gothpapa Wrote:
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>As far as I know that was Ohio's
> only non-industrial NG.
A rundown of some of the other Ohio NG roads, some of which were far more significant in there day (and larger).
The Toledo, Cincinnati, & St. Louis was one of the most important (and largest) of all narrow gauge roads. The narrow gauge movement/era is best defined as starting with the D&RG in 1871 and ending with the TC&Stl's bankruptcy. The road connected to Toledo, Cincinnati, Ironton, and East St. Louis. This road had around 100 NG locomotives and its headquarters were in tiny Delphos, OH. The best coverage of this line is in Rehor's The Nickel Plate Story, as the Toledo-St. Louis line (the Clover Leaf) became part of the Nickel Plate. Small portions remain, but much was abandoned following the N&W's acquisition of the NKP and the Clover Leaf's primary competitor, the Wabash.
The Cincinnati connection was probably the best constructed portion of the TC&Stl. It was built as the Cincinnati Northern and became the Cincinnati, Lebanon, & Northern following the failure of the Little Giant (TC&Stl). This road had one of the very few double track narrow gauge mainlines. It operated with Baldwin 4-4-0s (sisters of the Eureka), Brooks 2-6-0s, and Mason Bogies (one of which was a sister to the famed South Park Mason Bogies). The road was standard gauged in the 1890s and continued on as a Pennsy property for many years. Portions were abandoned many years ago...and portions of it are still active (one portion as a tourist operation). This road had a zoo train which operated from downtown Cincinnati to the Cincinnati zoo via a pair of tunnels and some stiff grades. The book for this road is Narrow Gauge in Ohio by John Hauck (the son of Cornelius Hauck, the noted NG friend/author and Cincinnati resident).
Other Cincinnati NG roads included:
-Cincinnati & Portsmouth (CG&P) which started near the mouth of the Little Miami River at the Little Miami Railroad (later the Panhandle and then the PRR). The CG&P had some triple gauge trackage towards the end of the narrow gauge. They had Baldwin motive power and Jackson & Sharp passenger cars. Their rails survive inside one of the Cincinnati Water Works buildings.
-Cincinnati & Eastern ran east from the east side of Cincinnati at a location on the Little Miami RR a few miles northeast of the CG&P. After the Cincinnati Northern was completed, it was extended to connect with the CL&N at Ivanhoe where its passenger trains would hop on the CL&N and terminate at the Court St. Station. Later, the Cincinnati & Eastern became the N&W Peavine. The N&W's flagship passenger trains, the Powhatan Arrow and the Pochohontas used this line as far as the Little Miami RR where N&W passenger trains took the Little Miami into Cincinnati prior to 1932 and too the PRR belt line to the B&O which took them to the new Cincinnati Union Terminal. The C&E's old extension to Ivanhoe saw visits from 2-8-8-2s. Today, the line is all in place and active as far as the Little Miami (the trains now use the PRR Belt line)...but much of it has been relocated east of Cincinnati. The C&E seemed to like Brooks 4-4-0s and 2-6-0s while they received their passenger cars from Jackson & Sharp and Barney & Smith.
-The College Hill Railroad was a short commuter line with Porter locomotives and Barney & Smith cars. It later became an interurban's entrance to Cincinnati.
-The Cincinnati & Westwood was also a commuter line. Motive power included a pair of moguls from Baldwin and Brooks. It was later standard gauged and received three new tank engines (a pair of 2-6-2ts and a 2-8-2t), and then sat dormant for 30 years. Every week, the lone employee would make a trip over the line in a motorcar to protect the ROW...the goal being to sell it to a railroad attempting to gain access to the city. It was abandoned in 1941.
There were two NG roads which where built between Dayton/Springfield and the coal fields around Wellston. The Springfield, Jackson & Pomeroy as well as the Dayton & Southeastern. The SJ&P eventually became part of the DT&I...and was the reason that the DT&I's 2-8-4s could negotiate tighter curves (26 degrees!) than the D&RGW K-36s!
There were a number of other NG roads in North Eastern Ohio. A number of these formed portions of the Wheeling & Lake Erie. Since the W&LE became a part of the NKP, the best source is, again, Rehor's Nickel Plate Story. I've written enough so far that my mind isn't cooperating enough to think of the roads...
Michael
