The line opened completely in 1880, and was financed by the city of Cincinnati. Construction was spurred by a shift of
Ohio River shipping, important to the local economy. Fearing the loss of shipping traffic and the local salaries and tax revenue that came with it, the city recognized the need to remain competitive. The
Ohio Constitution forbade cities from forming partnerships in stock corporations, so the city, led by Edward A. Ferguson, took upon itself the building of the railway. With wide popular approval, city voters voted for $10 million in
municipal bonds in 1869 to begin construction. With 337 miles of track and many tunnels to construct, another bond for an additional $6 million was necessary. Some portions were open by 1877, and the entire line opened February 21, 1880. The last spike was placed on December 10, 1879. It opened for passenger service on March 8, 1880. This project saw numerous cuts and line relocations to bypass tunnels and reduce the steep grades and tight curves. Only Tunnels #22 and #24 at Nemo, Tennessee and Tunnels #25 and #26 at Oakdale remain on the line; all but #25 were built new in the 1960s. Originally built to
broad gauge, the line was converted to
standard gauge, , in 13 hours in 1886. The late 1990s saw another improvement with the
Norfolk Southern Railway double tracking the segment south of
Somerset, Kentucky, between Tateville and KD Tower (near
Greenwood, Kentucky). As of 2013, a massive project is underway to double track from Woods, also known as Somerset, to Grove just north of
Burnside. This project will straighten a curve near the
Kentucky Route 914 bypass overpass, allowing improved train handling. NS planners and engineering officials are still considering improving the company's second most profitable line, including the initial $65 million in line improvement projects from 1959 to 1963 and 1996 to 2010. Norfolk Southern is projected to have spent over $1 billion in a span of 60 years.
Queen and Crescent Route After two years of leasing the property to local companies, in 1881 the city entered a 25-year lease to an entity called Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway, which was held by an English corporation controlled by German-born Parisian banker
Frédéric Émile d'Erlanger. Soon Erlanger held all five segments of railroad from Cincinnati to New Orleans, and west from Meridian, Mississippi to Shreveport, Louisiana. This was dubbed the
Queen and Crescent Route, connecting the Queen City to the Crescent City. Erlanger sold his interest in 1890. In 1894 the CNO&TP was one of many properties reorganized by
Samuel Spencer into the vastly expanded
Southern Railway. The railroad inaugurated a named passenger train for the route, the
Queen and Crescent Limited, in 1926. Never a financial success, the train carried both coaches and
Pullman sleepers and a dining car. The train was discontinued in 1949.
1911 strike White firemen of the CNO&TP struck on January 9, 1911, when the company refused their demand that their black counterparts be fired within 90 days. Trains continued to run, with black firemen on their crews, in the vicinity of
Kings Mountain, Kentucky,
Somerset, Kentucky, and
Oakdale, Tennessee, in terrain well-suited for sniper attacks. Within four days, sharpshooters killed at least eleven people: nine black railroad employees and two detectives. ==Cincinnati Southern Railway==