold, allowing the company to be organized under the terms of its charter.[9]

The board determined that, with the Columbus and Xenia Railroad soon to begin construction from Columbus to Cincinnati, the CC&C should not attempt to build a line from Cleveland to Cincinnati. Constructing the line from Cleveland only to Columbus was considered more feasible.[10] An early estimate pegged the cost of construction at $1.5 million ($41,200,000 in 2019 dollars).[11]

The first permanent board of directors of the CC&C was elected on October 11, 1845. The board consisted of Samuel Medary, Robert E. Neil, William Neil, and William Starling Sullivant of Columbus and John W. Allen, Richard Hilliard, Henry B. Payne, Peter M. Waddell, and John M. Woolsey of Cleveland. Allen was elected president by the board, and William Neil the treasurer. Albert G. Lawrence, a non-board member, was elected secretary. Clevelanders predominated on the board because it was assumed that construction would begin in that city. The remainder of the board was from Columbus. By not picking board members from points between the two cities, the board hoped to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest in choosing the route.[2]

A survey party began examining possible routes for the railroad at the end of October 1845,[12] and by November 15 a second survey group was in the field as well.[13] The board of directors settled on a route in August 1846,[14] although it admitted that there were no funds to begin construction.[15] President Allen then claimed in November 1846 that the company not only had enough money to begin construction on the first 40 miles (64 km) of track but that work would also begin on December 1, 1846.[16]

The CC&C attempted to sell stock to raise the necessary funds to begin construction. Shares worth $50,000 ($1,371,964.28571 in 2019 dollars) were sold by January 1847, far below expectations. The officers of the railroad told the board on April 3 that they could not raise funds anywhere in the state.[6] The company resurveyed and restudied the proposed route with an eye toward cuttong costs. The CC&C had so little funds on hand that by April 15 it was $3,913 ($107,370 in 2019 dollars) in debt.[17] The railroad and its backers publicly admitted the project was likely dead.[6] The city of Cleveland donated $200,000 ($5,500,000 in 2019 dollars) worth of city bonds to the railroad in April 1847 to help save it, but the company found that market conditions were so poor the bonds could not be sold.[18] The board put any further expenditures on indefinite hold in May.[18][19]

Alfred Kelley

Financier Edmund Dwight, representing the wealthy Dwight family of Massachusetts and New York,[20] visited the city in August 1847. The Dwights and Kelleys had invested in a bank in Cleveland,[21] and the Dwights were strongly interested in Ohio railroads.[22] Edmund Dwight told the board that improved investor confidence was needed to raise funds, and this required that the board seek a new leader who could ensure the efficient and timely construction of a well-built railroad.[6] Allen resigned the presidency,[23] and the board elected Alfred Kelley and Leonard Case Jr. to the board of directors.[24] Kelley was appointed president on August 13.[24][23][25] Kelly was well known throughout the state as the "father of the Ohio and Erie Canal",[26] and was one of the most dominant commercial, financial, and political people in Ohio in the first half of the 1800s.[27] He was also one of the ablest bankers and financiers in the state.[28][lower-alpha 2]

Kelley immediately began speaking with his colleagues in the banking and finance fields, and by early September 1847 indicated to the board that a favorable response had been found among investors in New York City.[32] Kelley ordered 10 miles (16 km) of the line, beginning at Cleveland, to begin construction as a test of new construction methods and railroad technology.[33] To ensure that the new charter did not lapse, on September 30, 1847, Kelley and other members of the board of directors went to Cleveland's Scranton Flats and ceremoniously filled a wheelbarrow with earth to symbolize the start of construction. The company hired an old man to work five days a week, continuously digging this trench, in order to prove to the state that construction was "ongoing".[23][34][35] The railroad announced in late November 1847 that 12 miles (19 km) of line from Cleveland to Berea would be built.[36] This contract was let to J.A. Ackley and Leander Ransom on December 1,[37] although it is unclear how much (if any) of this track was constructed.

