Columbus and Xenia Railroad

The Columbus and Xenia Railroad was a railroad which connected the city of Columbus with the town of Xenia in the state of Ohio in the United States. Construction began in October 1847, and the line opened in February 1850. Connecting with the Little Miami Railroad, it created the first rail route from Cincinnati to Columbus.

Formation and fundraising

The Columbus and Xenia Railroad (C&X) was chartered on March 12, 1844.Template:Sfn Among its early leaders was William Dennison, the future Governor of Ohio.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The Little Miami Railroad linked Cincinnati and Xenia in 1845,Template:Sfn and the C&X was intended to link Columbus to Xenia—creating the first rail link between Columbus and Cincinnati.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In its charter, the C&X was authorized to issue $500,000 ($Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollars) in stock,Template:Sfn but the incorporators had difficulty raising funds and initiating construction.Template:Sfn Two years later, the state authorized Greene County to purchase $50,000 ($Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollars) of company stock, and the town of Xenia to purchase $5,000 ($Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollars) of company stock. The following year, the state authorized Franklin County and the city of Columbus to purchase $50,000 ($Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollars) of company stock each. The General Assembly also amended the C&X's charter to permit it to seek loans up to $300,000 ($Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollars).Template:Sfn Greene County was authorized to purchased another $50,000 ($Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollars) in stock, and Xenia to purchase another $6,000 ($Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollars) in stock. Madison County was authorized to purchase up to $20,000 ($Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollars) in stock.Template:Sfn

By April 1845,Template:Sfn the company had raised just $200,000 ($Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollars).Template:Sfn With funds still in short supply, no survey of the route had been made by February 1847. The state legislature amended the company's charter in February 1848 to permit it to increase the stock by $1 million and to obtain loans in any amount necessary to complete the road.Template:Sfn

Construction

File:Columbus & Xenia RR 1849.jpg

Share of the Columbus and Xenia Railroad Company issued September 1, 1849

Selecting the route

The C&X now had enough funds to begin construction of the line, but not enough to complete it. The company was now faced with selecting a president who not only had to be an able fund-raiser but who also could oversee construction of the line without incurring any cost overruns. Alfred Kelley agreed to become president of the railroad in spring or summer of 1847Template:Sfn at a salary of $500 ($Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollars) a year.Template:Sfn Kelley, a Cleveland lawyer, had been elected the first mayor of the newly-incorporated Village of Cleveland in 1815. As a member of the Ohio General Assembly, he championed the construction of canals, and as a Canal Commissioner oversaw the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal.Template:Sfn Known as the "father of the Ohio and Erie Canal",Template:Sfn Kelley was one of the most dominant commercial, financial, and political people in the state of Ohio in the first half of the 1800s.Template:Sfn

One of the ablest bankers and financiers in Ohio,Template:Sfn Kelley personally went to New York City to sell C&X bonds, and raised enough money to not only complete construction of the railroad but also to buy locomotives and rolling stock to equip it.Template:Sfn Kelley had accompanied the surveyors when they located the route of the Ohio & Erie Canal,Template:Sfn and now he and engineer Sylvester MedberyTemplate:Sfn traveled along the likely routes surveying them together. Kelley personally approved the route of the C&X.Template:Sfn

Grading and tracking the line

Construction on the C&X began when contracts were issued in October 1847 for grading of the line from the west bank of Scioto River in Columbus west to Georgesville. The Template:Convert west of Georgesville went under grading contract in September 1848, and the last Template:Convert to Xenia were under contract two months later. Grading was expected to be complete by February 1, 1849.

Work constructing the track bed began in February 1849. This would allow the line to open in October 1849. The track bed was finished in mid-June, and railroad officials hoped to have the line to open in October. Because bridging the Scioto River would take time, the C&X began construction in July 1849 of a temporary depot on the west bank of the river in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus. This was a two-story brick structure Template:Convert long and Template:Convert deep.

For the actual track, Kelley contracted with Sir John Guest & Co. of Wales in the United Kingdom for T rails. The C&X was one of the first railroads in Ohio to use T rails instead of strap rails.Template:Sfn The Template:Convert of rails did not arrive in Cleveland until July 1849, delaying the laying of track until the fall.

Opening the road

File:Columbus Union Station (first building).png

Station of the Columbus & Xenia Railroad (center, with cupola) on High Street, depicted in 1864

A locomotive was shipped via canal and rail to Columbus, where it assisted with the laying of track.Template:Sfn Mild winter weather allowed track to be laid more quickly than expected. With only Template:Convert of track left to lay on February 9, 1850, the company rushed to write rules and regulations for operating its road and to hire conductors and track workers.

Tracklaying was complete on either February 19Template:Sfn or February 21, 1850. The first test train ran over the track on February 22. Passengers, which included railway officials, civic leaders, and businessmen, traveled while seated on a flatcar. The journey took 3 hours and 5 minutes.Template:Sfn

The Columbus and Xenia Railroad began regular service on February 27, 1850.Template:Sfn The train was pulled by the Washington, a locomotive built by the Bolton Works of Cincinnati. There were no passenger or freight stations between Columbus and Xenia, only halts. The halts were incomplete; there were no platforms, shelters, or signals, just wide mudflats. On March 2, members of the Ohio General Assembly rode the line in a special train to celebrate the road's opening.Template:Sfn

Although the cost of constructing the road had been estimated at $600,000 ($Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollars) in May 1849, the final cost proved to be $1.4 million ($Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollars).Template:Sfn

The C&X bridge over the Scioto River opened on December 14, 1850.Template:Sfn This allowed the railroad to reach its permanent freight and passenger station, located on High Street at Naughten. This large, barn-like structure covered three tracks, all of them at-grade.Template:Sfn The location of the station had been controversial, as both sides of the river wanted the station.Template:Sfn The 1851 station had several small additions made to it in the early 1860s, to accommodate train traffic during the American Civil War. A new Union Station was built north of it in 1875, and the 1851 station demolished.Template:Sfn

The C&X built a brick building on west side of High Street (across the street from the depot) as its corporate headquarters in 1853.Template:Sfn

Expansion and merger

File:"Little Miami and Columbus and Xenia Railroad" 1865 ad in Polk's Nashville (Davidson county, Tenn.) city directory ... 1865 (IA polksnashvilleda00nash) (page 22 crop).jpg

"Little Miami and Columbus and Xenia Railroad" 1865 ad in Polk's Nashville City Directory

In 1853, the Columbus and Xenia Railroad and the Little Miami Railroad entered into a contract to operate as one line.Template:Sfn This joint operating agreement ended in 1869, at which point the C&X agreed to permanently lease itself to the Little Miami Railroad.Template:Sfn A year later, the Little Miami (and its leased lines) were leased to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, which eventually became a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad.Template:Sfn

For further reading

• Steiner, Rowlee. A Review of Columbus Railroads. unpublished manuscript. 1952. (Available from the library of the Ohio Historical Society)