Cincinnati Riverfront Track

[NW Mailing List]

Hi -

I’m new to this list. A recent visit to Cincinnati got me more interested in the history of N&W there. As background, I worked for N&W for a couple of years in the very early 80s (pre-NS) in Sandusky and still have a Scioto Division employee TT (which includes both Cincinnati and Sandusky) from then. 

According to that TT’s map of the division, N&W, in addition to the Hyde Park Branch (Clare - Idlewild - Berry - Ivorydale), owned Clare - Red Bank - Valley (ex-PRR Little Miami) as well as the track along the riverfront west of Oasis. It also shows trackage rights on Conrail Valley to Mill (to access the New Castle line) and Red Bank - Rendcomb Jct. - Oasis to access the riverfront track. There is no mention of the riverfront track other than showing it on the map. From what I’ve read elsewhere, the N&W owned section of the riverfront track was essentially from under the L&N bridge to under the C&O bridge.

I assume ownership of Clare - Red Bank - Valley came as part of the 1976 purchase of the New Castle Line. Did ownership of the riverfront track come at the same time? Or at some other point? And why did N&W end up owning it? While NS had a short-term use for it post-merger, it doesn’t make a lot of sense pre-merger. And who owned it before N&W acquired it.

-- 
Larry Stone
lstone19 at stonejongleux.com