Railroads quickly made canals obsolete, even before some were finished. Only five years after digging began on the Miami and Erie Canal, trains were already rolling into Ohio. In 1839, travel on this section of the canal cost passengers 3-6 cents a mile and moved at a pace of 4 mph, while trains traveled at 30 mph. The bridge built in 1876 operated alongside the canal for more than 40 years. The Miami and Erie Canal was 249 miles long, with stops including Texas, Ohio, Napoleon, Ohio, and Cincinnati, Ohio. Canal boats operated only from the first thaw to the first freeze, making it difficult to compete with trains that ran year-round.