The Oasis Subdivision is a rail line in and near eastern
Cincinnati. It is owned by the
Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) and operated by the
Indiana and Ohio Railway for freight traffic.
History
The southern part of the line was built by the
Little Miami Railroad, the second railroad chartered in Ohio, from 1837 to 1848. In 1870, it came under the control of the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
.
The northern part was built by the
Cincinnati and Richmond Railroad in 1888, and came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1928.
After Pennsylvania Railroad successor
Penn Central Transportation went bankrupt, both sections became part of
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
in 1976,
while the remainder of the Cincinnati and Richmond Railroad to the north instead became the
Norfolk Southern New Castle District.
The remainder of the Little Miami Railroad was closed by 1984 and became the
Little Miami Scenic Trail. The connections through
Downtown Cincinnati over the Waterfront Belt Line to
Queensgate Queensgate, Queen's Gate and variants may refer to:
Locations and structures
;Canada
*Queensgate, a suburb of Caledon, Ontario
*Queen's Gates, ornate entrance to the Canadian parliament
;Gibraltar
* Queen's Gate, Gibraltar, an ancient city gate
...
and over the
L&N Railroad Bridge to Kentucky were severed in 1984 and 1986 respectively.
Prior to 1994, the land was owned by the City of Cincinnati, and the tracks were owned by Conrail. In 1994, the land and tracks were purchased by the
Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA), with the Indiana and Ohio Railway acquiring usage rights for freight traffic. It was the first of several rail rights-of-way acquired by SORTA to preserve future
commuter rail options.
In 2021, an agreement was reached to convert the northerly of two tracks on southern portion of the line into a
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
, filling a gap in the
Ohio River Trail
The Ohio River Greenway Trail (ORT) is a proposed route that would interconnect existing trails in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The proposal is spearheaded by the Ohio River Trail Council (ORTC), a volunteer-led, non-profit ...
. The agreement involved the Indiana and Ohio Railway giving up its easement on the northern track to SORTA, and the installation of a fence between the southern track and the trail. The rail trail agreement was seen as an impediment to potential commuter rail use.
References
{{Reflist
Ohio railroads
Genesee & Wyoming