The Traction Line

     In 1997, I travelled to Washington, DC and other spots of historic significance. I visited Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland, where was a line of cannons in front of the Visitors’ Center with the Dunker Church, the best-known landmark of the battle, visible in the background. I thought this would make a cool picture and snapped a photo. A week later I was watching Ken Burns’ The Civil War documentary when I saw a picture taken from the same spot by photographer Alexander Gardner. Rather than a line of cannons, in the foreground of Gardner’s photo were a caisson and the bodies of several fallen soldiers. The bottoms of my feet tingled with the realization of what had occurred at that very spot 135 years before my visit.

    To me, history seems so much more real when there is some tangible, present-day connection to the past. Now, it certainly doesn’t have the gravitas of a Civil War battlefield, but we do have a visible connection to the subject of this article, the Traction Line. Just follow the utility poles! Does this look familiar?

    Before there was a Fairfax, there was an interurban traction line that ran where the Murray Trail is now. The traction line was a railway that ran on electricity, rather than steam like the railroads that operated to the south of what is now Fairfax. Think of it as an early 20^th century version of the Cincinnati Connector Streetcar. It was also referred to as the “trolley” or “street railway.”

     I’ll tell you at the outset that this is not intended to be a comprehensive history of the Cincinnati, Milford, and Loveland Traction Company or its successor companies. I’m not an expert on business operations, nor do I know much about railroading (my late father, a railroader, would be disappointed). For a detailed history of this traction company, please check out Cincinnati, Milford & Loveland Traction Company: The Kroger Line by David McNeil, which is available through the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

     At the turn of the 20^th century, present-day Fairfax was owned by the heirs of the Ferris Family and a few farmers. The Cincinnati, Columbus, and Wooster Turnpike that ran through this area was in a state of disrepair with deep wagon wheel ruts that didn’t make for a smooth ride. Folks weren’t enthused about paying a toll to use such a rundown road. If you were one of the few people who lived out this way, your best transportation option to, say, Milford or Downtown Cincinnati was the railroad and you had either a long walk or bumpy wagon ride to the station. There were very few automobiles and they were primarily playthings for the well-to-do, not reliable transportation for the masses.

     In the early 1900s, a number of traction lines were proposed for the Cincinnati area, each operated by a different company. One company was the Cincinnati, Milford & Goshen Traction Company (CM&G), which was granted a franchise in June 1901 to build a line from Red Bank (now western Fairfax and its environs) along Wooster Pike to Terrace Park.

     In the autumn of 1902, Bernard Heinrich Kroger of supermarket fame and some other investors formed the Cincinnati, Milford & Loveland Traction Company (CM&L). The CM&L purchased the CM&G, which had never started work on their line. CM&L leadership intended to assume all rights that had been granted to the CM&G. However, Hamilton and Clermont County Commissioners refused to recognize the sale and CM&L did not receive the CM&G franchise. The traction line was never built along Wooster Pike in present-day Fairfax.

B.H. Kroger. 

Photo from immigrantentrepreneurship.org

    Instead, CM&L received a franchise along another route and construction began in 1903. The company’s cars would run from Madisonville to points east on CM&L tracks and from Madisonville to Downtown Cincinnati using Cincinnati Traction Company tracks. CM&L would pay Cincinnati Traction a hefty fee for use of their tracks. The car barn would be on Erie Avenue (now Erie Court) and a loop would be laid around it. Going eastbound, cars would run along present-day Murray Avenue in Fairfax and Mariemont, continue along Rembold and Hiawatha Avenues in Mariemont, veer south to run parallel to Wooster Pike, cross to the south side of Wooster east of Plainville, and then on to Terrace Park and Milford. The power plant for the traction line would be built in Montauk (western Milford) in 1905 with the CM&L initially buying power from another traction company. 

The CM&L car barn is long gone, but was located at this spot on Erie Court, 

off of Red Bank Road. 

August 2023

    The first sighting of a CM&L traction car was on March 1, 1904, when the cars were driven to the CM&L barn. Within a few days, the CM&L was running two cars between Madisonville and Milford. A round trip took an hour. CM&L hadn’t yet signed a contract with Cincinnati Traction for use of their tracks to Downtown Cincinnati, so there was no service beyond Madisonville for the first few days of operation. The official opening of the Cincinnati, Milford and Loveland traction line between Downtown Cincinnati and Milford was on March 26, 1904. Unfortunately, the first car, carrying a group of “prominent men” was unable to make it to all the way to Milford because a storm that morning dumped a load of mud onto the tracks.

