Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad - Municipalities Were Unhappy

Municipalities Were Unhappy

As freight business grew, the larger municipalities that the C&LE went through became unhappy with the nuisance of trains running down major streets. Not only were interurban passenger cars mingling with automobiles and pedestrians, including stopping and starting at traffic signals, but freight trains of multiple cars pulled by heavy freight motors were also on those streets, sometimes at midday. Auto traffic was impeded, and the streets suffered physical damage as the ties underlying the rails aged and rotted. The town that complained the most was Springfield. The city and the interurban were in court frequently over issues of street repaving and demands for track relocation. Springfield finally demanded that the C&LE leave city streets entirely. The financially strapped C&LE had no money to comply. In addition, everyone was aware that the C&LE had local people employed at a time of terrible regional and national unemployment, so there was a hestitation to force the C&LE out of business