Dayton and Michigan Railroad

Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway

Company type	Railroad company
Industry	Rail transport
Founded	March 2, 1846 (1846-03-02)
Founder	John Alexander Collins
Defunct	December 1917 (1917-12)
Fate	Absorbed by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; reorganized as Toledo and Cincinnati Railroad
Headquarters	Cincinnati , United States
Area served	Ohio, Indiana, Illinois
Key people	Stephen S. L'Hommedieu (president from 1848), D. McLaren (president from 1870), Henry S. Ives (brief control in 1886)
Products	Rail transport services

The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway (CH&D) was a railroad company based in Ohio that operated from its establishment on March 2, 1846, until it was absorbed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in December 1917. Originally chartered to link Cincinnati with Hamilton and subsequently extend to Dayton—covering a distance of —the railway grew through both construction efforts and acquisitions to oversee by 1902. The enterprise suffered a notable drop in stock and bond values in late 1905 due to poor financial oversight. In 1917, it underwent reorganization as the Toledo and Cincinnati Railroad.

Acquisitions

The CH&D was established by John Alexander Collins (1815–1878), who transitioned from being a locomotive engineer to founding the railway after relocating to Ohio in 1851. Initially incorporated on March 2, 1846, under the name "Cincinnati and Hamilton Railroad," it was renamed Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway on February 8, 1847. Stephen S. L'Hommedieu assumed the presidency on July 3, 1848. Construction commenced in 1850; by September that year, the right of way between Cincinnati and Hamilton had been secured, with grading finalized by May 1851. The first train service began on September 18, 1851.

On May 1, 1863, CH&D entered into an indefinite lease agreement for the Dayton and Michigan Railroad and later acquired controlling shares in the Cincinnati, Richmond and Chicago Railroad, thereby extending its network from Hamilton to Richmond, Indiana. Following L'Hommedieu’s retirement in June 1870, D. McLaren took over as president. The railway further expanded by acquiring the Cincinnati, Dayton and Chicago Railroad and the Cincinnati, Dayton and Ironton Railroad in 1891.

In 1886, control of CH&D briefly passed to financier Henry S. Ives before his financial collapse in 1887.

The CH&D in Lima, Ohio

The Dayton and Michigan Railroad was the second line to reach Lima, Ohio in 1858 and had established a significant shop facility north of the city by 1880 employing over 200 workers. Their freight depot was positioned west of the rail lines between North Central Avenue and North Jackson Street. The succeeding Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway expanded this location with a larger building that continued to be used by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad into the mid-20th century. The passenger station was located further north, between East Wayne Street and the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks.

See also

• List of defunct Ohio railroads
• List of defunct Illinois railroads
• List of defunct Indiana railroads

References

• Morris, J.C. (ed). 1902. 1902 Ohio Railway Report.
• Full Report, Thirty-fifth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs to the Governor of the State of Ohio For the Year 1902
• CCH&DRR Family Tree. Retrieved May 16, 2005.
• Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway (1914), List of Officers, Agents, Stations, Sidings and Mileage (reprinted 1996 by Trains & Stuff, Ltd.)
• Annual Report of the Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs for the Year Ending June 30, 1868, State of Ohio, 1869

External links

• Flood of 1913 at Rear 6th and Baymiller
• 1884 Flood at 6th and Baymiller, C.H.& D. Station
• North Side Cincinnati C. H. & D. Depot
• C.H. & D. Railroad Station in Hamilton, Ohio
• Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Depot located in Oxford, Ohio
• Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railroad archival records at Wright State University Special Collections