James Krause
This is the story of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad (later Railway) from its creation in 1846 until its demise in 1917. The book covers the operation, acquisitions, consolidations and ultimate loss of control to robber-barons. The CH&D’s development from 1851 to 1917 was a prime factor in the growth of western Ohio’s manufacturing centers and population. Ohio’s major westernmost cities, Cincinnati, Dayton, and Toledo grew in size due to the easy access to raw materials and labor that flowed onto this road’s iron, later steel rails. Other smaller Ohio cities along the road such as Hamilton, Middletown, Piqua, Lima, Findlay, Bowling Green, Chillicothe, and Ironton would feed major manufacturing centers with the materials and people that made the Midwest the industrial powerhouse of a nation. Originally built by men of vision to spur the development of the Great Miami River Valley, the railroad became the pawn of robber-barons and Wall Street bankers in 1882. Subsequently, a revolving door of rapacious owners and management would destroy the railroad from within by fraud and deceit.
