Conrail, the Pennsylvania Railroad's successor, sold the remaining trackage in the 1980s to the Indiana and Ohio Railway, a short line now owned by Genesee & Wyoming.

The CL&X located right-of-way, and began construction in about April 1853, but was forced to stop work by the end of 1855 due to lack of funds.

After imposing heavy restrictions, which would require the construction of several trestles and a tunnel, the Cincinnati City Council granted the right-of-way through the valley, including Eden Park, to the railroad company.

The company continued to be plagued by lack of funds, and, despite completion of the grade between Norwood and Waynesville within a year, work soon slowed and eventually stopped in late 1878.

Instead, the TD&B would construct a connection from the D&SE at a point they called Lebanon Junction, now inside Dayton near the intersection of Woodman and Rainier Drives, to the small village of Dodds.

Service was extended through the tunnel to the Eden Park entrance on January 12, 1882, and on February 13 a temporary Cincinnati depot opened just north of Court Street.

Two short branches to the suburbs of Montgomery and Avondale—the latter built separately as the Spring Grove, Avondale and Cincinnati Railway (SGA&C)—opened on November 14, 1881 and July 1, 1882, respectively.

[7] The TD&B absorbed its subsidiary, the Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad (TC&StL), in March 1882, and took its name as more descriptive of the growing system, which hoped to become part of a nationwide narrow gauge network stretching southwest to Mexico City.

Hafer obtained a short-term lease from the trustees of the Dodds-Lebanon Junction line (officially the Cincinnati Division), allowing continued access to Dayton.

But the latter was converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge in April 1887, and CL&N service was cut back to Dodds, since the operations north of there were unprofitable even when it was able to reach Dayton.

Several months later, a third rail was laid north to East Norwood, allowing the O&NW to connect with the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railroad (successor to the M&C).

The CJ&M also acquired the long-dormant Deer Creek Tunnel project in an attempt to construct its own route into the city, tired of dealing with Hafer and the CL&N.

Starting at the end of 1918, the Interstate Commerce Commission classified the CL&N as a Class I railroad, meaning that it made at least $1 million per year in operating revenue.

The 16.96-mile (27.29 km) line north of Dodds, built by the TD&B to connect the Cincinnati Northern to the D&SE at Lebanon Junction, was sold separately at the June 1884 foreclosure sale, to its first-mortgage bondholders for $20,000.

He bought the abandoned rail line from the bondholders' trustees for $40,000 in December 1888, and in January 1889 organized the Dayton, Lebanon and Cincinnati Railroad (DL&C).

He leased in 1890 and later bought land in Dayton for the proposed terminal, and in early 1892 he acquired the quarries at Centerville, giving the line its source of traffic.

Construction was restarted in April, and in November the branch reached the intersection of Brown and Caldwell Streets and the National Cash Register plant.

Construction on the majority of the route, which crossed the CL&N at Hageman, was complete by September 1891, and a 365-foot (111 m) truss bridge over the Little Miami River opened in early 1892, linking the line to the Pennsylvania.

The holders of liens against the property bought the line at foreclosure in October for $335,000, incorporated the Middletown and Cincinnati Railroad in December, and elected Sorg president.

Short line Indiana and Ohio Railway (IORY) acquired most of the remainder in the 1980s, beginning operations from Monroe (near Middletown) to Mason and Lebanon in March 1985, and McCullough to Brecon in December 1986.

But the load was too much for the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge TC&StL, and several companies switched to Miami and Erie Canal boats to make the connections until the waters subsided.

That company had just completed its line into downtown Dayton, when, less than a year later, the Loramie Reservoir broke through its levees and sent a swell of water through down the Great Miami River and into the city.

The line started its gradual descent as it left the tunnel, generally following the existing ground level and crossing streets at grade.

[38] Double tracks initially stretched from Court Street to near Fredonia Avenue, where the 1.25-mile (2.01 km) Avondale Branch split for the Cincinnati Zoo.

In the late 1880s, the CL&N, with its frequent commuter service, contributed to the development of suburbs along its line including Idlewild, East Norwood, Silverton, Deer Park, and Hazelwood.

[42] In Butler County, north of Brecon, the CL&N curved abruptly northeast onto the original line, partially graded in the 1850s between Sharonville and Lebanon.

[43] Just beyond, it began to descend slowly through Mason to Hageman, where it crossed the Middletown Branch, and then rose slightly, alongside Turtle Creek, to Lebanon.

[44] The Pennsylvania tore down the original Lebanon passenger station in 1960, replacing it (for freight purposes) with a smaller building from Kings Mills on the Little Miami Railroad.

The never-used grade from Dodds to Waynesville descended into the Little Miami River valley via Newman Run before turning north and ending at the latter village.

The original route continued north, parallel to Woodman Drive, to the old Dayton and South Eastern Railroad (now the Iron Horse Trail) at Lebanon Junction.