Dayton, OH Passenger Railroading

Dayton, Ohio has always been a major hub for many railroads of the eastern half of the country. B&O, C&O, New York Central, Penn Central, the “Big Four” Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway and other short lines that were later absorbed by the bigger railroads through mergers. Our area is also very diverse in the industries that used the railroads in the past and present. Local industries include automotive, paper, steel processing, meat processing, and lumber. One aspect of the railroad that is greatly missed is passenger service.

In downtown Dayton, there used to be a major passenger train stop. This station was called Union Station and was opened in 1900. The tracks serving the station used to run at ground level until they were elevated in 1931. Many major railroads used the original station until the mid 1960’s when it was torn down to extend a street and a replacement structure was built. In 1971 Amtrak was the last railroad to serve Dayton with only one train running, the National Limited, trains 30 and 31. In 1979, the National Limited was discontinued and passenger service to the city ended shortly after. The replacement station was left unused until 1987 when it was torn down. Now, the location of the station that had 10 tracks, only 2 remain serving CSX and the Norfolk Southern, and it is also a parking lot for Sinclair Community College, building 13.

Over the years, there have been many plans and discussions to bring passenger service back to Dayton, but it has been just that, talk. With the current economy in the situation that it is, I believe it would be many more years before we see any passenger trains returning to Dayton.