History

From Stan Hedeen, Professor Emeritus Xavier University

The Railroads of Wasson Way

The Ault Park to Montgomery Road section of Wasson Way is built on the roadbed of the Cincinnati & Eastern, an Ohio railway opened between Portsmouth and Cincinnati in 1884. The railroad’s local passenger stations were at Edwards Road, Elsmere Avenue, and Idlewild, the community that was located where Xavier University stands today. The Ault Park to Idlewild portion of the train route closed in 2009, after which it was purchased by the City of Cincinnati and converted into the main section of Wasson Way.

At Idlewild, Cincinnati & Eastern trains bound for downtown Cincinnati switched onto the tracks of the Cincinnati Northern, an Ohio railway completed between Lebanon and Cincinnati in 1882. The Cincinnati Northern trackage from Idlewild to downtown Cincinnati was abandoned in the 1990s and acquired by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA). The Authority subsequently allowed the roadbed to be used for the section of Wasson Way that starts at Woodburn Avenue and continues into Avondale.

Wasson Way Is for the Birds

During forty bird censuses in the winters of 1990-1991 through 1993-1994, a total of 41 species were recorded along a 500-meter segment of the railroad corridor (now Wasson Way) between Ault Park and Erie Avenue. The 41 species exceeded the number observed along 500 meters of an adjacent residential street (34 species) or along a 500-meter path through the Ault Park forest (31 species). The average number of individual birds counted on the railroad corridor census (138) also was larger than the average number along the street (97) or the forest path (47).

The greater species richness and bird abundance along Wasson Way reflect the rail corridor’s complex vegetation structure. Grasses and weeds on each side of the roadbed are bordered by trees, which are in turn bordered by backyard lawns. Due to the increased light penetration through the open spaces above the roadbed and fringing lawns, shrubs and shorter plants are more fully developed below the trees of the rail corridor than they are in the manicured residential area or in the heavily-shaded Ault Park forest. The higher volume and diversity of foliage is responsible for the larger number of species and greater bird abundance along Wasson Way.