OHIO RAILROADS.
BY R. S. KAYLER,
STATE COMMISSIONER OF RAILROADS.
Ohio was among the first of the States
to commence the
building of railroads. As early as 1832, when there
were but
two hundred and twenty-nine miles of
railroad in operation in
the United States, a special charter was
granted by the State of
Ohio for the construction of a railroad
to extend from Sandusky,
Huron County, to Dayton, Montgomery
County, a distance of
one hundred and fifty-six miles. The
road was completed as
far as Bellevue, sixteen miles, and put
into operation in 1839.
The balance of the road was not
completed and put into oper-
ation until 1844. It is now a part of
the "Big Four" system.
In order to aid this enterprise, special
acts were passed by
the Ohio Legislature authorizing the
State to loan its credit
to the amount of $200,000, and also
authorizing some of the
counties through which the road was to
pass to subscribe cer-
tain amounts, ranging from $25,000 to
$60,000 toward the cap-
ital stock of the company. The city of
Springfield was also
authorized to subscribe $25,000.
Another road was projected in 1832, the
Kalamazoo and
Erie, to extend from Toledo, Ohio, to
Adrian, Michigan, thirty-
three miles. A company was formed in
1835 and the road was
completed the following year, this being
really the first road
constructed in the State.
Oak stringers, covered with strap iron,
five-eighths of an
inch in thickness and two and one-half
inches in width, were
used for track in place of rails. The
road was first put into oper-
ation by means of horse power in 1836,
and continued in that
primitive way one year, when a
locomotive was purchased and
steam power was used thereafter.
In October, 1837, a contract was made
with the United
States government for carrying the mail.
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