Kelley also began to raise substantial funds. He began his tenure as president by urging the board of directors (composed of wealthy Ohioans) to show faith in the business by purchasing company bonds. By September 15, 1847, the board had invested $100,000 ($2,700,000 in 2019 dollars) in the CC&C.[38] Board member Leonard Case later invested an additional $500,000 ($13,700,000 in 2019 dollars).[39] Kelley was a former resident of Cleveland, and promoted the railroad heavily in that city. By April 15, 1848, investors in Cleveland had purchased $100,000 ($3,000,000 in 2019 dollars) in company bonds, with pledges to purchase another $100,000 when the company asked.[40] Kelley delivered a rousing one-hour speech in Cleveland in early August 1848, after which another $73,000 ($2,200,000 in 2019 dollars) in stock was sold.[41]

Kelley, who had extensive experience with route surveying and knew the topography of the state extremely well,[42][43] ordered the routes resurveyed again, a process which began in October 1847 and ended about the end of January 1848.[44] Engineers Frederick Harbach and John Childe issued a new report to the board of directors on August 19, 1848. They confirmed that the two most-favored routes in 1846 were still the best, although several changes were identified which greatly improved them both.[45] The engineers' preferred route (known as the Western Route),[46] began in Cleveland[lower-alpha 3] and was 135 miles (217 km) long, with a ruling gradient of just 0.28 percent.[47][lower-alpha 4] The proposed temporary southern terminus of the line would be in Columbus, where the CC&C would connect with the Columbus & Xenia Railroad.[49]

The estimated cost of construction and equipment was $2.567 million ($72,600,000 in 2019 dollars).[50][lower-alpha 5] These costs included the construction of 13 fuel-and-water way stations,[51] the construction of a passenger and freight depot in Cleveland, the construction of a roundhouse with locomotive and rolling stock repair shops in Cleveland, the construction of a roundhouse in Columbus, and enough equipment to run two passenger trains and one to three freight trains a day between Cleveland and Columbus.[52] The track gauge was set to 4 ft 9 ¹⁄₂ in (1,461 mm).[53][lower-alpha 6]

On September 29, 1848,[6] the railroad announced that it would build the line as a single project. This was different from the approach most railroads took at the time. It was more common for a company to raise only enough funds to construct one segment of the road, and then open operations on that segment before beginning the fundraising needed to work on the next segment. Sometimes years could pass between the construction of segments.[59] The CC&C, however, decided to grade, construct the track bed, and lay rail over the entire length of the line in one intense burst of activity.[60] The contract for construction was awarded to the firm of Stone, Harbach, and Witt on November 1.[61] Harbach was one of the two engineers who had resurveyed the line in late 1847 and early 1848. Amasa Stone had worked with Harbach and another railroad engineer, Stillman Witt,[62] while building railroad bridges in New England.[63] Kelley knew Stone well from his visits selling bonds back east.[63] Kelley reached out to Stone, Harbach, and Witt, and asked them to build the railroad.[64] Stone, Harbach, and Witt formed a company in late 1848 to do so,[34] and agreed to take a portion of their pay in the form of railroad stock.[64][lower-alpha 7]

Kelley personally traveled to the United Kingdom[61][67] in 1848 where he contracted with Sir John Guest & Co. of Wales for T rails[68][lower-alpha 8] weighing 65 pounds per yard (32 kg/m).[70] The 7,000 short tons (6,400 t) of rail purchased was sufficient to lay half the road.[71][72] By the end of March 1849, the company had also signed contracts to purchase locomotives and rolling stock.[73]

By the middle of May 1849, more than 1,000 men were at work grading the CC&C line[72] and rail for the track had arrived in Quebec from the United Kingdom, awaiting shipment across Lake Erie to Cleveland.[74] The city of Cleveland purchased $200,000 in railroad stock on May 27, 1849.[6] Work was progressing so swiftly that railroad officials told the press in early June that as much as 37 miles (60 km) of the line might be operation by January 1, 1850.[67] The rails did not arrive in Cleveland until July 1849,[68] however, and this significantly delayed completion of the first portion of track.[73]

As expected, construction began in Cleveland and moved south. Bath Street was regraded and lowered about 12 feet (3.7 m) in order to reduce the grade between Lake Street and the Lake Erie shore.[75] By May 1849, the track bed had been constructed across Scranton Flats and two-thirds of the rail laid. The company was ready to begin grading of the line on the east side of the river as well as erection of the roundhouse.[76] The company was also at work constructing three bridges in the city. The first of these was an iron bridge carrying the main line over the Ohio & Erie Canal.[77] The second was a wooden bridge carrying the main line over the Cuyahoga River. This bridge connected the Scranton Flats with the east bank of the river at Canal and Vineyard Streets (now Canal Street and Lockwood Drive).[77][lower-alpha 9] The third was a wooden bridge carrying a spur of the main line over the Cuyahoga River.[76] This bridge connected the Scranton Flats with the Columbus Peninsula at Columbus Road and Leonard Street.[76][lower-alpha 10] During June 1849, work also began on a large engine house on the south end of the Columbus Peninsula, near the Columbus Road Bridge. This facility was constructed by the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company,[90] which had entered into an agreement with the CC&C to build and operate a locomotive repair shop for the railroad.[91] The railroad also erected a temporary depot adjacent to the New England Hotel at corner of Superior and Merwin Streets.[92] It purchased the Bethel Church building adjacent to the hotel (on the square bordered by Superior, Vineyard, and James Streets) for use as an engine house.[93][94][95] [96]

Some 3,000 to 4,000 men were at work on the line at the end of July, completing the grading, constructing the track bed, and beginning to lay rail. With the cost of the main line appearing to hold steady at $2.5 million ($76,800,000 in 2019 dollars), Kelley personally went to New York City and sold another $400,000 ($12,300,000 in 2019 dollars) in bonds to keep the work going.[97] He sold another $100,000 ($12,300,000 in 2019 dollars) in bonds to Ohio investors the same month.[98]

The first 35 miles (56 km) of CC&C track, between Cleveland and Wellington, Ohio, opened about September 1, 1849.[97] The northern terminus of the road was at a depot on the shore of Lake Erie at E. River and Bath Streets. Between St. Clair and Vineyard Streets, the road ran along the east side of Spring Street, which was widened by 30 feet (9.1 m) to accommodate the tracks. It crossed the Ohio & Erie Canal and the Cuyahoga River to reach the Scranton Flats.[99] The locomotive repair shops were located at the south end of Columbus Road on the Columbus Peninsula.[100][101] The line traveled south through the flats, and ascended the heights by following the valley of Walworth Run.[77]

On September 13, 1849,[102] the railroad leased from the city of Cleveland land on the shore of Lake Erie.[103] This land was bordered by Bath Street (now Front Street)[104] on the south, W. 9th Street in the east, and the Cuyahoga River in the west, and extended north to the lake. The railroad intended to use the area as the terminus of the main line, and to put a coal yard, dock, freight depot, passenger station, and warehouse there.[103]

On November 1, Clevelanders welcomed the first locomotive ever to visit the city.[61] Built by the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company of Cleveland, the 20-short-ton (18 t), $7,000 ($200,000 in 2019 dollars)[105] locomotive pulled a work train of several flatcars for use in building the line.[61] The roundhouse in Cleveland[77] at the foot of Water Street[106] (now W. 9th Street).[107] and another 6 miles (9.7 km) of track opened in November 1849.[77] Passenger cars began arriving in December from the Springfield Car and Engine Co. of Springfield, Massachusetts.[61] By the end of the year, the railroad had received 3,000 short tons (2,700 t) of rails.[69]

The Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad was completed on February 18, 1851. At 7 A.M. on February 18, Alfred Kelley and a party consisting of the railroad's directors, Columbus mayor Lorenzo English, and a number of other business and civic leaders departed on a special northbound train from Columbus.[130] Kelley and Mayor English each laid a final rail on the line.[131] Kelley drove the last spike at noon.[130][132] The party then reboarded the train and, after a salutary cannonade, proceeded to Cleveland.[131] The train gave three whistles as it entered the city, which was returned by a three-cannon salute.[130]

The CC&C began freight and passenger operations on February 21, 1851.[133] To celebrate the event, Kelley invited Ohio Governor Reuben Wood, the entire Ohio General Assembly, the mayors and city councils of Cincinnati and Columbus, and numerous other local politicians and business leaders[134] to travel at the railroad's expense on a four-day excursion trip from Columbus to Cleveland and back. The excursion train and its 425 passengers left Columbus on February 21[135] shortly after 8 A.M., its departure announced by a single cannon shot. The train stopped for lunch in Shelby, where officials of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad and the Mansfield and Sandusky City Railroad as well as elected leaders of towns and villages along these railroads boarded the train. The train reached Cleveland at dusk, welcomed by a cannon shot.[134]

