Columbus and Xenia Railroad

Railroad in Ohio, United States

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.

The Columbus and Xenia Railroad (C&X) was chartered on March 12, 1844. Among its early leaders was William Dennison, the future Governor of Ohio. The Little Miami Railroad linked Cincinnati and Xenia in 1845, and the C&X was intended to link Columbus to Xenia—creating the first rail link between Columbus and Cincinnati. In its charter, the C&X was authorized to issue $500,000 ($ in dollars) in stock, but the incorporators had difficulty raising funds and initiating construction. Two years later, the state authorized Greene County to purchase $50,000 ($ in dollars) of company stock, and the town of Xenia to purchase $5,000 ($ in dollars) of company stock. The following year, the state authorized Franklin County and the city of Columbus to purchase $50,000 ($ in dollars) of company stock each. The General Assembly also amended the C&X's charter to permit it to seek loans up to $300,000 ($ in dollars). Greene County was authorized to purchased another $50,000 ($ in dollars) in stock, and Xenia to purchase another $6,000 ($ in dollars) in stock. Madison County was authorized to purchase up to $20,000 ($ in dollars) in stock. By April 1845, the company had raised just $200,000 ($ in dollars). 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.

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 1847 at a salary of $500 ($ in dollars) a year. 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. Known as the "father of the Ohio and Erie Canal", Kelley was one of the most dominant commercial, financial, and political people in the state of Ohio in the first half of the 1800s. One of the ablest bankers and financiers in Ohio, 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. Kelley had accompanied the surveyors when they located the route of the Ohio & Erie Canal, and now he and engineer Sylvester Medbery traveled along the likely routes surveying them together. Kelley personally approved the route of the C&X.

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 13 mile (21 km) west of Georgesville went under grading contract in September 1848, and the last 15 mile (24 km) 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. 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. The of rails did not arrive in Cleveland until July 1849, 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 19 or February 21, 1850. The first test train ran over the track on February 22. The train was pulled by the Washington, a locomotive built by the Bolton Works of Cincinnati. the final cost proved to be $1.4 million ($ in dollars). The C&X bridge over the Scioto River opened on December 14, 1850. 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. The location of the station had been controversial, as both sides of the river wanted the station. 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. 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.

In 1853, the Columbus and Xenia Railroad and the Little Miami Railroad entered into a contract to operate as one line. This joint operating agreement ended in 1869, at which point the C&X agreed to permanently lease itself to the Little Miami Railroad. 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.

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