Cincinnati Scenic Railway

The Cincinnati Scenic Railway operation in Lebanon is the heritage railroad long known as the Lebanon Mason & Monroe Railroad, which offers passenger rides out of its Lebanon, Ohio depot; Wikidata dates the operation's opening to 1985 under reporting mark CRC. Its rails follow the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway, which began running in 1881 as a 3-foot narrow gauge line and was rebuilt to standard gauge three years later. The CL&N passed to the Pennsylvania Railroad, which ran freight plus commuter trains carrying Warren County residents to jobs in Blue Ash, Norwood, Cincinnati, and Dayton, until Cincinnati passenger service over the line ended in 1931 with the opening of Cincinnati Union Terminal. Construction of Interstate 71 in the 1960s severed the original right-of-way between Lebanon and Cincinnati. The 4.4-mile stretch most trips use, from Lebanon to Hageman Junction, is owned by the city of Lebanon — Genesee & Wyoming owns the remaining track — and in 2021 the Indiana and Ohio Railway gave up its designated-operator status on the Lebanon Branch in favor of CRC/LM&M.