Traction Line or Interurbans

One of the reasons Belmont celebrates its birth in 1900 is the start of the traction lines that ran through it. Traction lines also called interurban lines, were lines of electric powered rail cars which ran between cities and smaller communities. In the days before automobiles, traction lines provided convenient transportation to outlying parts of the city where the streetcars did not go. In the nearby towns they ran more often than the railroad passenger lines, and they made stops where there were no railroad services.

Ohio had the first traction lines in the nation. In December of 1889, an interurban arrived at the outskirts of Danville, north east of Columbus. It is unknown where it came from or where it went thereafter. These interurban lines spread rapidly throughout the country and in the 1890’s Ohio became one of the leading states in miles of traction line. Dayton would eventually have more lines passing through it than any other city in Ohio. 

Dayton's first traction line began in 1896. It was originally owned by the Dayton Traction Company and ran from Dayton to Miamisburg and  it would later travel as far as Cincinnati. This line was also Dayton's last traction line running until 1941. 

The original traction cars were wooden.  They were replaced by steel cars beginning in 1910 were noticeably larger than the city streetcars and much more comfortable. A car usually had two compartments, a lady’s parlor with carpeted floors and plush seats and a smoker’s section with plain floors, wooden seats, and brass fittings.  Unlike street cars, they were heated in cold weather. They could reach speeds of up to 70 miles an hour.  Each car had a crew of two: the conductor who collected money or tickets and the motor man who operated the car. Most of the cars were also double ended, which meant that the motor man had controls at both ends from which he could operate the car . This eliminated the need to turn the cars around at the end of the line. 

Many traction lines also provided freight services using special freight cars and having their own freight warehouses. The freight services proved profitable and kept some of the lines solvent when passenger services started to decline in later years. All traction lines required power houses to convert the electricity supplied by the local power companies to this specific kind of voltage and power to run the cars. A car received its power from a pole on its roof which reached up to an overhead power line. The metal tracks acted as ground for the power. 

In 1895 two charters were written for the construction of interurban lines between Dayton and Xenia. The companies receiving the charters were the Rapid Transit Company ( RTC)  and the Dayton and Xenia Traction Company. 

The Rapid Transit Company also known as the RTC made its first run in December of 1899.  It was built and owned by Dr. Neff and his family of Xenia.  The original cars were built by the Barney and Smith Company of Dayton.  This line took a slightly more northerly route between Dayton and Xenia, which became known as the scenic route.  The RLC western terminal was not in downtown Dayton but near the corner of Linden Ave and Smithville Rd. 

The Dayton and Xenia Traction Company was incorporated in October of 1898 by 5 men, including J.M. Wilson, O.O. Osias, F.D. Bittinger, Isaac G. Kennedy, and Phillip A. Kemper. On January 23rd of 1900 the first traction cars ran through Belmont between Dayton and Xenia and thus began the birth of Belmont. The Dayton Xenia traction line would be in operation for 37 years. In 1903 the RLC was purchased and owned by the Dayton & Xenia Transit Company and had made the final changes to its route through Dayton. 

The Dayton Xenia line was unique among Dayton's traction lines because it used its own rails within the city limits, where the other lines used the city streetcar rails. In general traction lines were expressed and made no stops within the city near the streetcar terminals. This was done so that they would not compete with the streetcars. Most of the original Dayton & Xenia cars were built by the Kuhlman company. Later cars would be built by the Cincinnati Car Company, Barney & Smith and the Saint Louis Car Company.

The exteriors of the Dayton & Xenia cars were painted green and a cream color. At the end of each car was a starburst around the light under the motorman's window.  On each side was the D & X logo. The freight and service cars also displayed the logo.

 The D&X dropped off and picked up its passengers in the downtown Dayton loop, which is Ludlow, 3rd and Main and 5th St. The freight building was on the side of Ludlow about where it merges with Patterson Rd. There was rail access to the freight building for both northbound and southbound cars. The traction line traveled from Ludlow to South Main Street via Apple St, then South on Wyoming St. Traction cars crossed Brown street Wayne Ave on Wyoming. Originally the cars used Phillips Ave to travel both ways between Wyoming and Wayne but soon they would use Phillips to travel South only from Wyoming to Wayne and added Arbor Ave to travel North. The new loop of Wyoming, Phillips, Wayne, and Arbor streets which was called the Ohmer Park loop. 

