Kentucky Central Railroad’s track runs along bottom, the Lexington & Danville Railroad...
Railroads
Newport News & Mississippi Valley Railroad’s tracks run from right bottom to center (where it curves into downtown), Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific’s tracks in right side center and Louisville & Nashville’s tracks top right <...
The City of Lexington was founded during 1779 and quickly grew for the first three decades into the commercial center of the then “Western Frontier.” Lexington became the principal city of Kentucky, known as the “Athens of the West.” City streets were...
Reached Lexington: 1889
Route: Around northern Lexington
Corporate Names:
Belt Line Railway (1888 – 1895)
Chesapeake & Ohio (1895 – 1971)
Chessie System (1971 – 1986)
CSX Transportation (1986 – 2003)
R J Corman (2003 – Present)
The City Passenger Railway Company (later renamed the Passenger & Belt Line Company) was chartered by the Legislature on...
Reached Lexington: 1853
Route: Lexington to Paris, extension from Paris to Covington
Corporate Names:
Licking & Lexington (1847 – 1849)
Maysville & Lexington (1850 – 1876)
Covington & Lexington (1849 – 1861)
Kentucky Central (1861 – 1891)[1]
Louisville...
On February 24, 1888, the Paris, Georgetown & Frankfort Railway Company was renamed the Kentucky Midland Railway Company[1] and the charter amended to “authorized <the company> to extend its line or lines of railroad to the eastern boundary of Kentucky on the Big Sandy river along any route or...
Reached Lexington: 1890
Route: Lexington to Jackson (via Winchester)
Corporate Names:
Kentucky Union (1854 – 1894)[1]
Lexington & Eastern (1894 – 1915)
Louisville & Nashville (1915 – 1983)
Seaboard System (1983 – 1986)
CSX Transportation (1986 – 2003)...
Reached Lexington: 1872
Route: Lexington to Mt. Sterling
Corporate Names:
Lexington & Big Sandy (1852 – 1869)
Elizabethtown, Lexington & Big Sandy (1869 – 1881)
Newport News & Mississippi Valley (1881 – 1892)
Chesapeake & Ohio (1892 – 1971)
Chessie System (1971 – 1986)
CSX Transportation (1986 – 2003)
R J Corman (2003 – Present)...
During February 1848, the Lexington & Frankfort Railroad Company was organized by a special act in Frankfort to assume operations of the line.[i] In May 1848, the City of Lexington agreed to subscribe $100,000 in common stock of the new railroad. This subscription was paid in bonds, issued by the city for...
Reached Lexington: 1832
Route: Lexington to Frankfort (via Midway)
Corporate Names:
Lexington & Ohio (1830 - 1838)
Phillip Swigert & Company (1838 – 1843)
McKee & Swigert (1843 – 1848)
Lexington & Frankfort (1848 - 1857)
Louisville, Frankfort & Lexington (1857 – 1869)
Louisville, Cincinnati & Lexington (1869 – 1881)
...
During January 1835, the company received two steam locomotives built by Bury & Stephenson, of England, named the Elkhorn and Nottoway[1]. They arrived in Frankfort on the steamboat Argus. The first run by the Nottoway, on January 24, 1835, covered the 6¼ miles to the “villa” in 18½ minutes....
Limestone Sills and Strap Iron Rails
The limestone sills were quarried to standard sizes of approximately 1 foot by 1½ feet square by 4 to 6 feet in length. Some were reported as long as 10 to 20 feet. Mason chiseled the inside face with a straight notch for the wheel flanges (of about 3 inches by 3 inches) and then another straight indentation for the iron rails (of about 2½ inches by 5/8 inches). ...
In July 1881, the Louisville & Nashville Railroad purchased the Louisville, Cincinnati & Lexington Railway Company. On November 1, 1881, the Louisville & Nashville began operating trains along the old Lexington & Ohio line, into downtown Lexington, to the old Lexington & Ohio’s passenger depot on Water Street, at Mill....
Reached Lexington: 1889
Route: Lexington west to Louisville (via Versailles)
Corporate Names:
Louisville, Harrodsburg & Virginia (1868 – 1884)
Louisville Southern (1884 – 1894)
Southern (1894 – 1974)
Norfolk Southern (1974 – 1996)
Lexington & Ohio (Gulf & Ohio) (1996 – 2003)
R J Corman (2003 – Present)
The Louisville Southern Railroad...
In late 1887, the Louisville Southern proposed an extension from Lawrenceburg to Lexington, subject to public support from Woodford and Fayette Counties. This line was in direct competition to the Louisville & Nashville Railroad’s Old Road line from Louisville to Lexington.
In January 1888, the Woodford County magistrates voted to subscribe $50,000 for the Lexington Extension. The subscription was...
Since the 1880s, the railroads in Lexington discussed establishing a gateway “Union Station” on Main Street to serve all the passenger trains entering the city. The problem was locating a parcel of land large enough downtown. In 1901, both the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and Chesapeake & Ohio Railway agreed to join the Lexington & Eastern Railway in building this depot. At the time, the...
