Middletown and Cincinnati Railroad

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The Middletown and Cincinnati Railroad was a 14-mile line in southwest Ohio that connected Middletown in Butler County with Middletown Junction in Warren County. It began as the Middletown and Cincinnati Railway Company, formed on February 28, 1890 by Middletown industrialist Paul Sorg and others who wanted better railroad service to Cincinnati. The line opened in December 1892 to provide easier access and connections to Cincinnati.

The route started at a depot on Clinton Street in Middletown and then went southeast through Lemon Township near Oakland, into Warren County east of Monroe, and through Turtlecreek and Union Townships. At Hagemans Crossing, about twelve miles from Middletown, it crossed the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway, then a narrow-gauge line, following a path roughly along the old Warren County Canal. The line continued southeast, crossing the Little Miami River on a 365-foot truss bridge into Hamilton Township and ending at Middletown Junction on the Little Miami Railroad. The grade was very gentle, with a maximum of 0.46 percent.

The railroad was mostly financed with borrowed money and fell into receivership in 1894. On October 20, 1894, it was sold at auction to the original lenders and reincorporated on December 24, 1894 as the Middletown and Cincinnati Railroad Company. After the Pennsylvania Railroad bought the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway in 1896, the CL&N purchased the M&C for $400,000 on June 3, 1902 and merged it into the CL&N. When Penn Central went bankrupt, the line became part of Conrail in 1976. Conrail later sold the section from Middletown to Hagemans Crossing to the Indiana and Ohio Railroad (I&O), which now operates freight service to Lebanon and Mason and previously ran an excursion train to Monroe from Mason.

The track southeast of U.S. Route 42 at Hagemans Crossing was abandoned and the rails removed, with the right-of-way sold to the City of Lebanon. The southeastern section between Columbia Road and Middletown Junction became the Lebanon Countryside Trail, which opened in fall 2005. The old bridge continues to link the trail to the Little Miami Bike Trail.