The D&X rails were on the south side of Watervliet , from Wayne Ave. and till they crossed Smithville Rd. The rails then curved to the north side of Watervliet between Chelsea and Weng Ave. They stayed on the north side of Watervliet then curved on to what is now Patterson Rd. This was known as the Richmond Curve . The D&X line interchanged with the Pennsylvania railroad for freight just before reaching what is now Woodman Drive. The D&X continued eastward on Shakertown Pike ( which is the old Patterson Rd) into Greene County . The route of the D&X from South Main Street at the Miami Valley Hospital to the present corner of Patterson and Woodman Dr. is the exact route followed today by the RTA bus number 7 .

As the D&X made its way into Greene County it followed Shakertown Pike ( renamed East Patterson Rd with the coming of Research Blvd and State Route 835 ).  The powerhouse and car barns were located at the corner of what is now East Patterson and Grange Hall roads, near the northeast corner adjacent to the Little Beaver Creek and the car barns were on the southeast corner. There were passing rails at the car barns.  The traction cars would leave the cities of Dayton and Xenia every hour on the hour. When the cars reached the car barn, they would wait for the other so that they could pass each other on separate rails.   It was at this point that the D&X line intersected with the Pennsylvania Railroad and the B&O Railroad. The D&X ran due South of these railroads from Grange Hall Road to Lucas Grove now known as Kil-kare Speedway and then took a more southerly route into Xenia.

The second traction line to run through Belmont was the Spring Valley line formed in 1897 by another company, The Dayton Spring Valley & Wilmington Transit Company. This traction line was planned to run between Dayton and the city of Wilmington via Bellbrook and Spring Valley.  Surveying for the tracks started in February of 1897 and the grading for its tracks began in April. Several farmers were opposed to the traction line and sued to prevent its construction on their land. Eventually the courts ruled in favor of the traction line and the grading was completed to Spring Valley by 1899. The Spring Valley line made its first run on April 23rd , 1900,  three months after the D&X’s first run to Xenia. General business in Bellbrook was laid aside that day to celebrate this new era of transportation. The first car arrived at 7:30 AM followed by 7 more that day . Farmers opposed to the traction lines sold their farms and moved. 

The Spring Valley line through Dayton was the same as the Xenia line until it reached the corner of Watervliet  and Smithville. At this corner, the Spring Valley tracks separated from those going to Xenia and curved South to the east side of Smithville. This curve created a sort of traffic island in Smithville Rd just South of Watervliet . The tracks ran along the east side of Smithville through the rest of Belmont. They continued to what is now the intersection of Smithville Rd  at Wilmington Pike in the area known as  Beavertown . Today, Beavertown is the area along Wilmington Pike that borders Belmont and Kettering.  

From this point the Spring Valley line continued South on Wilmington and ran straight through the Stroop Rd intersection as the roads do today. It turned east on what is now Stroop Rd for a short distance and then South. Wilmington Pike and the traction line was what is now Stroop Rd East of Wilmington Pike.   The line continued South for another short distance and then back to Wilmington Pike .

The addition of the Spring Valley division required that the D&X provide more electric power to its system. This was done by running a feed wire from their powerhouse at Patterson and Grange Hall roads to a point on Wilmington Pike where it follows the Montgomery Greene County line. This point is now the intersection of Wilmington Pike and Feed Wire Rd. The Spring Valley line continued south on Wilmington Pike to Bellbrook Road now known as state route 725.  This intersection was then called White's corner. The line curved eastward towards Bellbrook . On the north side of the road there were additional tracks for freight. The line then went down a hill into Bellbrook which was much smaller then with its western limits being the little Sugar Creek as it crossed Franklin Street. The traction station was at this point. As the traction line left  Bellbrook, the tracks were now on the right side as they headed towards Spring Valley. Between Bellbrook and the little Miami River there was a steep drop off on the West side. The traction line had to use a ledge below to build tracks for the 3/4 of a mile distance. The tracks then merged back to the road after the drop off cross at the little Miami on the bridge and continued into Spring Valley.  The track to the city of Wilmington was never completed.