The Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad was legally formed as a corporate entity in January, 1930, by the consolidation of three existing 1929 electric interurban lines: the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton (CH&D); the Indiana, Columbus and Eastern (IC&E); and the Lima-Toledo Railroad (LT).

[1] The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway was acquired and reorganized in 1926 by Dr. Thomas Conway, Jr., a professor of business at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

Believing that he could turn the interurban into a very profitable operation, he made substantial investments in infrastructure and rolling stock, including passenger cars and freight locomotives.

Conway then contemplated the advantages of extending his railway north to Toledo, Ohio connecting to Detroit where the C&HD could tap the shipping business of the automotive industry.

The timing proved unfortunate as this extensive borrowing was added to the already large bond debt of the earlier CH&D, and it came as the United States entered the Great Depression, which lasted ten years to 1939.

When in bankruptcy court mandated "Receivership", the C&LE had the cash to continue to operate due to the suspension of bond payments.

The Dayton and Western was so weak that the C&LE, in conjunction with the Indianapolis interurban Indiana Railroad, provided the financial support to keep it operating, but it ultimately failed in 1937.

The absolutely essential Cleveland connection ended in 1938 when the Lake Shore Electric abandoned after an unwise freight agent strike.

C&LE management turned the numerous and prior legacy regional mid 1920s interurban companies' trolley-freight feeble operations into an efficient, high-speed, freight carrier.

The C&LE’s nightly runs between Cincinnati and Cleveland made it the longest and probably the fastest regional interurban freight carrier in America.

[15] To improve freight business, the C&LE guaranteed 5pm 8am overnight 178 mile delivery between Cincinnati to Cleveland, a service that conventional steam railroads could not provide.

Competition with a growing population of automobiles riding on state paved highways plus the dire financial impact of the Depression led to a decline in C&LE passenger business.

[24][25] The innovative Red Devils were sold after abandonment: six to the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway (CRANDIC) and thirteen to the Lehigh Valley Transit Company.