     The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the cars were “of the most modern type, with a smoking compartment in the front end.” The cars were painted blue and riders on opening day called the CM&L “Kroger’s Royal Blue Line.” Through the years, the traction road was known informally as “The Kroger Line.”

     When the CM&L began service in the spring of 1904, there were fewer than 60,000 registered motor vehicles (automobiles and trucks) in the United States.

     The Fairfax Subdivision wasn’t platted until 1910. What was here when the CM&L opened? This 1914 topographic map, which does not show the platting of the Fairfax Subdivision, gives an idea of how sparsely populated the area was. Fairfax is roughly represented by Section 15 on the map below. The CM&L is highlighted in aqua. The dots on the map represent structures. Madisonville to our north was a village with around 3,000 residents when the traction line opened in 1904.

1914 topographic map of present-day Fairfax and surrounding areas.

From usgs.gov

Plat of the northern part of the Fairfax Subdivision. The CM&L had already been in 

operation over six years by the time this was filed with the Hamilton County 

Recorder’s Office.

    Within a year of beginning operation, planning was well under way for extending the interurban traction line another 22 miles from Milford to Blanchester. Regular service to Blanchester began in June 1906. Although the company was named the Cincinnati, Milford & Loveland Traction Company, tracks were never built to Loveland. 

    In addition to passenger service, the CM&L offered mail and freight service. The freight carried on the line included livestock, dairy products, and manufactured goods.

Exterior of CM&L Mail, Express & Freight Car, approximately 1910. 

Photo from Indiana Historical Society

Interior of CM&L Mail, Express & Freight Car, approximately 1910.

Photo from Indiana Historical Society

    By 1907, the CM&L operated a 28 ½ mile line from Cincinnati to Blanchester. There were eight passenger stations, eight freight and express stations, three power plants and substations, one car barn, nine closed passenger cars, and two open passenger cars.

     The traction cars were advertised as a means for urban and suburban residents to get away from the hustle and bustle and spend a day at a destination like Coney Island, Cincinnati Zoo, or even Avoca Park:

From the July 11, 1908 Cincinnati Post

    Upon seeing this ad, I had an image of men, women, and children in their pastel summer clothing and straw hats enjoying a ride on a shiny royal blue trolley car to spend an enjoyable day along the Little Miami River. However, those trolley cars weren’t always pleasant. Cars were often unclean, sometimes from carrying livestock without cleaning the cars afterwards. There were no toilets or drinking water on the cars and the heat sometimes didn’t work in cold weather.

     Nevertheless, the CM&L was the mode of transportation recommended by the realtors selling lots in the new Fairfax Subdivision, “Cincinnati’s Beauty Spot.” There can be little doubt that the CM&L contributed to the growth of Fairfax. 

From the Cincinnati Post, May 13, 1911

1912 time table for the CM&L with the time points enlarged.

Image from Cincinnati, Milford & Loveland Traction Company: The Kroger Line by David McNeil

Car in front of car barn, approximately 1914

Photo from Cincinnati, Milford & Loveland Traction Company: The Kroger Line by David McNeil

    By 1914, it was apparent that the CM&L hadn’t been a wise investment and B.H. Kroger wanted out. The passenger line stopped running downtown; the fees charged by Cincinnati Traction Company to use their tracks made it nearly impossible for CM&L to turn a profit. Automobiles and auto trucks were becoming more common. During World War I, operating expenses had increased. Kroger had used $27,000 of his own money to make up for an operating deficit. In May 1918, the CM&L requested permission from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to abandon service. Because no one was willing to buy the line for its appraised value, Kroger wanted to sell it for junk. Kroger predicted that "The time is soon coming when every interurban traction line coming out of Cincinnati [with one exception] will be abandoned."

From June 20, 1918 Cincinnati Post

    Citizens along the traction line didn’t want the service to end. Whether the company was profitable or not, it still provided transportation for many people. Workers who were employed downtown were concerned that they would have to sell their suburban homes and move to the city. Property owners along the line worried that their property values would plummet. Also, a number of towns along the line bought power from CM&L and were concerned about losing their power supply.

     Ultimately, the traction line continued operation, reorganizing as the Cincinnati, Milford & Blanchester Traction Company (CM&B). The company purchased five lighter weight cars that only required one man to operate them, reducing payroll.

     There was a building boom in Fairfax in the 1920s. The traction line not only carried prospective homebuyers to the budding community, but transported new residents to their jobs, shopping, and entertainment. Older children rode the CM&B to school in Plainville or, if they continued their education to high school, Terrace Park.

     Not surprisingly, the traction line was not always safe. There were accidents involving company employees, passengers, pedestrians, and drivers of other vehicles. One particularly grisly accident occurred in August 1920 at the intersection of Watterson and Murray. Two farmers, Howard Jordan and Homer Morgan, were on their way to Cincinnati and descending the hill on the Madisonville side of Watterson at a high rate of speed. Although the motorman sounded the whistle before the intersection, the farmers apparently didn’t hear it and collided with the traction car. Morgan was ejected from the truck and died during surgery at General Hospital. Jordan was also ejected and reportedly decapitated by the wheels of the traction car. Jordan’s body was identified by his brother, Fairfax resident Commodore Jordan. The traction car was able to continue its route after the tracks were cleared.

Intersection of Watterson and Murray in 1930 and in August 2023. 

Watterson was under construction in 1930 and the traction line track 

crossed the road where the crosswalk is today. 

The first picture is from the University of Cincinnati Libraries Digital Collections.

    In the fall of 1921, the CM&B received some high-profile attention from Henry Ford, who took an option on the traction line. Ford’s mass production of affordable automobiles had put a serious dent in the traction line business. However, he wanted to convert the CM&B to a steam railroad with the goal of running a railway from Detroit, Michigan to Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Ford never bought the CM&B, but it is certainly interesting that 30 years later his company built a plant in Fairfax, just a stone’s throw from the tracks he once wanted to acquire.

The Ford Automatic Transmission Plant on Red Bank Road.

Photo from the 1953 Chieftain, Mariemont High School

    In 1923, Mary Emery broke ground on Mariemont. Newspaper ads placed by the Mariemont Company indicated that over 3,000 families could eventually live in Mariemont. B.H. Kroger anticipated an increase in patronage for the CM&B and once again wanted to run his traction cars to Downtown Cincinnati, even buying property for a station. The plan was for the CM&B to once again use the Cincinnati Traction Company tracks from Madisonville to Downtown. However, this didn’t pan out.

     In the mid-1920s, a there were number of changes in transportation in general and the CM&B in particular. First, in October 1925, B.H. Kroger finally exited the traction line business when the CM&B was purchased by investors associated with another traction company. The CM&B provided light and power to several towns along the line (Fairfax wasn’t one of them) and the new owners planned to separate the traction line from the power business. Also, service to Blanchester was discontinued.

     The long-neglected Wooster Pike was improved and now a viable thoroughfare. Various bus lines began service to Madisonville, Mariemont, and eventually Fairfax. Cincinnati Street Railway Company (CSR) assumed control of the tracks operated by Cincinnati Traction Company.

     In the spring of 1926, CSR purchased the western section of the CM&B from Milford to the car barn on Erie Avenue. Cincinnati Suburban Power Company, the power portion of the divided company, would continue to provide light and power to towns along the CM&B line. With this, the CM&B was no more.

     Around the same time, the Mariemont Company purchased three traction cars to advertise “Mariemont – The New Town.” The cars were given an overhaul. One was painted orange and the others were painted two different colors of green. The traction line was now running three cars every half hour between Madisonville and Milford. Unfortunately, soon thereafter, the apple green Mariemont car was permanently taken out of service when it was damaged in a collision at Watterson and Murray.

1933 Mariemont-Milford Line time table with time points enlarged.

Image from Cincinnati, Milford & Loveland Traction Company: The Kroger Line by David McNeil

    By 1936, 28.5 million motor vehicles were registered in the United States. That summer, CSR was ordered to remove its tracks in Milford for a state highway project. The section of the route between Milford and Mariemont didn’t generate enough revenue to warrant relocation of the tracks, so service to Milford was discontinued. The former Kroger line would now only run between a loop at the Lytle Woods Station in Mariemont and Downtown Cincinnati.