At 10 A.M. on February 22,[136] three companies of Cleveland militia and the entire city fire department paraded in front of the excursionists, who were seated on a grandstand erected on Cleveland's Public Square. Governor Wood, Cleveland mayor William Case, Cincinnati politician George E. Pugh, Cleveland politician Samuel Starkweather,[137] Ohio state senator Henry B. Payne, and Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad (C&P) president Cyrus Prentiss all spoke. Alfred Kelley was introduced, but did not speak. After the event, the excursionists boarded a C&P train and traveled to Hudson, Ohio, where they were served dinner.[137] The C&P train left Hudson at 9 P.M., and Cleveland firefighters welcomed the travelers back to Cleveland with a torchlight parade.[136]

The excursion train left Cleveland for Columbus at 8 A.M. on February 24, its departure saluted by another cannon shot. The train stopped in Shelby for lunch,[138] after which the officials of Mad River and Lake Erie and the Mansfield and Sandusky City railroads, as well as elected leaders of towns and villages along these lines, left the train.[139] The excursionists were treated to yet another dinner after the train reached Columbus.[138]

The completion of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad created the first direct rail link between Cleveland and Cincinnati.[140]

The permanent Cleveland station of the CC&C, built in 1851

At the beginning of 1851, the CC&C began to erect a permanent passenger depot at its terminus on Bath Street. The 200-by-80-foot (61 by 24 m) building was not large enough to serve all passengers, so through passengers used the Bath Street station and passengers terminating their travels in Cleveland continued to use the temporary depot next to the New England Hotel.[92] The Bath Street depot opened on May 29, 1851.[141] Although it was initially used only by the CC&C, the depot had been constructed as a cooperative effort by the CC&C, C&P, and the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad (CP&A).[142]

In March, the CC&C began work on a spur to serve the town of Delaware[143] and connect the line with the Springfield, Mt. Vernon, and Pittsburg Railroad.[144] This 5.77-mile (9.29 km) spur,[145] known as the "Delaware Curves", was completed in 1853.[146]

Amasa Stone was appointed superintendent of the road on April 7, 1851,[147] and initiated thrice-daily express train passenger service on April 16.[148]

In August 1851, the railroad began building a pier which extended into Lake Erie and a warehouse erected on the pier.[149] By this time, the CC&C had 11 locomotives in freight and passenger operation on the line each day.[150]

On December 1, 1852, the CC&C entered into a contract with the CP&A under which the CC&C would operate both railroads as a single line. This contract was superseded by a new agreement on April 1, 1855, which merely gave each railroad trackage rights on the other's line.[144]

Collaboration between the CC&C and CP&A extended to more than just a depot. The CP&A's line initially did not extend west of E. 33rd Street in Cleveland.[151] That railroad relied on the CC&C for repair facilities for its locomotives and cars.[152] In the summer of 1853, the CP&A extended its Cleveland tracks to the Bath Street station.[153] That year the two railroads jointly erected and operated a car repair shop northwest of the intersection of Lake Street (now Lakeside Avenue) and Alba Street (later known as Depot Street, now E. 26th Street).[152][154] The construction of passenger rolling stock began at these shops in late 1853.[152] The two railroads also began sharing locomotives. The two roads jointly owned 89 locomotives in September 1853, with another nine on order from the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Co. and the Taunton Locomotive Manufacturing Company.[152] More than half the locomotives owned by the CC&C and CP&A were built by the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Co.[152] To accommodate the need for locomotive construction and maintenance, the firm rapidly expanded its works on Columbus Road beginning in August 1852.[155] Business "boomed",[156] with the company making two locomotives a month there.[152]

The CC&C made other improvements and changes in 1853 as well. Business on the line was so good that the CC&C began to double-track its line. By the end of the year, it double-tracked the entire 25 miles (40 km) between Cleveland and Grafton.[144] The railroad also began construction of several new piers into Lake Erie, and the erection of a new freight depot on Front Street (formerly Bath Street).[157] Having extensively filled in some of the lake east of its facilities, the railroad began grading this area in October 1855 in order to begin construction of a new engine house and machine shop.[158] On July 1, 1853, the CC&C signed an agreement with the C&X and Little Miami Railroad (which connected Cincinnati to Springfield), which gave the CC&C trackage rights on both lines as well as through service.[144]

Double-tracking of the railroad continued in 1854 and 1855. The CC&C added 4 miles (6.4 km) of double-track between Galion and Crestline in 1854, and 11 miles (18 km) of second track completed between Crestline and Greenwich in 1855.[144] About this time, the CC&C also invested heavily in the bonds of the Columbus, Piqua and Indiana Railroad,[144] a line connecting Columbus and Union City, Ohio, via Urbana, Piqua, and Covington.

