to write rules and regulations for operating its road and to hire conductors and track workers. Tracklaying was complete on either February 19 or February 21, 1850. The first test train ran over the track on February 22. Passengers, which included railway officials, civic leaders, and businessmen, traveled while seated on a flatcar. The journey took 3 hours and 5 minutes. The Columbus and Xenia Railroad began regular service on February 27, 1850. The train was pulled by the Washington, a locomotive built by the Bolton Works of Cincinnati. There were no passenger or freight stations between Columbus and Xenia, only halts. The halts were incomplete; there were no platforms, shelters, or signals, just wide mudflats. On March 2, members of the Ohio General Assembly rode the line in a special train to celebrate the road's opening. Although the cost of constructing the road had been estimated at $600,000 ($ in dollars) in May 1849, the final cost proved to be $1.4 million ($ in dollars). The C&X bridge over the Scioto River opened on December 14, 1850. This allowed the railroad to reach its permanent freight and passenger station, located on High Street at Naughten. This large, barn-like structure covered three tracks, all of them at-grade. The location of the station had been controversial, as both sides of the river wanted the station. The 1851 station had several small additions made to it in the early 1860s, to accommodate train traffic during the American Civil War. A new Union Station was built north of it in 1875, and the 1851 station demolished. The C&X built a brick building on west side of High Street (across the street from the depot) as its corporate headquarters in 1853. Expansion and merger In 1853, the Columbus and Xenia Railroad and the Little Miami Railroad entered into a contract to operate as one line. This joint operating agreement ended in 1869, at which point the C&X agreed to permanently lease itself to the Little Miami Railroad. A year later, the Little Miami (and its leased lines) were leased to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, which eventually became a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Citations Bibliography For further reading Steiner, Rowlee. A Review of Columbus Railroads. unpublished manuscript. 1952. (Available from the library of the Ohio Historical Society) Defunct Ohio railroads Companies affiliated with the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis