Hamilton Depot Move Set for Today

Movement of the former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station in Hamilton was expected to be completed today (Jan. 17, 2023).

The depot, which dates to the 1850s is being moved in two movements because the structure is two separate buildings.

The first of those building was moved last month more than 1,000 feet north along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to a city-owned lot.

The remaining building is to make the same journey today to be joined with the two-story structure already on site.

The depot was owned by CSX, which donated it to the city with the proviso that it be moved off railroad property.

There has been discussion about making the depot a community center, but no specific use has been agreed upon by city officials.

The depot will be restored to “white box condition,” meaning it will be ready for conversion to suit a business occupant.

Hamilton B&O Depot on the Move

A portion of the former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station in Hamilton was moved to its new home on Tuesday.

The station, which was built in the 19^th century is two structures and each must be moved individually.

Tuesday move involved a two-story structure. The remaining one-story structure is expected to be moved next month.

The station is being moved more than 1,000 feet northward on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to a city-owned site.

For decades it sat at the junction of B&O lines to Indianapolis and Toledo.

The station was donated to the city by CSX. City officials are still determining what use will be made of the depot once it is in place at its new home.

Hamilton Depot Moving Continues to Progress

The moving process has begun of the former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station in Hamilton.

News reports indicated that one of the two structures that comprise the historic 19^th century depot has been jacked up in preparation for being moved to a nearby city-owned site 1,100 feet to the north along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

The structure will be moved on powered dolly wheels at a walking pace. That move could come as early as next Tuesday and could take at least six hours, city officials said.

The second structure of the depot is expected to be moved in January.

The depot is owned by CSX, which donated the depot to the city with the proviso that it be moved off railroad property.

Hamilton B&O Station Move Likely in December

The former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station in Hamilton is expected to move to its new location next month.

The station is two separate structures that will be moved 1,000 feet northward to a permanent location away from the CSX Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision.

No date was given for the move, although it is expected to be early in the month and will be done by Wolfe House & Building Movers. A detailed moving schedule will be released later.

The oldest of the two structures was built in the 1850s. Owner CSX donated the station to the city in 2021 with the proviso that it be moved.

The new home of the depot is at the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Maple Avenue.

The Hamilton City Council has budgeted $2 million for the moving project.

Hamilton Depot Move be Moved in November

A southbound CSX local passes the Hamilton station in late April 2022. (Photograph by Craig Sanders)

A former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station in Hamilton may be moved this November.

The depot is slated to move northward to a location near the CSX Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision but away from the tracks.

It is currently situated where the Indianapolis Subdivision diverges from the Cincinnati Terminal Sub.

Built in the 1850s, the station was saved from demolition when local interests raised money to move it. The City of Hamilton has budgeted $2 million to pay for the move.

The station is two buildings, one of which is a single story while the other is two stories.

A contractor preparing the building for movement recently discovered that the two-story building sits on wood flooring with a concrete cap over a four-foot basement.

That basement space will need to be filled in before the building can be moved, something expected to add to the cost of the project.

Heading South in Hamilton

CSX manifest freight Q561 rumbles southbound on the Toledo Subdivision in Hamilton, Ohio. It is passing the former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station that now sits abandoned. City officials have proposed saving the depot by moving it to another location and renovating it. The track veering off to the left is the Indianapolis Subdivision, which is used by Amtrak’s Cardinal. The image was made on April 23,.

Photograph by Craig Sanders

Too Much to Ignore

I usually don’t make photographs of rail car with graffiti on them, but I made an exception for this auto rack car rumbling southbound in Hamilton, Ohio, on the CSX Toledo Subdivision. The train is Q205 and its crossing Walnut Street. In the distance can be seen the former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station, which lies at the junction of the Toledo and Indianapolis subdivisions.

Photograph by Craig Sanders

Efforts to Save B&O Station Faltering

A campaign to save a former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station in Hamilton, Ohio, may have hit a brick wall.

City officials say they are unlikely to meet a deadline set by the building’s owner, CSX, to move the depot by a May 31 deadline.

Another stumbling block is the cost of moving and renovating the station, which was built in the 1850s, is likely to exceed the $2 million budgeted for that purpose by the city.

That includes the cost of moving the structure and setting it onto a concrete foundation.

It does not cover, though, the expenses of installing a new roof, hooking up utilities and pouring a concrete floor.

Hamilton City Manager Joshua Smith recently said at a city council meeting that the city was “going to have to make some policy decisions. What’s more important, a roof or a parking lot? Windows or something else? We have to itemize everything that’s outstanding and prioritize from there.”

CSX has offered to donate the station to the city if it agreed to arrange and pay for moving it.

Hamilton Accepts Donation of B&O Depot

The city council of Hamilton, Ohio, voted 5-2 this week to take possession of the former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station.

But the building’s fate is far from decided and some council members are opposed to spending city funds to move and preserve the depot that is more than a century old.

Preservation supporters have urged the city to move the building 500 feet away and renovate it into a community and business center.

However, moving the building is estimated to cost $600,000 and the cost of renovating the station and the site on which it would sit has been put at $1.5 million.

“I struggle with the cost to relocate the historic depot,” Hamilton mayor Pat Moeller said. “I really, really struggle with the loss of a historic building that connects Hamilton to Lincoln, Truman and Eisenhower.”

Council member Susan Vaughn argued against spending city funds to move and preserve the building, but seemed open to some sort of city matching donation.

 “We received thousands of signatures on petitions,” she said. “Maybe if each one of those came with a $100 commitment, maybe we would’ve raised $200,000. Maybe that would help with the moving.”

Another council member, Carla Fieher, said the money that might be spent on saving the depot would be better used for other purposes.

Yet mayor Moeller countered that no other building in town has the history the depot has. “We seem to get more and more convenience stores, but less and less historic buildings.”

The council ultimately voted to accept the depot as a donation from owner CSX, which no longer uses the structure located along the Toledo Subdivision.

The council will discuss at its next meeting what to do with the depot it has now agreed to accept.

Group Presses to Preserve Hamilton Depot

The former Baltimore & Ohio station in Hamilton is no longer used by owner CSX.

Effort to preserve the former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station in Hamilton, Ohio, were pushed this week by a local preservation group.

The Citizens for Historic And Preservation Services group asked the Hamilton City Council to spend $600,000 to move the depot two blocks onto city-owned property.

The group also wants the city to buy the structure, which was constructed by the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton.

The station, the group said, “can be the catalyst for extending the revitalization of downtown” into the area with the station.

The station, which is owned by CSX, is actually two buildings, one of which was built in the 1860s and another in the 1880s.

The preservation group said both are worth preserving due to their “unique architectural qualities.” Although council members have expressed support for the project some also have expressed concerns about not knowing how much more it would cost to renovate the structure for a yet-to-be-determined purpose.