The Central Ohio Railroad was the third railroad to enter Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

, and the first to connect Columbus with the east coast. It eventually became a part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

.

History

It was realized that a railroad from Bellaire

Bellaire, Ohio

Bellaire is a village in Belmont County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,278 at the 2010 census. The village is located along the Ohio River...

 on the west side of the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

 across from Wheeling

Wheeling, West Virginia

Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 would be a valuable franchise for moving goods to and from the east coast. Chartered in February, 1847 by interests in Zanesville

Zanesville, Ohio

Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The population was 25,586 at the 2000 census.Zanesville was named after Ebenezer Zane, who had constructed Zane's Trace, a pioneer road through present-day Ohio...

, the CO was to prove difficult to construct.

Construction challenges

Eastern Ohio proved a difficult location for a railroad. Obstacles included the Muskingum River at Zanesville, 700 feet of excavation through the hard sandstone of the Blackhand Gorge along the Licking River between Zanesville and Newark, and large quantities of fill and trestle work along the Big Walnut Creek. A tunnel in Cambridge had rockfalls and a cut near Barnesville had landslides.

Operation begins

In January, 1852 trains ran between Zanesville and Newark. A year later trains ran from Newark to Columbus. Finally, in November 1854 the entire line was open between Bellaire and Columbus. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

 had been completed from Baltimore through Pittsburgh to Wheeling in 1852, so rail through rail service, except for the Ohio River Crossing, was afforded from Columbus to Baltimore and on to New York City. The railroad entered Columbus from the east passing near what is now Port Columbus Airport, crossed Alum Creek and Nelson Road south of Fifth Avenue and past the Barracks where it swung around southwestward to entered Union Station.

A struggle to operate

The poorly constructed line had an unballasted roadbed, and damage to engines and cars due to derailments was expensive and frequent. A lack of passing sidings rendered regular schedules impossible to meet. There weren't enough freight and passenger cars, and the maintenance facilities were inadequate. Due to the expense of constructing the line, no more credit was available to fix these shortcomings. The CO attempted to pay off its indebtedness from revenue, but fell into receivership in 1857 where it remained for several years.

Civil War traffic and the B&O

Due to wartime revenue and traffic increases, the CO was able to exit bankruptcy in December 1865. The B&O, which had acquired an interest in the CO to keep it going during the war, leased the railroad and began a capital improvements program. In 1871 a stone and steel bridge crossed the Ohio River between Bellaire and Wheeling, greatly improving service. The line remained a part of the B&O Railroad although parts of it were shared with the Pennsylvania Railroad in later years.

See also

• Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
  Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
  The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
  
  
• Columbus Union Station
• Columbus Railroads history page