N&W to Portsmouth

N&W to Portsmouth

The Norfolk Southern line to Portsmouth, Ohio was built by the Cincinnati & Eastern narrow gauge starting in 1876. They got as far as Winchester in 1881. Note that the Cargill granary is on the old wye (west leg gone now) in Winchester. In 1883 they built up from what was Batavia Junction (renamed Clare by the PRR in 1903) to Idlewild Junction with the CL&N in Evanston. They also made it into Portsmouth then. The C&E also went to New Richmond, Ohio and Sciotoville, Ohio. In 1887 the railroad is sold and reformed into the Ohio & Northwestern. The C&E went back and forth with standard gauging because they could never afford to do the whole at once. The O&NW was standard gauge. In 1891, the O&NW was refinanced and renamed the Cincinnati Portsmouth & Virginia. The same people operated the railroad; the financial backers changed. In the 1898-1899 period the CP&V built the Cincinnati Connecting Belt which ran from Idlewild to Bond Hill and into Ivorydale Yard in 1901. ( The tracks through HYDE PARK are NOT officially part of the CCB.) The Ross Estate was tracked into in 1911 by the N&W although much preliminary work was done by the CP&V. (history by Gary Rolih)

Nicknamed the "Peavine" due to its torturous hills and curvature. Called the Cincinnati District of the Lake Division today, the line is currently closed to through traffic and "railbanked" east of Seaman, Ohio.

Mile Post (eastbound)	Station Name	Notes
OB 11.1	Gest Street	Jct. KY Div, CSXT, IORY
OB 10.6	East Norwood	Jct. IORY, New Castle Dist.
OB 10.1	Penn	Jct. IORY, New Castle Dist.
OB 7.5	Oakley
CV 111.9	Valley	Jct. IORY Oasis Subdivision
CV 110.7	Red Bank	Jct. IORY Oasis Subdivision
CT 9.0	Clare	Jct. Hyde Park Branch
CT 13.0	Ancor	6847 ft. siding
CT 24.0	Batavia	3926 ft. siding
CT 30.6	Afton	5962 ft. siding - Ford plant
CT 47.4	Sardinia	5905 ft. siding - Jct. Mowrystown Branch (abandoned)
CT 60.5	Mt. Zion	5990 ft. siding
CT 67.0	Lawshe	6053 ft. siding
CT 71.9	Peebles
CT 82.0	Rarden	5588 ft. siding
CT 94.0	Brookside	6090 ft. siding
CT 96.8	McDermott
CT 105.0	Vera Junction	Jct. Columbus Dist, Portsmouth Yard limits.

Defect Detectors

CT 20.9 Gernon, Ohio

CT 33.0 Williamsburg, Ohio

CT 45.3 White Oak, Ohio

CT 57.7 Winchester, Ohio

CT 72.0 Peebles, Ohio

CT 85.2 Youngs, Ohio

CT 97.9 McDermott, Ohio

Radio Frequencies

160.440 - Road #1

	NS TQ-07 crosses the high trestle at Fairfax on the former Cincinnati Connecting Belt.
	NS eastbound grain train #52M crosses the Little Miami River at Clare.
	NS 430 at Perintown.
	NS 429 at the west end of Afton.
	A westbound lights up the signals at Afton at sunset.
	NS 52K enters the siding at Sardinia as westbound #217 waits.
	Sunset at the east end of Mt. Zion Siding in Seaman.
	NS 217 at Tranquility Pike crossing east of Seaman.
	NS 887 hauls empty coal hoppers eastbound at Peebles.
	NS 891 at the seldom photographed east end of Lawshe.
	NS 217 at the east end of Rarden.
	NS 887 eastbound at McDermott.
	NS 217 at Rushtown.
	NS 891 crossing the Scioto River at Vera Junction in Portsmouth.
	NS 138 at Spring Lane in Portsmouth.
	Hillsboro Branch N&W local 41XPP enters the Hillsboro Branch at Sardinia.
	N&W 31XPP crosses a trestle near East Danville, Ohio.
	N&W 31XPP north of New Market, Ohio.