The Cincinnati and Columbus Traction Co.
Hillsboro Short Line
The Swing Line
The Cincinnati and Columbus Traction Co. was known by all of the above names. Narrow gauge "electric" railways such as the Cincinnati and Columbus Traction Co. were popular in the Cincinnati area at the turn of the Twentieth Century and were called "interurbans."
(Note: Most of the information contained in this article was obtained from the book Cincinnati and Columbus Traction Co / Hillsboro Short Line / The Swing Line by David McNeil, published in 1996 by David McNeil.)
The Cincinnati and Columbus Traction Co. (CCTC) begin as an opportunity realized in 1900 when banker Henry Burkhold, the chief officer of the Franklin Bank in Cincinnati, had to take a three mile carriage ride to a relative's farm after disembarking from the steam railroad station in Milford, Ohio. Mr. Burkhold convinced investors consisting of Frank Suire, A.J. Becht, Frank Dune, and the Swing Brothers (Philip, Richard and (court) Judge Peter) to help fund the narrow gauge railway they hoped to run from Norwood, Ohio to Columbus, Ohio someday.
Electric railways were all the rage during this turn of the century period and the group forged ahead with their plans by selling stock and getting franchises at the major stops. The company was never profitable enough to pay a dividend to the share holders, however. Also, the company's plan to extend eastward to Chillicothe and Columbus never materilized as they neglected to plan for a connection at Hillsboro to continue onto Columbus and they failed to realize that the regions beyond Milford were sparsely populated. Nor could they be expected to foresee the coming of the universal acceptance of the automobile, which would eventually doom all the interurbans.
An interesting letter obtained by David McNeil written by a Mr. E. Seigwald, a N&W freight agent, dated February 27, 1909, contained the following information regarding two Jackson Township communities:
"MARATHON, OHIO - 200 or 300 people. About 12 miles from Blanchester [on the B&O], 8 miles from Williamsburg, and 12 miles from Batavia [on the N&W]. Some 8 or 10 carloads of coal received and 5 or 6 cars of wire and implements from Indiana and Illinios points. One car salt from Pomeroy, O. Their flour is bought in Fayetteville, Ohio."
"MONTEREY, OHIO - 150 to 200 people. One car of implements hauled from Williamsburg or Baldwin,O. [on the N&W]. This point is about 7 miles from Baldwin, O., and Williamsburg, O. 4 or 5 cars of fertilizer are shipped from Ft. Wayne, Ind. for parties at Monterey. Live stock is shipped to Williamsburg, also to Cincinnati and some is driven and hauled from Monterey to Cincinnati, O. Flour is bought at Boston and Fayetteville, Ohio."
The CCLC tracks ran closley along current U.S. Highway 50 in Clermont County and ran through the Jackson Township communities of Monterey and Marathon. The Marathon substation building still exists to this day. There are traces of the line to be found in backyards and across small creeks on properties that front up to U.S. Highway 50.
In 1913 some of the line's property and a major bridge over the Little Miami River was severly damaged in a terrible flood. The company went into voluntary receivership and never emerged. In 1918 it lost so much money that it was deemed hopeless by the receiver and applied for abandonment, for which it received permission.
An ad appeared in the Cincinnati Times Star on October 25, 1919 that proclaimed by order of the Public Utilities Commission, the Cincinnati and Columbus Traction Line was to cease operation of cars east of Owensville after Midnight October 25, 1919.
There were people that had hoped to continue the line including an attempt by businessmen in Hillsboro to combine the CCLC with the CM&B. However, the operation became a mere footnote in history as track was eventually removed, bridges destroyed and buildings sold off.