Florida Sunbeam crosses the bridge that was built across the Tennessee River for the Cincinnati Southern Railroad. Chickamauga Dam was built just above the railroad bridge.
Over $453.5 million of railroad property in Hamilton County has changed hands after the city of Cincinnati sold its line that goes to Chattanooga to Norfolk Southern Railway.
Register of Deeds Marc Gravitt said 365 tracts here were involved in the transaction to the railroad that has long leased the line.
The deal yielded a conveyance fee of $1,678,222 to Hamilton County.
The sale of the 337-mile rail line was approved by Cincinnati voters last Nov. 7 and finalized March 15.
The overall sale was for $1.62 billion.
Norfolk Southern had long been making overtures to Cincinnati to buy the line.
Cincinnati had been the only city in the country to own a railroad, and it proved a wonderful investment.
Chattanooga and its citizens had made some contributions toward constructing the line after the announcement was made that it would be the terminus of the railroad instead of Knoxville. However, it was Cincinnati that sponsored the project. It gave the most and wound up as the sole owner.