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22-584: The trail is built on the grade of a railroad originally built as part of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad , which ran between its namesake cities. The M&C was acquired by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad becoming its Southwestern Division. The B&O was merged into the Chessie System Railroads, which was then merged into CSX Transportation . CSX abandoned parts and sold parts of

44-602: A backer of the Union Railroad and the Marietta Mineral, among other local railroads. Cutler served as General Manager and as President of the M&;C for many years. Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway (1846-1917) The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway ( CH&D ) was a railroad based in the U.S. state of Ohio that existed between its incorporation on March 2, 1846, and its acquisition by

66-443: A connection with The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad at Winton Place. This line opened on February 18, 1866 The Cincinnati and Baltimore Railway was chartered in 1868 and was built six miles down the east bank of Mill Creek from Spring Grove to downtown Cincinnati. This line was opened on June 1, 1872 and was "transferred on that day, under a contract for a perpetual lease" to the M&C. The Baltimore Short Line Railway

88-637: Is buried in Woodland Cemetery in Dayton , where his tombstone details his life and its work. The railway received a charter from the State of Ohio on March 2, 1846, as the "Cincinnati and Hamilton Railroad". The name was changed by the legislature to the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway on February 8, 1847. Stephen S. L'Hommedieu was elected president of the road on July 3, 1848. Work on

110-516: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in December 1917. It was originally chartered to build from Cincinnati to Hamilton, Ohio , and then to Dayton , a distance of 59 mi (95 km); further construction and acquisition extended the railroad, and by 1902 it owned or controlled 640 mi (1,030 km) of railroad. Its stock and bond value plunged in late 1905 after "financial mismanagement of

132-555: The Cincinnati, Dayton and Ironton Railroad . In 1886 the CH&;D was among the railroads controlled by the financial speculator Henry S. Ives before his spectacular collapse the following year. The Dayton and Michigan was the second railroad to reach Lima, Ohio, reaching there in 1858. By 1880, they had established a significant shop facility on the north side of town with over two hundred employees. The Detroit and Michigan had

154-807: The Athens County Commissioners in Athens County, and by the Vinton County Commissioners in Vinton County. The rail trail runs from Zaleski to Mineral. The rail remains intact from the Diamond Powder Plant westward nearly to Chillicothe. The track from Mineral eastward is abandoned through Athens and to Belpre. This rail-trail is open to hikers, horse riders, and bicyclists. It has a gravel/dirt surface and has many stream crossings where

176-698: The B&;O and the Baltimore City Council, the Union Railroad was built from Scott's Landing (Moore's Junction), three miles south of Marietta on the Ohio River, to Belpre in 1860. It was operated by the M&C. This section of track is still in operation (2012) with unit coal trains providing most of the traffic. Between 1864 and 1866, the M&C built its own line from Loveland through Madeira, Madisonville, Norwood, and Spring Grove to

198-515: The B&O. In December 1876, service on the "Old Line" from Warren's Station to a connection with the old Union Railroad at Scott's Landing was discontinued. It duplicated the Baltimore Short Line and was considered dangerous, steep and difficult to maintain, as it had many trestles and tunnels. The Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad became the Cincinnati, Washington and Baltimore Railroad on February 16, 1883. On December 20, 1889

220-482: The C.W.&B. became The Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railroad. The Marietta Mineral Railway was incorporated in February 1882 to restore operations on the "old line between Scott's Landing (Moore's Junction) and Big Run, northeast of Warren's. In October of 1884 trains were put into operation between Flemming Station and Marietta. This constituted 7 miles of the old line to Moore's Junction and three miles of

242-541: The CH&D leased the Dayton and Michigan Railroad in perpetuity and, later, acquired a controlling interest in the Cincinnati, Richmond and Chicago Railroad , extending from Hamilton to Richmond . L'Hommedieu retired in June 1870, shortly before his death in 1875, and was succeeded by D. McLaren as president of the road. In 1891, it acquired the Cincinnati, Dayton and Chicago Railroad , while in March of that year it added

