The Ohio Electric Railway was formed on May 16 , 1907 . The organizers of the new company were Randal Morgan , W. Kesley Schoepf , and Hugh J. McGowan . Beginning in September 1907 and continuing into 1908 the new company acquired or leased the fourteen other companies which would comprise its system : The Ohio Electric proved to be financially unsound . It paid no dividends during its corporate existence and lost $ 1.5 million as a result of the Great Dayton Flood in 1913 . In 1918 it spun off its Cincinnati – Dayton line to the Cincinnati and Dayton Traction company . This trend continued in 1920 when spun off the Dayton and Western Traction in its entirety . The end came in 1921 : the company went bankrupt and dissolved . Most of the constituent companies went bankrupt as well , but continued operating . Several companies would later come together to form the Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad in 1930
Great Dayton Flood
Great Dayton Flood
Ohio Electric Railway