The Springfield, Jackson, and Pomeroy Railroad was incorporated on December 14, 1874 to build a narrow gauge line between the namesake cities. James Emmitt of Waverly was an early promoter of the railroad and drove the ceremonial first spike in Jackson on December 10, 1876. By May of 1877, the rail was completed between Jackson and Waverly and Emmitt was the president of the company. As happened to many of the railroads being built during this time, it was easier to get pledges of money than to collect the actual money and soon the railroad was broke. New directors were chosen and the construction continued. By May 23, 1878, track was completed on the northern end of the railroad between Springfield and Bainbridge.
The most difficult portion of the railroad was the line between Bainbridge and Waverly, which ran up and over the hills on land granted by local landowners instead of purchasing land through the Paint Creek valley to Chillicothe, which would have been a much easier route to construct and operate. Finally, on July 18, 1878, a celebration was planned at the newly completed bridge over Paint Creek to drive the ceremonial ‘Golden Spike’. James Emmitt, even though not affiliated with the railroad at this time, drove the last spike and the crowd of 800 retired to a field outside of Bainbridge for a huge picnic.
In 1879, the railroad (still considerably in debt) was acquired by a new company and renamed the Springfield Southern Railroad. Their first act was to change the line to standard gauge and this was completed by 1880. In 1881, the line changed hands once again and was renamed the Ohio Southern Railroad and in 1901 it was acquired by F.J. Lisman and consolidated into the Detroit Southern Railroad. In 1905, the line was broke again and reorganized as the Detroit, Toledo, and Ironton Railway, which was succeeded by the Detroit, Toledo, and Ironton RailROAD in 1914. Henry Ford bought the railroad in 1920 and during his 10 years of ownership, he used his deep pockets to greatly improve the railroads rolling stock and right-of-way. This insured the lines survival until it was merged into the Grand Trunk Western around 1980. Trackage rights over the old CH&D (now B&O) were negotiated from Washington CH to Chillicothe and the line south of Washington CH to Waverly was abandoned. The last train to operate over Summit Hill was in September 1981. (Note that the railroad never did reach Pomeroy!)
The railroad was still fairly straight art this point as it continued to climb Southbound. At this cache site, the road went under a wooden trestle, which I have not been able to find a picture of. The land through here was probably also donated by Johnny Storms. I highly recommend looking at a satellite view of the area. The route is still visible through the trees, and there were several horsehoe curves. It would have been a fantastic scenic railroad. The roadbed is very obvious at Spargursville, but houses nearby prevent me from placing a cache.