     Because the community was so close to work, Fairfax was a popular location for traction line employees to make their homes. At least 20 motormen, conductors, and other workers lived here through the years. Among them was Otha McGill, who is pictured below in 1937 with his children Ernest and Mildred.

Photo from Cincinnati, Milford & Loveland Traction Company: The Kroger Line by David McNeil

    As I said at the beginning, I enjoy present-day connections to the past. Please forgive my limited photo editing skills and check out these before and after comparisons of some locations along the traction line. All of the older photos are from Cincinnati, Milford & Loveland Traction Company: The Kroger Line by David McNeil. 

Plainville Road and Murray Avenue in 1937 and in August 2023.

Traction car approaching Settle Road, approximately 1940 and the same location 

in August 2023.

Murray Avenue facing Settle Road and Fairfax in approximately 1940 

and in August 2023.

Traction car at the trestle over Little Duck Creek and the same location

in August 2023.

Traction line tracks facing west from the end of Sherwood Avenue (Madisonville)

and the same location in August 2023.

    By 1940, the Mariemont traction line was in serious trouble. Streetcar ridership had dropped off when the stock market crashed in 1929 and had never rebounded to the previous level. There were 127,000 motor vehicles registered in Hamilton County. The bus route from Milford to Downtown Cincinnati, with service to Fairfax, ran 23 round trips daily. There were too many other good transportation options for the traction line to be very profitable.

Schedule for the Mariemont traction car line, April 7,1940.

Image from Cincinnati, Milford & Loveland Traction Company: The Kroger Line by David McNeil

    In November 1941, the Cincinnati Street Railway was faced with the prospect of relocating tracks due to the Erie Avenue grade crossing elimination at the Pennsylvania Railroad. There was insufficient business on the 1.5 mile line between Mariemont and Erie Avenue to justify relocating the tracks, so CSR requested authorization from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to abandon the Mariemont Line. Authorization was granted in December. Service ended on January 6, 1942. The following day, workers began taking up the tracks to be used in the war effort.

Worker taking up the traction line tracks, 1942.

Photo from Cincinnati, Milford & Loveland Traction Company: The Kroger Line by David McNeil

    Joseph E. Siegel, a railroad enthusiast from Madisonville, was at the Lytle Woods trolley turnaround for the final run and shared his experience with the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Presently, there appeared in the murky distance the illuminated head-on outline of an interurban car. It approached rapidly, reaching the station at 8 ½ minutes past 12.

 A woman alighted, the only passenger on the car. The motorman stepped down from the car, turned out the light in the station, returned to his controller, closed the door, and got underway.

The car finished the circuit of the terminal loop and started inbound on the main line tangent. In a few seconds it had accelerated to speed and was on its way. Its outline became dimmer and dimmer. Soon I heard the air horn again. Two long, two short whistles, a mournful, melancholy wail breaking the midnight stillness. I heard it again, wailing good-by in the distance, and soon all was quiet once more . . . Surrounded by darkness, I turned away. I did not feel ashamed of the few silent tears that blurred my vision as I trudged slowly and meditatively homeward.

    The old traction line through Fairfax and Mariemont became a utility corridor and was nothing more than that for decades. I remember riding in the car with my parents on Murray Avenue and my mom always pointing out to us where the old trolley cars once operated. As a teenager, I walked on Rembold Avenue in Mariemont from the high school to my friend’s house on Miami Avenue countless times, probably never wondering about the street configuration or why there were so many utility poles. 

Trolley Line Park in Mariemont. The remnants of the Lytle Woods Station 

and a plaque marking the site can be found at the Trolley Turnaround Park on 

the opposite side of Miami Avenue.

    In 2004, the Village of Fairfax completed construction of the Murray Hike/Bike Trail at the site of the old traction line. In 2021, Mariemont followed suit and built the Murray Path from Settle Road to Plainville Road and has plans to extend the path farther along the old traction line toward the library at the corner of Pocahontas Avenue and Wooster Pike. So, the old traction line is still being used for transportation, the most basic form – pedestrian.