The subway was built in place of the Miami-Erie Canal and covered by Central Parkway. It stretches two miles south from the portals visible from I-75 to the intersection of Central Parkway and Walnut Street. A partially completed wye turnaround extends east from this point almost to Main Street, and another wye was built beneath private right-of-way between Plum Street and Elm Street south of Central Parkway.
The subway was planned to continue south beneath Walnut Street with stations between Eighth and Ninth Streets and another between Fourth and Fifth Streets. The line was to emerge from the Walnut Street tunnel between Third Street and Fourth Street, then continue on a steel viaduct above Pearl Street east to Mount Adams.
The tunnel beneath Central Parkway was built in five phases between 1920 and 1926. The four sections between downtown and Brighton were built between 1920 and 1923. The fifth section, a 1,000 extension north of the Brighton station to the portals visible from I-75, was built in 1926.
Three more short tunnels were built in 1926 at Hopple Street in Camp Washington, under Section Avenue in Bond Hill, and under Harris Avenue in Norwood. The Section Avenue and Harris Avenue tunnels were built with Rapid Transit funds while the Hopple Street tunnel was built as part of the Central Parkway project with parkway funds.
Yes, three subway stations were built and remain intact today. Stations at Brighton and Liberty Street are simple side platform designs. The Race Street Station is an island platform, but much larger than the other two since it was to serve as the interurban terminal. Provisions for a fourth subway station were built and can still be seen at Mohawk.
Surface stations were built at Marshall Avenue, Ludlow Avenue, and Clifton Avenue but were demolished in the late 1950s and early 1960s to make way for Interstate 75. No stations were built east of Clifton Avenue because the Rapid Transit Commission prioritized its limited funds in securing a right-of-way east to Madison Road in Oakley.
After emerging from the Central Parkway tunnel north of today’s Western Hills Viaduct, the line was graded for approximately 7.5 miles to Norwood’s Waterworks Park. This included seven overpasses over streets, several more pedestrian overpasses, and four underpasses. A stretch of 1,000 feet was not completed in St. Bernard, nor was the final mile of the line east of Norwood Waterworks Park.
The financing plan for the Rapid Transit Loop was to place some capital costs on its lessee, the Cincinnati Street Railway. The city planned to build the tunnels, overpasses, and roadbed, but the streetcar company would lay the track, install the electrical systems, and purchase the rolling stock. Because Ordinance 96-1917 was declared null and void by The Ohio Supreme Court, the Cincinnati Street Railway was relieved of its contractual obligations. The company did, however, lay a very small amount of track in anticipation of The Rapid Transit Loop’s standard gauge subway trains at its Winton Road streetcar service barn.
The subway was designed for standard gauge rapid transit trains, interurban cars, and standard freight trains.
The interurban terminal beneath Race Street anticipated interurban cars of 75 feet in length and so its 150 foot platforms made provision for two-car interurban trains. The specifics of the station’s layout, however, meant the pillars of the platform area directly beneath Race Street would block the doors of rapid transit trains of more than 150 feet in length (three or four-car trains). Provisions for additional tracks can still be seen at either end of the Race Street station, where additional platforms dedicated to rapid transit trains could be built, after which time the entire island platform, with its six loading areas, could be turned over exclusively to the interurbans.
The subway was also designed for use by the era’s freight trains. Turnout stubs for an 11-track freight terminal beneath the City Hospital property were built and can still be seen today. The hauling of freight in the freight terminal and the remainder of the subway was to have been performed by electric interurbans or dedicated electric-powered switchers. The operation of steam locomotives in the subway was prevented by the terms of the canal lease, however the tunnel’s many ventilation shafts were built as a provision for possible future use by steam locomotives, especially if the tunnel was extended east to connect with the CL&N yard.
No. The purchase of the rapid transit trains themselves was the responsibility of the Cincinnati Street Railway, but they were relieved of that duty in 1918 when The Ohio Supreme Court ruled against Ordinance 96-1917. The Cincinnati Street Railway did purchase several streetcars in the early 1920s that could be easily modified and operated as coupled trains in the subway.
The Cincinnati & Lake Erie purchased a number of duel high platform/low platform cars in the late 1920s in anticipation of their use in the subway. The company’s engineers experimented with a pneumatic device that with the push of a button covered the car’s interior staircase with a panel for use in the subway’s high platform stations.
In 1942 a proponent of the subway’s use for freight purposes purchased a used gasoline locomotive as part of a publicity stunt. The small locomotive probably could have operated in the subway without installation of mechanized ventilation. City crews periodically drive pickup trucks through the subway without ill effect.
No. The City Engineer did hold several meetings with the leadership of the various interurban railroads in 1916 and 1917, and a few dozen surviving correspondences indicate legitimate interest on the part of the interurbans to connect to the loop. In the records of the City Engineer, these correspondences dwindled in number and then ceased around 1923. Discussion did resume with the Cincinnati & Lake Erie in the late 1920s, but details are scarce.
Most conversation surrounding interurban compatibility surrounds the issue of track gauge, not electrical systems. Whereas the rapid transit loop trains were to be powered by a standard third rail, the interurbans were to be powered by overhead trolley wire. A few conceptual drawings of the Rapid Transit Loop’s surface grading and concrete trestle above Columbia Avenue show provision for trolley poles.
No discussion of the inevitable one- or two-wire issue survives; obviously the interurbans could have operated entirely independently with a two-wire system. Since the broad gauge lines already had two-pole cars in order to travel over The Cincinnati Traction Company’s tracks, this made the most sense, and might have been the plan.
Unfortunately some of the equipment of the interurbans threatened to interfere with the Rapid Transit Loop’s electrified third rail. Specifically, the interurban cars of the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Traction Company used a shoe to trip signals that would have conflicted with the loop’s electric third rail.
No. The bankruptcy of the interurbans helped the cause of those desirous to kill the Rapid Transit Loop project, but in several instances their tracks were purchased by the Cincinnati Street Railway. Streetcar service took the place of interurbans and continued into the late 1930s on several lines and in the case of the CM&B until 1942. After their takeover by the Cincinnati Street Railway, passengers no longer had to transfer and pay two fares, and so service was significantly improved.
Preliminary engineering work was performed in 1916 and 1917. This included analysis of soil conditions and a request for blueprints of all buildings along the street. If final drawings were made, they do not survive today.
All overpasses and underpasses have been bulldozed, and much of the right-of-way has been taken by Interstate 75 and The Norwood Lateral, but the route of the Rapid Transit Loop can still be seen in some areas.
Between Hopple Street and Ludlow Avenue, the route can be traced for nearly 4,000 feet between I-75 and Central Parkway. The graded right of way is fully intact for 1,000 feet north of Workhouse Drive; north of that point it is occupied by an office building, its parking lot, and a remote parking lot for Cincinnati State Community College.
In St. Bernard, two significant stretches survive where I-75 deviates significantly from the path of the Miami-Erie Canal. A 2,500 foot section can be traced east of Vine Street, and a shorter section of about 800 feet can be traced on City Park Drive.
In Bond Hill, the right-of-way can be traced between Reading Road and Section Avenue by the curving north edge of the former Showcase Cinemas parking lot.
In Norwood, 1,500 feet of right of way can be traced between the Montgomery Road overpass and the filled Harris Avenue tunnel.
Although no work was undertaken on the railway east of Norwood Waterworks Park, the general path of purchased right-of-way can be traced by driving along Enyart Avenue parallel to the B&O mainline. At Verne Avenue, a sharply angled building marks the odd-shaped property lines created by the right-of-way where it diverged from Enyart Avenue.