of the Great Miami River, the DL&C opened its new main line in 1912, to a passenger depot on the north side of Washington Street, several blocks south and west of the city's main Union Station. A freight depot was located just to the north, at Eaker Street, and just beyond was an interchange track (not part of the original line) connecting to the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway (B&O system) and, via that line, the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (Panhandle Route, part of the Pennsylvania system). The other line eventually acquired by the CL&N was the Middletown and Cincinnati Railway (M&C, not to be confused with the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad discussed earlier). Paul J. Sorg, owner of a tobacco plant east of Middletown, was unhappy with the service provided by the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad (then independent) and Cincinnati and Springfield Railway (Big Four system), both of which bypassed the center of town. Sorg and associates incorporated the M&C in early 1890, and surveyed a line from Middletown, which lay in the Great Miami River valley, southeast to a point that would be known as Middletown Junction on the Little Miami Railroad (Pennsylvania system). Construction on the majority of the route, which crossed the CL&N at Hageman, was complete by September 1891, and a truss bridge over the Little Miami River opened in early 1892, linking the line to the Pennsylvania. Access into central Middletown was delayed until December, when it was finally able to cross the CH&D to its depot. As opposed to the CL&N and DL&C, the M&C was straight and flat, giving a smooth ride, and turned a reasonable profit. The revenue was not enough, however, to pay off the bonds, and the M&C entered receivership in July 1894. The holders of liens against the property bought the line at foreclosure in October for $335,000, incorporated the Middletown and Cincinnati Railroad in December, and elected Sorg president. Sorg died on May 28, 1902, and six days later the CL&N, owned by the Pennsylvania since 1896, bought its property for $400,000 and began operating it as a branch. The DL&C would be acquired twelve years later, after the Great Dayton Flood of 1913. The CL&N and DL&C, built on the highlands between the river valleys, combined to provide the only access into Dayton during the disaster. The Pennsylvania realized that the DL&C