Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad

Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad

C&LE #119, one of the famed "Red Devils", at the Ohio Railway Museum in 1966
Locale	Ohio
Dates of operation	1930 (1930)–1939 (1939)
Predecessor	Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	550-600 V DC
Length	323 miles (520 km)
Headquarters	Dayton, Ohio

The Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad (C&LE) was a short-lived electric interurban railway that operated in 1930–1939 Depression-era Ohio and ran between the major cities of Cincinnati, Dayton, Springfield, Columbus, and Toledo. It had a substantial freight business and interchanged with other interurbans to serve Detroit and Cleveland. Its twenty high-speed "Red Devil" interurban passenger cars operated daily between Cincinnati and Cleveland via Toledo, the longest same equipment run by an interurban in the United States. The C&LE failed because of the weak economy and the loss of essential freight interchange partners. It ceased operating in 1939.

The Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad was legally formed as a corporate entity in January, 1930, by the consolidation of three existing 1929 electric interurban lines: the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton (CH&D); the Indiana, Columbus and Eastern (IC&E); and the Lima-Toledo Railroad (LT). The combination of these three companies created an interurban system that operated a south-north line from Cincinnati through Dayton and Springfield to Toledo, and an east bound line from Springfield to Columbus.

The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway was acquired and reorganized in 1926 by Dr. Thomas Conway, Jr, a professor of business at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Believing that he could turn the interurban into a very profitable operation, he made substantial investments in infrastructure and rolling stock, including passenger cars and freight locomotives. He spent $500,000 to purchase the CH&D and then spent $1.5 million on improvements. The interurban's business and prospects improved as hoped, particularly in the movement of freight. In 1929, it handled 83,000 short tons (75,000 t) of freight in Cincinnati. Conway then contemplated the advantages of extending his railway north to Toledo, Ohio connecting to Detroit where the C&HD could tap the shipping business of the automotive industry. Thus Conway acquired the Indiana, Columbus and Eastern and the Lima-Toledo as the two teetered at the edge of bankruptcy. These acquisitions gave him the desired access to Toledo. In early January, 1930, the three combined lines were officially incorporated as the Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad.