Foster

Foster. Little Miami Railroad History On The Trail. , Originally just a house, a bridge, and a station, Foster's Crossing was named for James Foster, the original resident here, plus the fact that trains traveled north and south while horses and wagons "crossed" to the east and west., On the west bank of the river, just to the south, there once was a large mill and the residence of the influential Jeremiah Morrow. From 1802 he served as State Congressional Representative, U.S. Senator, Ohio Governor, and President of the Little Miami Railroad Company., Trains ran to Foster's Crossing by 1843. In 1844, the tracks were completed north to Morrow. By the 1880's, a taxi ran from Mainville carrying passengers to and from the station for 25 cents round trip. Around this time the depot became known as Fosters, and finally, in 1893, simply Foster., Here on the east side of the Little Miami River, the Monkey Bar and Grille (aka Train Stop Inn) was once a three-story hotel called The Blue Danube. Around 1975, the hotel became a tavern and a local favorite "watering hole" which featured a cigarette-smoking, beer-drinking chimp named Sam.,

From Rail to Trail , 1836 The Little Miami Railroad was chartered by the state of Ohio to run between Cincinnati and Springfield., 1841 Steam locomotive Governor Morrow blazed along the wooden rails at six miles per hour. Thirty-six passengers were thrilled with the 50-cent ride from Cincinnati to Milford., 1845 The Little Miami Railroad was completed from Cincinnati to Xenia. While the route originally included Lebanon, it was bypassed due to the 0.63% grade being too steep for the locomotives of the time., 1863 John Hunt Morgan and his 2300 raiders barricaded the railroad track near Camp Dennison, causing the onrushing train to derail., 1870 The Little Miami Railroad leased most of its line to the Pennsylvania Railroad system as part of a ninety-nine-year agreement. This lease was renewed in 1968., 1970 The Penn Central company went bankrupt, so the LMRR became part of Conrail, and the line south of Spring Valley was vacated, ending 140 years of successful rail service., 1979 The land purchased by quick-acting Little Miami, Inc. (now Little Miami Conservancy) was designated a state park., 1983 Through a million dollar Rails to Trails Act and a matching one million from the Ohio Legislature, the first section of asphalt trail surface was laid down , 13.5 miles from Loveland to Morrow., 1984 The trail was officially dedicated in a public ceremony in Loveland.

, Riding With Lincoln: Cincinnati to Xenia , President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived in Cincinnati on the Wabash Line railroad on his 52nd birthday, February 12, 1861. At 8:30 the following morning, Lincoln, his wife Mary and their son Todd arrived at the Little Miami Railroad depot located near what we now know as Sawyer Point, near the end of Eggleston Avenue. The train departed at 9:00 a.m. and traveled the entire distance of the Little Miami State Park before arriving in Xenia. The passengers in the three coaches consisted of journalists, local dignitaries, and the Lincoln family.