This line was authorized to have its terminus in Columbus and run through the towns of Delaware, Marion, and Upper Sandusky before connecting with the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad.

[2][5] In 1844, John W. Allen, Philo Scoville, and five other Cleveland business and civic leaders sought to revive the CC&C charter.

[8] A temporary board of directors was elected, which included William Dennison Jr., Truman P. Handy, and Samuel Medary.

[28][b] Kelley immediately began speaking with his colleagues in the banking and finance fields, and by early September 1847 indicated to the board that a favorable response had been found among investors in New York City.

[33] To ensure that the new charter did not lapse, on September 30, 1847, Kelley and other members of the board of directors went to Cleveland's Scranton Flats and ceremoniously filled a wheelbarrow with earth to symbolize the start of construction.

The company hired an old man to work five days a week, continuously digging this trench, in order to prove to the state that construction was "ongoing".

He began his tenure as president by urging the board of directors (composed of wealthy Ohioans) to show faith in the business by purchasing company bonds.

[59] The CC&C, however, decided to grade, construct the track bed, and lay rail over the entire length of the line in one intense burst of activity.

[64][g] Kelley personally traveled to the United Kingdom[61][67] in 1848 where he contracted with Sir John Guest & Co. of Wales for T rails[68][h] weighing 65 pounds per yard (32 kg/m).

[73] By the middle of May 1849, more than 1,000 men were at work grading the CC&C line[72] and rail for the track had arrived in Quebec from the United Kingdom, awaiting shipment across Lake Erie to Cleveland.

[6] Work was progressing so swiftly that railroad officials told the press in early June that as much as 37 miles (60 km) of the line might be operation by January 1, 1850.

This facility was constructed by the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company,[90] which had entered into an agreement with the CC&C to build and operate a locomotive repair shop for the railroad.

[92] It purchased the Bethel Church building adjacent to the hotel (on the square bordered by Superior, Vineyard, and James Streets) for use as an engine house.

[93][94][95] [96] Some 3,000 to 4,000 men were at work on the line at the end of July, completing the grading, constructing the track bed, and beginning to lay rail.

The railroad intended to use the area as the terminus of the main line, and to put a coal yard, dock, freight depot, passenger station, and warehouse there.

[61] Built by the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company of Cleveland, the 20-short-ton (18 t), $7,000 ($300,000 in 2023 dollars)[105] locomotive pulled a work train of several flatcars for use in building the line.

[112] With the company in need of more rail, Kelley traveled to New York City in late May, where he sold enough bonds to pay for the necessary iron.

[120][k] The CC&C received another 7,022 short tons (6,370 t) of rail by the close of 1850,[69] with only 49 miles (79 km) of track left to lay as of early December.

[69] By mid-January of that year, only 15 miles (24 km) of track remained incomplete,[125] and the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace works had delivered its sixth locomotive to the CC&C.

[133] To celebrate the event, Kelley invited Ohio Governor Reuben Wood, the entire Ohio General Assembly, the mayors and city councils of Cincinnati and Columbus, and numerous other local politicians and business leaders[134] to travel at the railroad's expense on a four-day excursion trip from Columbus to Cleveland and back.

The excursion train and its 425 passengers left Columbus on February 21[135] shortly after 8 A.M., its departure announced by a single cannon shot.

[142] In March, the CC&C began work on a spur to serve the town of Delaware[143] and connect the line with the Springfield, Mt.

[157] Having extensively filled in some of the lake east of its facilities, the railroad began grading this area in October 1855 in order to begin construction of a new engine house and machine shop.

The CC&C entered into a working consolidation with the Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Cleveland Railroad (IP&C) of Indiana on April 1, 1856.

The B&I had entered into a joint operating agreement IP&C on March 14, 1856,[160] and the CC&C's working consolidation gave it access to the important industrial and agricultural heart of Indiana.

[167] On April 29, 1865, the locomotive CC&C Nashville pulled Abraham Lincoln's funeral train from Cleveland to Columbus.

[171] The train had left Erie, Pennsylvania, pulled by the locomotive William Case, owned by the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad.

The CP&A locomotive Idaho traveled 10 minutes ahead, acting as a "pilot train" to ensure there were no problems on the track.

[171] The CC&C locomotive Louisville acted as the pilot train in front of the funeral cortege,[173] also traveling 10 minutes ahead.

that state law was silent on the matter of a leaseholder improving their riparian property by reclaiming land, and therefore upheld the judgment of the circuit court.