The Cincinnati and Eastern Railway (C&E) was a railroad from Idlewild in Norwood, near Cincinnati, to Portsmouth, Ohio. At its western terminus, it connected with the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern (CL&N) and the Pennsylvania Railroad Richmond Division (PRR), and to a Norfolk & Western line at its eastern terminus.

 

The C&E was chartered as the Cincinnati, Batavia & Williamsburg on January 11, 1876, but the name was changed and the projected route was extended to Portsmouth in May. In October 1876, the line was opened from Batavia Junction to Batavia, a distance of 15 miles, and by August of next year, the railroad had reached Winchester, a distance of 48 miles.

 

In June, a 5.5-mile western extension to the Miami Valley Railroad, later the CL&N Idlewild, was completed. It was constructed to the Miami Valley Railroad, who had promised a narrow-gauge connection via the Deer Creek valley to Cincinnati. When the Deer Creek tunnel project ran into financial difficulties, the C&E found that its connection to Cincinnati was completely useless for four years. The railroad soon went into receivership in January 1879 due to failures to collect stock subscriptions, but exited that in 1881.

 

At a meeting in November 1880 the shareholders voted to increase the capital stock from $500,000 to $2 million, and to authorize a bond issue to connect the railroad to Portsmouth and beyond to Gallipolis. In 1882, trackage rights were secured via the Deer Creek valley to Court Street in Cincinnati.

 

By the end of 1882, the C&E had reached Peebles, 72 miles from the Court Street depot. In May 1883, the railroad had reached Rarden, and Henley in late July. The C&E was completed to Portsmouth in 1884, with a 1,000-foot truss over the Scioto River as its centerpiece.

 

In 1886, the railroad was sold to the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton (CH&D), which defaulted and was sold to the Ohio & Northwestern Railroad (O&NW). The railroad went into receivership soon after, and in 1889, the railroad completed five miles of the long-projected Gallipolis extension from Portsmouth to Sciotoville.

 

In 1891, the railroad reorganized under the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Virginia Railroad (CP&V), which merged with the Norfolk & Western (N&W) in October 1901.

 

In 1913, the Scioto River Bridge was replaced with a multi-span truss constructed by the American Bridge Company. Other trestle replacements included the construction of a girder span over Dry Run in 1941 by the Virginia Bridge Company.

 

In 1947, the N&W east of Peebles to Jaybird via Jaybird Creek was realigned when a quarry opened along Plum Run that required the railroad to be rerouted to the north and east. It included a new trestle above Cedar Fork and several miles of new trackage.

 

In 1982, the Norfolk & Western Railway consolidated with the Southern Railway to form the Norfolk Southern Corporation, and the railroad became the Norfolk Southern. The NS has railbanked the line east of Peebles to Vera Junction at Portsmouth.

 

Here is a sampling of photographs from Cincinnati to Portsmouth, flowing eastward.

 

_{A view of the small yard at Idlewild before its connection with the former Cincinnati, Northern & Lebanon.}

 

_{The track split from the Cincinnati, Northern & Lebanon to the Cincinnati & Eastern (C&E) at Idlewild.}

 

_{One of two spans over Interstate 71 in Norwood, east of Idlewild. The line has been railbanked from Claire west to Idlewild.}

 

_{The Cincinnati & Eastern (C&E) crosses over the Pennsylvania Railroad Richmond Divison (PRR). Behind me is the junction of the PRR and the Little Miami Railroad at Redbank, and to the east of Clare Yard, where the C&E and the Little Miami junctioned.}

 

_Winchester

 

_Winchester

 

_{A view of the Cincinnati & Eastern westbound near the Elk Fork Ohio Brush Creek. The siding has not been used in years and has a derailer. The mainline is not used all that often, unfortunately.}

 

_{A view of the Cincinnati & Eastern westbound near the Elk Fork Ohio Brush Creek.}

 

_Seaman

 

_{A disused siding, although it is no longer required since the mainline now ends at Peebles and can act as an impromptu siding. It is used by the Tangent Rail corporation.}

 

_{Peebles. A long disused siding served the silos on the right.}

 

_{Peebles. A long disused siding served the silos on the left.}

 

_{Peebles, at the end of a long disused siding.}

 

_{Track work at Peebles adjacent to Tangent Rail.}

 

_{A sizable trestle over the Cedar Fork Scioto Brush Creek southeast of Peebles.}

 

_{Constructed 1947 by the American Bridge Company, the trestle spans Cedar Fork.}

 

_{The former alignment travels along this well blazed bed to the quarry.}

 

_{Cedar Fork trestle. The line was realigned in 1947 after a quarry opened along the right-of-way from Peebles east to Jaybird.}

 

_{The current NS at Jaybird, where the former alignment diverted along Jaybird Branch to the quarry east of Peebles.}

 

_Rarden

 

_Rarden

 

_{Near Otway.}

 

_{A view at Henley, where Ohio Route 73 crosses the Cincinnati & Eastern.}

 

_Arion

 

_{The Dry Run Trestle was constructed by the Virginia Bridge Company of Roanoke, Virginia in 1941.}

 

_{The Scioto River Bridge was constructed in 1913 by the American Bridge Company.}

 

_{Scioto River Bridge}

 

_{Scioto River Bridge}

 

_{Note the derailer.}

 

_{Scioto River Bridge}

 

_{Scioto River Bridge}

 

View the history of the C&E and view more photographs at the Cincinnati and Eastern Railway (C&E) article. Enjoy!

Fantastic.

Good research and beautiful photo documentation.

Awesome. This line parallels OH 73 in Adams and Scioto Counties and certainly would provide a much smoother ride than the roadway while being arguably less fun for driving enthusiasts -- but passenger rail through that section would be much more fun for the average Joe or Jane. 73: Rad in a Porsche while alert but hell in a pickup with a hangover.

Wow love the perspective on some of these ones. Especially the 'sizable trestle'...

Thanks for the post.  I go to Peebles often, and wondered about this line as I cross over it.

These are great! I think the shot captioned "Near Otway" is absolutely beautiful!