Garrison Hilliard
December 14th 08, 03:01 AM
Cyclists may ride where locomotives roared
Dayton, Lebanon & Cincinnati line was once a vital rail link; efforts are afoot
to turn it into a bike path
By Steve Bennish
Staff Writer
Sunday, December 14, 2008
DAYTON — The Dayton, Lebanon & Cincinnati Railroad's finest hour occurred when
it represented Dayton's only usable rail link to the outside world in the
aftermath of the 1913 flood.
"I've always liked the history of Dayton, Oakwood and Kettering," said Joni
Knopp, a 49-year-old history buff from Kettering whose father was a wood worker
at NCR.
Knopp stumbled upon a rare 1912 promotional souvenir booklet about the rail line
from a box of memorabilia found at an auction. The booklet contains dozens of
rare photos taken in the year before the flood.
She treasures the collection, noting how dramatically the landscape in the Miami
Valley and southwest Ohio has changed since the booklet was produced.
The railroad's history dates to the 1870s and earlier. Eventually, it linked
communities such as Lebanon and Mason, which were then isolated. It began as a
suburban rail connection to downtown Cincinnati.
The connection to Dayton was the last stretch to be developed.
It was faster than horse and buggy, but the definition of quick in the 19th
century is very different from today, says attorney John W. Hauck, who wrote
"Narrow Gauge in Ohio," a comprehensive book on the line that was published in
1986.
It could take days to travel even by rail from Dayton to Cincinnati — and
weather was a significant factor. In the 1890s, the track was widened from three
feet to the standard, Hauck said. Passengers rode it until the 1930s.
"The railroad was seen as a big boon to industrialization," Hauck said.
Today, the only narrow gauge systems left in the nation operate as tourist
lines. One can be found in the mountains of Colorado, in Durango.
Today, parts of the line have been incorporated into the Iron Horse biking and
walking trail in Centerville, Kettering and Washington Twp.
The usefulness of forgotten railroad rights of way have been shown nationwide.
Many have been reborn as hiking and biking trails.
A segment of the rail line that travels from the University of Dayton into
Kettering, to Shroyer Road and Jane Newcom Park, has been blacktopped and is now
owned and used by the city of Dayton as a drainage and sewer easement.
That stretch could be a good way to connect the suburbs with campus, said Grant
Neeley, a UD professor who directs the graduate program in public
administration.
He has asked his undergraduate class to write a feasibility study about how to
bring the right of way into good repair, despite serious fiscal challenges faced
by the economy in general and the city of Dayton in particular.
Another task is creating a bike route from campus to downtown, he said.
Neeley has biked the abandoned rail line to work from his home near Stroop and
Shroyer roads in about 16 minutes. But it's not a safe and easy route in its
present condition.
The right of way is overgrown and parts of the black top are washed away from
flooding. That's among the engineering problems that will have to be addressed,
he said, as well as who could take charge of maintaining a bicycle route.
"We are trying to collect information and do surveys of residents and the UD
community," Neeley said. He's hoping for a report by year's end.
Mary Beth Thaman, city of Kettering's director of parks and recreation, is
interested. "I'm very excited about it," she said.
The city of Dayton has applied for a Ohio Public Works Commission grant to
finance half the cost of a $200,000 job to repair and replace a quarter mile of
the route south from Irving Avenue in 2010.
That's encouraging said Kjirsten Frank, a regional planner with the Miami Valley
Regional Planning Commission.
"We think it's a high priority commuter route," she said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7407 or sbennish@DaytonDaily
News.com
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/12/14/ddn121408railroadinside.html
Dayton, Lebanon & Cincinnati line was once a vital rail link; efforts are afoot
to turn it into a bike path
By Steve Bennish
Staff Writer
Sunday, December 14, 2008
DAYTON — The Dayton, Lebanon & Cincinnati Railroad's finest hour occurred when
it represented Dayton's only usable rail link to the outside world in the
aftermath of the 1913 flood.
"I've always liked the history of Dayton, Oakwood and Kettering," said Joni
Knopp, a 49-year-old history buff from Kettering whose father was a wood worker
at NCR.
Knopp stumbled upon a rare 1912 promotional souvenir booklet about the rail line
from a box of memorabilia found at an auction. The booklet contains dozens of
rare photos taken in the year before the flood.
She treasures the collection, noting how dramatically the landscape in the Miami
Valley and southwest Ohio has changed since the booklet was produced.
The railroad's history dates to the 1870s and earlier. Eventually, it linked
communities such as Lebanon and Mason, which were then isolated. It began as a
suburban rail connection to downtown Cincinnati.
The connection to Dayton was the last stretch to be developed.
It was faster than horse and buggy, but the definition of quick in the 19th
century is very different from today, says attorney John W. Hauck, who wrote
"Narrow Gauge in Ohio," a comprehensive book on the line that was published in
1986.
It could take days to travel even by rail from Dayton to Cincinnati — and
weather was a significant factor. In the 1890s, the track was widened from three
feet to the standard, Hauck said. Passengers rode it until the 1930s.
"The railroad was seen as a big boon to industrialization," Hauck said.
Today, the only narrow gauge systems left in the nation operate as tourist
lines. One can be found in the mountains of Colorado, in Durango.
Today, parts of the line have been incorporated into the Iron Horse biking and
walking trail in Centerville, Kettering and Washington Twp.
The usefulness of forgotten railroad rights of way have been shown nationwide.
Many have been reborn as hiking and biking trails.
A segment of the rail line that travels from the University of Dayton into
Kettering, to Shroyer Road and Jane Newcom Park, has been blacktopped and is now
owned and used by the city of Dayton as a drainage and sewer easement.
That stretch could be a good way to connect the suburbs with campus, said Grant
Neeley, a UD professor who directs the graduate program in public
administration.
He has asked his undergraduate class to write a feasibility study about how to
bring the right of way into good repair, despite serious fiscal challenges faced
by the economy in general and the city of Dayton in particular.
Another task is creating a bike route from campus to downtown, he said.
Neeley has biked the abandoned rail line to work from his home near Stroop and
Shroyer roads in about 16 minutes. But it's not a safe and easy route in its
present condition.
The right of way is overgrown and parts of the black top are washed away from
flooding. That's among the engineering problems that will have to be addressed,
he said, as well as who could take charge of maintaining a bicycle route.
"We are trying to collect information and do surveys of residents and the UD
community," Neeley said. He's hoping for a report by year's end.
Mary Beth Thaman, city of Kettering's director of parks and recreation, is
interested. "I'm very excited about it," she said.
The city of Dayton has applied for a Ohio Public Works Commission grant to
finance half the cost of a $200,000 job to repair and replace a quarter mile of
the route south from Irving Avenue in 2010.
That's encouraging said Kjirsten Frank, a regional planner with the Miami Valley
Regional Planning Commission.
"We think it's a high priority commuter route," she said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7407 or sbennish@DaytonDaily
News.com
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/12/14/ddn121408railroadinside.html