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264-482: The old M&C line in stages during the late 1980s. Track was removed from the abandoned sections. The section of the railroad grade (with track removed) from the Red Diamond Powder Plant on the west end (between McArthur and Zaleski ) to Mineral on the east end was acquired by the respective county governments through Clean Ohio Conservation Fund grants. The underlying property is owned by

286-425: The old Union line to Marietta. The remaining 15 miles to Big Run was put into operation in June 1885." This section was known for its many accidents. The name was changed to the Marietta, Columbus and Cleveland Railroad (MC&C) in December 1900 and operated to about 1917. The east end operated as the Marietta and Vincent Railroad Company until abandoned in 1924. The rest of the line from Canaanville westward

308-675: The properties" was revealed. The company was reorganized as the Toledo and Cincinnati Railroad in 1917. The original CH&D was founded by John Alexander Collins, who was born on June 8, 1815, in Staffordshire, England. He came to the US as a child in 1825, and worked as a locomotive engineer until moving to Ohio in 1851 to open the CH&D. Collins remained with the line until 1872, six years before his death in Covington, Kentucky . Collins

330-578: The railroad bridges were removed during the dismantling of the track. Work to restore the many bridges in order to make the entire stretch passable is underway. The trail features two tunnels: the Moonville Tunnel, a masonry tunnel in Vinton County that is reputed to be haunted, and the King Switch Tunnel, a timber tunnel in Athens County. The governing organization of the trail, Moonville Rail-Trail, Inc., hopes to eventually extend

352-423: The right-of-way between Bellaire and Marietta. The Northwestern Virginia Railroad, financed and controlled by the B&O, was built from a junction with the B&O mainline at Grafton, Virginia to Parkersburg, Virginia and opened May 1, 1857. The M&C operated a ferry for the 14 miles downriver from Marietta to Parkersburg, so that travelers and freight could be transferred between the systems. With help from

374-531: The road began in 1850, and by September of that year the right of way had been obtained between Cincinnati and Hamilton, with the right of way between Hamilton and Dayton being sought. The road was graded by this time as well, since iron for the rails had arrived. By May 1851, the entire right of way was purchased and grading along the entire route finished. The first trains ran on September 18, 1851: Two special inaugural trains from Dayton met two special inaugural trains from Cincinnati at Hamilton. On May 1, 1863,

396-419: The tracks of The Little Miami Railroad to reach Loveland, ran on April 9, 1857. An extension of the right-of-way from Marietta upriver to Bellaire, Ohio , to enable a connection across the Ohio River with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Wheeling, Virginia , had been largely graded with stone culverts constructed by the 1858 bankruptcy. Construction stopped. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) later purchased

418-587: The trail eastward to New Marshfield then to Athens to join with the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway . Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad The Marietta and Cincinnati ( M&C ) was one of five important east-west railroads of southern Ohio ; it was later absorbed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). Its original route ran from Marietta through Vincent, Athens, Hamden, Chillicothe, Greenfield, Blanchester, and Loveland. It had two main branches: Blanchester to Hillsboro, which

440-471: Was acquired and operated for many years by B&O Railroad . The section from eastern Vinton County to Belpre was abandoned in the 1980s and the right-of-way sold off. Today, the portion from Mineral, Ohio to the end of the now-operating line south of Zaleski, Ohio is the Moonville Rail-Trail . William P. Cutler was an important figure in the development of the M&C. He also was

462-476: Was chartered in 1870 to build from Warren's Station (east of Athens) 30 miles to Belpre. It opened on November 15, 1874. It was built to afford lower operating and maintenance costs as well as a shorter route to Belpre. This line followed the Hocking River through Canaanville, Guysville and Stewart. It went through Coolville Station, Torch and Belpre. This became the mainline route of the M&C and later

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484-732: Was originally part of the Hillsboro and Cincinnati Railroad; and Hamden to Portsmouth, Ohio , originally part of the Scioto and Hocking Valley Railroad. The M&C was founded as the Belpre and Cincinnati Railroad (B&C) in 1845 The destination of the B&C was changed from Belpre to Marietta, Ohio , and in 1851 the name of the railroad was changed to The Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad. The M&C reached Loveland, Ohio by 1857. The company entered bankruptcy in 1858, from which it emerged in 1860. The first through-train from Cincinnati, using

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