Big South Fork Scenic Railway

Last updated

Big South Fork Scenic Railway
Big South Fork Scenic Railway.jpg
Overview
Locale McCreary County, Kentucky, US
Transit type Heritage railway
Number of stations2
Headquarters Stearns, Kentucky
Website bsfsry.com
Technical
System length16.0 mi (25.7 km)
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
(standard gauge)

The Big South Fork Scenic Railway is a heritage railroad in Stearns, Kentucky.

Contents

The route runs for 16 miles (26 km) through lush countryside in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. There is a stop in the historic coal mining town of Blue Heron, Kentucky which can be toured. There is also a gift shop and snack bar with picnic shelter as well as hiking trails in Blue Heron. [1]

The railroad is restoring a large 0-6-0 steam locomotive from the Union railroad built by ALCO in 1944 and uses diesel locomotives for its excursion trains. [2]

The adjacent McCreary County Museum (admission included in train ticket) demonstrates life in Kentucky's coal company towns during the first half of the 20th century.

History

The line that is used by the BSFSR was originally laid down by the Stearns Coal & Lumber Company, beginning in 1901. In order to move lumber from the Cumberland National Forest (now Daniel Boone National Forest), Stearns Company built the Kentucky & Tennessee Railroad. Shortly after opening up the lumber business, coal was discovered, and the company became Stearns Coal & Lumber. The first mine, at Barthell, was opened in 1902.

In 1904, the K&T changed their corporate charter name to the Kentucky & Tennessee Railway Company, in order to finance the extension of the line to Worley, White Oak Junction, Cooperative, and Bell Farm. Little K&T touched the Kentucky/Tennessee state line just south of Bell Farm. The line had graded roadbed to near Jamestown, Tennessee.

In 1937, Blue Heron Mining Camp was opened; K&T built a one-mile spur to the camp, crossing Roaring Paunch Creek. The bridge that was used to cross the creek was bought from New York Central Railroad (NYCRR) in 1936. K&T line builders needed a bridge to curve around to the right to meet the spur. The steel trestle was found in Upstate New York, shipped to Stearns, and installed upside down to meet the requirements. It is in use today, hauling passengers to Mine 18.

K&T had big plans to become a through trunk line railway. The Tennessee Central Railroad had a spur that ran into Monterey, Tennessee, where K&T hoped to meet them. Plans called for K&T and TC to meet in Monterey, Cookeville, Crab Orchard, and Harriman. They had intentions of using Southern Railway tracks into Chattanooga, but negotiations stalled with SR in 1951. In December 1963, the railroad purchased four ALCO S-2 diesel locomotives from the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. The line's remaining steam locomotives remained on standby service until their official retirement in February 1964. Today, engines #10 and #12 (formerly Southern Railway 4501), (both 2-8-2 Mikakdos), are currently residing at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee with #12 restored to operational condition with its original Southern Railway colors and number 4501 whilst #10 is awaiting restoration.

In 1974. Stearns opened up Justus Mine, which would technically be Mine 19. It was named in honor of the town's founder, Justus S. Stearns, and operated from 1974 until its closure by Blue Diamond Coal in October 1987.

The Big South Fork Scenic Railway started operating on July 1, 1982. The railway had 7 open-air passenger cars, all home built, and two ALCo S2 diesel switchers, Nos. 102 and 105. Number 102 was the second of four Alco switchers K&T purchased from the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway in late 1963. Each unit spent two months in East St. Louis, Illinois, getting multiple unit controls installed.

Today, BSFSR is a thriving railway, pleasing tourists and railfans alike. Trains Magazine has said that the K&/BSFSR is a “spectacular trip back in time, when life was simple. The scenery is second to none and the hospitality of the citizens and staff is unmatched.”

Locomotives

These are the locomotives that ran on the Kentucky & Tennessee Railway.

No.ModelBuilderBuiltSerial NumberRetiredNotes
1 2-8-0 ALCo-Schenectady 1903274091953Purchased New. Scrapped 1953. [3]
2 Shay locomotive Lima Locomotive Works 19048741953Purchased New. Sold to Georgia Car & Locomotive. Later became Grasse River Railroad #6. [3]
3ShayLima Locomotive Works190515301909Purchased New. Sold to the Raleigh Lumber Company in 1909. Sold to Southern Iron & Locomotive who later sold it to the Smoky Mountain Railroad as their #1. It was later sold to the Ritter Lumber Company as their #5. It was scrapped in 1942. [3]
4ShayLima Locomotive Works190616751909Purchased New. Sold to Millstead Manufacturing Company in 1909. [3]
5 0-4-0ST H.K. Porter, Inc. 1881406UnknownEx-Lucy Furnace Company #3. Later sold to Southern Iron & Locomotive as their #1211 who later sold it to Pittsburgh Construction Company as their #7 in 1917. [3]
6 0-6-0ST Baldwin Locomotive Works 187742021920Ex-Memphis & Little Rock Railroad #16. Later sold to Cincinnati Equipment Company who later sold it to the K&T. Scrapped 1920. [3]
7 2-8-2 Baldwin Locomotive Works1908327631951Purchased New. Scrapped in 1951. [3]
8 2-6-2 Baldwin Locomotive Works1911372691951Purchased New. Scrapped in 1951. [3]
9 2-6-0 Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works 1907444161940Ex-Atlantic Equipment & Construction Company #1. Sold to SA&N who later sold it to the K&T. It was scrapped in 1940. [3]
102-8-2Baldwin Locomotive WorksMay 192053182February 1964Purchased New. Retired in February 1964. Now at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum awaiting restoration. [3]
112-8-2ALCo-Schenectady1922632711963Purchased New. Retired in 1963. Sold to the U.S. Army to move gunnery targets at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Accidentally destroyed in 1966. [3]
12 2-8-2Baldwin Locomotive WorksOctober 191137085February 1964Ex-Southern Railway #4501. Sold to the K&T in October 1948 and renumbered 12. Retired in February 1964. Now operating at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. [3]
101ALCo S-2American Locomotive CompanyMay 1944unknown1987Ex-Denver & Rio Grande Western #110. Sold to the K&T in 1963. [3]
102ALCo S-2American Locomotive CompanyMay 1944720511987Ex-Denver & Rio Grande Western #118. Sold to the K&T in 1963. [3]
103ALCo S-2American Locomotive Company1944720521987Ex-Denver & Rio Grande Western #119. Sold to the K&T in 1963. [3]
104ALCo S-2American Locomotive Company1944unknown1987Ex-Delaware & Hudson #3028. Sold to the K&T in 1963. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McCreary County, Kentucky</span> County in Kentucky, United States

