Just outside of Cincinnati, in the town of Zammer, Ohio, the LE&E's mainline to Cincinnati crosses the Cincinnati Central Belt, the
Charleston, Asheville, and Louisville, and the Levi and Appalachian. Here, we see a LE&E Detroit to Cincinnati general merchandise freight hit the diamonds in the summer of 1964. The gates appear to be out of order for maintenance today, so the guard is out holding traffic today. Much like how the PRR owned stock in the Wabash, the LE&E owned a 20% share in the CA&L from 1921 to 1973, just enough to ensure that the road didn't fall into the hands of the L&A after a fierce bidding war. Following the acquisition, the L&A built a mainline to Toledo, deep into LE&E territory, intending to capitalize on the LE&E's auto traffic from Detroit to Cincinnati. Interestingly enough, as the L&A and LE&E would go on to become close allies under new leadership in the 1930's through the 1970's the CA&L carried on without LE&E influence until 1973, when the stock was sold as part of the LE&E's receivership.
Next up, a LE&E NW2 takes two Belt Line EF-4s from their main repair shops in South Cincinnati to the L&A's paint booth in their repair shops. Jointly owned by the CA&L, LE&E, OR&NW, and the L&A, the Cincinnati Central Belt line served many roles. Operating primarily as an interurban for most of the early 20th Century, the line was jointly bought for it's strategic land on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati. This land would give way to the new Cincinnati Central Depot, home of the four aforementioned roads from 1929 until 1958, when the OR&NW and CA&L cut back passenger service to Cincinnati, and the L&A and LE&E both agreed to operate as tenants out of CUT instead of sharing the increased overhead costs of their own station. The Cincinnati Belt, in addition to operating it's own boxcabs, niles interurban cars, station switchers, and two sets of massive single ended EF-4 "Big Joe" electrics, also leased power from the LE&E when traffic warranted, as shown by today's NW2 on the point of the short engine move.