DOWN AT THE STATION

The Cincinnati Bluffton & Chicago

The Cincinnati Bluffton & Chicago was a short lived railroad that ran from Huntington IN to Portland IN. It was sold for scrap in 1917 for $310,00. The last train ran on September 24th and the next day scraping of the line began.

I have chosen to have a slightly different history. In my history the line was completed to Dayton OH. The road never did as well financially as the promoters had hoped. Industry and passenger service never developed to the extent needed to make the line profitable.

In order to help generate revenue the CB&C leased track-age rights to the Erie. This provided the Erie with a much shorter route from Dayton OH to Huntington IN than its current route going up through Marion OH. The CB&C's light weight construction proved to be a major hindrance, as the Erie ran much heaver trains. The effect of the Erie's heavier trains required more monies to be expended on maintenance. More than the CB&C could afford.

The financial situation of the CB&C went from bad to worse. Increased maintenance costs and the depression forced the road into receivership. Because of the Erie's vested interest in the line, it had a strong influence over the receiver. The receivership of the CB&C allowed the Erie railroad to assume control of the line and secure the shorter route between Dayton and Huntington.

With the Erie in control the line became know as the CB&C branch. During WWII the line saw a large increase in traffic, as did almost every other line in the nation. That along with heavier equipment required heavier rail and bridges. However in order to save money rebuilt the line with used rail that came from other mainline upgrades,  rebuilding the line up to a secondary main standard.

Since the line operates thorough agricultural country, grain elevators dot the line. In larger towns like Bluffton, Portland, and Union City there is a manufacturing base along with other industries.

Since I have limited space I have chosen to model the line as it may have existed through the Bluffton in the 1950's. I haven't decided on specifically on a year, 1954 – 1956, but it will be mid September or early October. I have taken some liberties in that I have chosen to move some industries from surrounding cities and towns because I like the name or structure. Modelers license.

I have been working on the design of the layout for some time. I took my winning $500 Fort Wayne Union contest layout and moved it to the other side of my garage. It has a little more room. The layout is 22' long and 22" wide. The design is not set in stone, so some changes will occur during the construction.

I plan on using code 70 track for the mainline, with code 55 for the sidings. Switches for the industries will be #6 while the siding switches will be #8

I have been working as time allows up-grading the garage. I have gone from this  

The work are prior to remodeling                 I am part way through the remodeling of the garage

to this     

Work area under construction             Work area almost finished. Some minor trim to be completed

I am fortunate that my garage has a 12' ceiling height. This allowed me to put much of the needed storage over the garage door. While there are costs associated with up-grading the garage I think that it is well worth it. The work space is much more inviting, for both woodworking and modeling.

Over head storage.

The next phase of the layout will be the building of the backdrop. If you didn't notice there is a table saw along with other woodworking tools that are used on a regular basis. As you can imagine inordinate amounts of sawdust can be created. To prevent the sawdust from getting all over the layout I plan on using a shadow box style of construction, closing off the front when its not in use.

So working around the magazine schedule, I should be able to post something within the next 3 weeks

Until then Have Fun With Trains