Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad

Toledo, Delphos & Burlington Railroad, 1881

The Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad (TC&StL) was a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge railroad based in Ohio. It began as a subsidiary of the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge Toledo, Delphos and Burlington Railroad (TD&B), which was opened on July 4, 1875, but in 1882 the two companies merged and retained the TC&StL name, which was more descriptive of its extent.

Toledo, Delphos and Burlington Railroad itself originally came about from a merger of several other railroads, including the 4 ft 10 in (1,473 mm) Iron Railroad founded on February 2, 1848, based in Ironton, Ohio. In 1881, the TD&B reached an agreement with the Iron Railroad to dual-gauge a segment of its line by laying its own 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge track in-between the Iron Railroad's track. Both railroads merged later that same year, retaining the TD&B name.

The financially troubled Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad system eventually entered receivership in 1883 and was split at foreclosure in 1884 and 1885 as follows:

• St. Louis and Toledo Divisions (split at Kokomo), completed by the TC&StL: Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City Railroad (NKP)
• Cincinnati Division
  • Built by the TD&B (Lebanon Junction to Dayton): Dayton, Lebanon and Cincinnati Railroad (Pennsy)
  • Ex-Cincinnati Northern Railway: Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway (Pennsy)
• Dayton Division, completed by the TD&B (Delphos to Dayton): Dayton and Toledo Railroad (B&O)
• Southeastern Division, ex-Dayton and South Eastern Railroad (Dayton to Wellston): Dayton and Ironton Railroad (B&O)
• Ironton Division
  • Constructed by the TC&StL (Deans to Ironton Junction): Dayton and Ironton Railroad (B&O)
  • Ex-Iron Railroad (Ironton to Center Station and connection to Deans): Iron Railway (converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in or 1,435 mm standard gauge in 1887)