Grasshopper Railroad – Reference Information

Owners and Names of the “Grasshopper” Line:

  1. Stockholders – Waynesville, Port William & Jeffersonville Railway – December 1875 through November 1877
  2. Stockholders – Columbus, Washington & Cincinnati Railway – November 1877 through March 1881
  3. I.W. Harper & Company – Cincinnati, Columbus & Hocking Valley Railway – March 1881 through July 1885 – leased to Ohio Southern Railroad November 1883 through May 1884
  4. Bondholders – Cincinnati, Columbus & Hocking Valley Railway – July 1885 through May 1886 – no activity on line July 1885 through April 1894
  5. Jacob R. Custer (of Chicago) – May 1886 through 1887
  6. William McHenry (sold rails to Dayton) – May 1887 through 1893
  7. Stockholders – Ohio Southern Railroad – 1894 through 1901
  8. Stockholders – Detroit Southern Railroad – 1901 through 1905
  9. Stockholders – Detroit, Toledo & Ironton (DT&I) Railway – 1905 through 1914
  10. Stockholders – Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad – 1914 through 1920
  11. Ford Motor Company – Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad – 1920 through 1929
  12. Stockholders – Penn Road Corporation – Detroit, Toledo& Ironton Railroad – 1929 through 1941

The following is a list of the stations (listed north to south) and their locations 1878-1886 (map pages referenced after info):

  1. Jeffersonville – Springfield Southern Railroad Junction (14 & 28)
  2. Allentown/Octa – Dayton Southern Railroad Junction (15 & 30)
  3. Pearson – Plymouth Road (Greene county – 16 & 31)
  4. Bowersville – SR 72 south of Hussey Road (17 & 32)
  5. Port William – Ellis Street, between 2nd and 3rd Streets (18 & 33)
  6. Mt. Pleasant – U.S. Route 68 (19 & 35)
  7. McKay’s – McKay Road (20 & 36)
  8. Glenwood – Gurneyville Road (22 & 37)
  9. New Burlington – State Route 380 (23, 37 & 38)
  10. Claysville Junction – Little Miami Railroad 1/4 mile south of Roxanna (24 & 39)

The final layout of the road at thirty-one miles long, with sidings and passing track is as follows:

  1. Sedalia – 7 car capacity of side track
  2. Bookwalter – 13 car capacity of side track
  3. Jeffersonville – 35 car capacity of side track
  4. Allentown – 5 car capacity of side track
  5. Pearsons – no side track
  6. Bowersville – 17 car capacity of side track, 24 car passing track
  7. Port William – 31 car capacity of 2 side tracks
  8. Mt. Pleasant – 10 car capacity of side track
  9. McKay’s – 21 car capacity of side track
  10. Kingman – 10 car capacity of side track

Railroad Terminology:

  1. Federal Railroad Safety Act 1892 – U.S. government act making knuckle couplers and air brakes mandatory and enforced record keeping
  2. Knuckle Coupler – invented 1881 modern type of linking cars together, still used today
  3. Link & Pin Coupler – method used to hitch railroad cars together before 1882
  4. Narrow Gauge – early rail style with track widths between 36” up to 56 1/4”
  5. Passing Track – a track laid parallel to main line used for passing trains or for car storage or sorting
  6. Side Track – track laid into a business for the loading and unloading of freight
  7. Size of Rails – measured in pounds for every 3’ of track
  8. Standard Gauge – 56 1/4” center of rails
  9. Turn Table – large round platform that rotated with tracks that allowed locomotives to be turned onto other tracks or to change direction
  10. Turning Y – track and switches used to turn locomotives using a series of switching in a triangle or Y configuration

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