The CC&C entered into a working consolidation with the Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Cleveland Railroad (IP&C) of Indiana on April 1, 1856.[159] This railroad was chartered in 1848 and completed in 1851. It extended from Indianapolis, Indiana, northwest to Madison and Muncie before heading due east to the border of Ohio. Its terminus was in the border towns of Union City, Indiana/Union City, Ohio. A sister railroad, the Bellefontaine and Indiana Railroad (B&I), was chartered in 1848 and was completed in July 1853.[lower-alpha 12] This road ran northeast from Union City through Sidney, Bellefontaine, and Marion to Crestline, where it connected with the CC&C. The B&I had entered into a joint operating agreement IP&C on March 14, 1856,[160] and the CC&C's working consolidation gave it access to the important industrial and agricultural heart of Indiana.

The CC&C entered into another trackage rights contract in July 1856. Under this agreement, the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad agreed to pay the CC&C $86,000 ($2,400,000 in 2019 dollars) annually for 20 years. In return the C&T gained trackage rights over the CC&C line between Grafton and Cleveland.[144] The CC&C also leased its engine house at Superior and Vineyard to the C&T the following September.[95]

The company made a number of other operating changes in 1856 as well. It repaired the ice-damaged freight bridge over the Cuyahoga River in February,[161] and in early November the railroad agreed to change its fixed-span bridges into draw span bridges.[162] Conversion of the CC&C freight bridge was complete by November 15, and work on the main line bridge commenced shortly thereafter.[163]

The Nashville in April 1865, the CC&C locomotive which pulled the Lincoln funeral train part of the way through Ohio. Note the portrait of Lincoln mounted on the front.

By 1861, the CC&C had added 80 miles (130 km) miles of double track to its main line, leaving just 55 miles (89 km) of single track. The railroad had also added 20 miles (32 km) of siding, and owned 22 locomotives, 74 flatcars, 297 freight cars, 93 livestock cars, and 31 passenger cars.[144]

On January 1, 1862, the CC&C purchased a portion of the bankrupt Springfield, Mt. Vernon, and Pittsburgh Railroad from its creditors.[160][164] This added another 50 miles (80 km) of track between the towns of Delaware and Springfield, Ohio.[165]

The CC&C opened a new freight depot on Merwin Street in Cleveland in January 1863.[166] Two months later, it opened a new engine house and machine shop on Merwin Street. These latter improvements cost $80,000 ($1,700,000 in 2019 dollars).[167]

On April 29, 1865, the locomotive CC&C Nashville pulled Abraham Lincoln's funeral train from Cleveland to Columbus.[168][169] [170] The CC&C had also provided one of the nine cars that made up the train.[171] The train had left Erie, Pennsylvania, pulled by the locomotive William Case, owned by the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad. The CP&A locomotive Idaho traveled 10 minutes ahead, acting as a "pilot train" to ensure there were no problems on the track.[172] The William Case arrived in Cleveland on April 28 at precisely 7 A.M. The CC&C's Nashville departed for Columbus just after midnight on April 29.[171] The CC&C locomotive Louisville acted as the pilot train in front of the funeral cortege,[173] also traveling 10 minutes ahead.[174] The Nashville arrived in Columbus at 7:30 AM.[175] The funeral train left Columbus at 8 P.M. on April 29, pulled by a locomotive from the Columbus and Indianapolis Central Railroad.[169]

A merger in 1864 intertwined the CC&C with the Bellefontaine railroads. The CC&C had invested heavily in Bellefontaine and Indiana Railroad (B&I) bonds.[144] Then, on September 27, 1864, the Ohio-based B&I and the Indiana-based IP&C merged to form the Bellefontaine Railway.[160]

On May 16, 1868, the CC&C merged with the Bellefontaine Railway to form the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway.[160] The Bellefontaine Railway added 202.6 miles (326.1 km) miles of main track (118.4 miles (190.5 km) in Ohio) to the merged railroad.[176] The merger brought 9.5 miles (15.3 km) of siding into the new railroad as well.[177]

At the time of the merger, The CC&C was one of the few financially successful railroads in Ohio.[178]