The Dayton District is a railroad line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway

Norfolk Southern Railway

The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. The line runs from Columbus southwest to Cincinnati along former Pennsylvania Railroad

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

 and New York Central Railroad

New York Central Railroad

The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...

 lines. Its east end is at or near the Columbus District, Sandusky District

Sandusky District

The Sandusky District is a railroad line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. state of Ohio. The line runs from Columbus north to Sandusky along a former Pennsylvania Railroad line. At its south end, it junctions or comes close to the Columbus District, Dayton District,...

, and West Virginia Secondary; its south end is near Bond Hill

Bond Hill, Ohio

Founded as a railroad suburb and temperance community in 1871 in northeastern Millcreek Township in Hamilton County, Ohio, Bond Hill is currently a neighborhood of the City of Cincinnati. It is one of a number of neighborhoods lining the Mill Creek, an urban stream in southwestern Ohio. Bond Hill...

, where it meets CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

's Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision and the Indiana and Ohio Railway

Indiana and Ohio Railway

The Indiana and Ohio Railway is an American railroad that operates of track in Ohio and parts of southeastern Indiana. It is owned and operated by RailAmerica, having been acquired in 2000. The Indiana and Ohio Railroad was formed in 1978 to operate a branch between Valley Junction, Ohio and...

's Midland Subdivision. Along the way, it junctions the New Castle Subdivision

New Castle Subdivision

The New Castle Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania ond Ohio. The line runs from New Castle, Pennsylvania west to Greenwich, Ohio along a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line....

 at Evendale

Evendale, Ohio

Evendale is a village in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,090 at the 2000 census.Evendale was the home of John Van Zandt, a participant in the Underground Railroad....

.

History

The oldest part of the line is from Columbus west to London, was opened in 1850 by the Columbus and Xenia Railroad

Columbus and Xenia Railroad

The Columbus and Xenia Railroad was the first railroad to operate in Columbus, Ohio. By merging with the Little Miami Railroad it created the first through rail route from the important manufacturing city of Cincinnati to the state capital, Columbus....

. In 1851, the Springfield and Dayton Railroad opened from Springfield southwest to Dayton. The Springfield and Columbus Railroad opened in 1853 from London west to Springfield. The Cincinnati and Springfield Railway opened the final piece, between Dayton and Bond Hill (part of Cincinnati), in 1872. The Columbus and Xenia Railroad became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

 system, while the rest became New York Central Railroad

New York Central Railroad

The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...

 lines. The two companies merged to form Penn Central Transportation

Penn Central Transportation

The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American railroad company that operated from 1968 until 1976. It was created by the merger on February 1, 1968, of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad...

 in 1968 and were taken over by Conrail in 1976. What was then known as the Cincinnati Line was assigned to Norfolk Southern in the 1999 breakup of Conrail.