However, the original 1900s rails laid within the brick streets of the cities and towns remained a maintenance problem and were a source of constant arguments with township administrations.
[citation needed] In 1930, at the beginning of the Great Depression, Conway purchased and merged his profitable CH&D with two essential connecting interurbans Indiana, Columbus and Eastern, and the Lima-Toledo Railroad, to form the Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad.
Conway then borrowed even more money ($3.7 million in bonds and new corporate stock) and ordered more new equipment, including the innovative light weight aluminium body high speed passenger car "Red Devils" from the Cincinnati Car Company.
[2] With two other vitally important for C&LE survival interurban connections at Toledo, the new C&LE provided through interurban passenger and freight service east to Cleveland (Lake Shore Electric) and north to Detroit (Eastern Michigan Railway).
[3] The accelerating collapse of the American economy through the late 1930s led to further C&LE financial losses and a steady decline in operations.