McCreary County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,888. Its county seat is Whitley City. The county is named for James B. McCreary, a Confederate war soldier and two-time Governor of Kentucky. During his second term as governor, McCreary County was created by the Legislature and was named in his honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stearns, Kentucky</span> Census-designated place in Kentucky, United States

Stearns is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in McCreary County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,365 at the 2020 census. It was founded by Justus Smith Stearns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big South Fork of the Cumberland River</span> River in the United States

The Big South Fork of the Cumberland River is a 76-mile-long (122 km) river in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Kentucky. It is a major drainage feature of the Cumberland Plateau, a major tributary of the Cumberland River system, and the major feature of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.

The Tennessee Central Railway was founded in 1884 as the Nashville and Knoxville Railroad by Alexander S. Crawford. It was an attempt to open up a rail route from the coal and minerals of East Tennessee to the markets of the midstate, a service which many businessmen felt was not being adequately provided by the existing railroad companies. They also wanted to ship coal and iron ore to the Northeastern US over the Cincinnati Southern Railway, which was leased to the Southern and operated as the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (CNOTP), through their Cincinnati gateway. The N&K was only completed between Lebanon, where it connected to a Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway branch from Nashville, and Standing Stone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum</span> Railroad museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is a railroad museum and heritage railroad in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ALCO RS-1</span> Diesel-electric locomotive built by ALCO

The ALCO RS-1 was a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by Alco-GE between 1941 and 1953 and the American Locomotive Company from 1953 to 1960. ALCO subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works built an additional three RS-1s in 1954. This model has the distinction of having the longest production run of any diesel locomotive for the North American market. The RS-1 was in production for 19 years from the first unit Rock Island #748 in March 1941 to the last unit National of Mexico #5663 in March 1960.

The East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad, affectionately called the "Tweetsie" as a verbal acronym of its initials (ET&WNC) but also in reference to the sound of its steam whistles, was a primarily 3 ft narrow gauge railroad established in 1866 for the purpose of serving the mines at Cranberry, North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ALCO S-2 and S-4</span> Class of diesel locomotive

The ALCO S-2 and S-4 are 1,000-horsepower (746 kW) diesel electric switcher locomotives produced by ALCO and Canadian licensee Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ALCO Century 420</span> A 2,000 hp 4 axle diesel locomotive

The ALCO Century 420 is a four-axle, 2,000 horsepower (1,491 kW) diesel-electric locomotive. 131 were built between June 1963 and August 1968. Cataloged as a part of ALCO's "Century" line of locomotives, the C420 was intended to replace the earlier RS-32 model.

The Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad, is a Class III railroad U.S. railroad offering service from Marquette, Michigan, to nearby locations in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It began operations in 1896. The LS&I continues to operate as an independent railroad from its headquarters in Marquette.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Railway 4501</span> Preserved American Ms class 2-8-2 steam locomotive

Southern Railway 4501 is a preserved Ms class 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive built in October 1911 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the first of its wheel arrangement type for the Southern Railway (SOU). In 1948, the locomotive was retired from the Southern Railway in favor of dieselization and was subsequently sold to the shortline Kentucky and Tennessee Railway (K&T) in Stearns, Kentucky, to haul coal trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ALCO FA</span> American locomotive class

The ALCO FA was a family of B-B diesel locomotives designed to haul freight trains. The locomotives were built by a partnership of ALCO and General Electric in Schenectady, New York, between January 1946 and May 1959. Designed by General Electric's Ray Patten, they were of a cab unit design; both cab-equipped lead FA and cabless booster FB models were built. A dual passenger-freight version, the FPA/FPB, was also offered. It was equipped with a steam generator for heating passenger cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New South Wales 45 class locomotive</span> Class of diesel-electric locomotive

The 45 class are a class of diesel-electric locomotives built by AE Goodwin, Auburn for the New South Wales Department of Railways between 1962 and 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad</span> Coal-mining railroad based in West Virginia

The Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad (BC&G) was a railroad chartered on April 1, 1904 and ran along Buffalo Creek in Clay County, West Virginia. The original Buffalo Creek and Gauley ended service in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McCreary County Museum</span> United States historic place

Constructed in 1907, the McCreary County Museum is housed in the former Stearns Coal and Lumber Company corporate headquarters in Stearns, Kentucky. The building served as the company's office headquarters in the Southern United States, and maintains the company president's office as an exhibit. The town where the museum is located was called the Stearns Empire of the South, and the museum continues to preserve and display the area's history from the Indian and pioneer times into the town's peak at the height of the coal and lumber industry boom. The exhibits include significant coverage of Appalachian life in McCreary County, including an exhibit on moonshine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Heron, Kentucky</span> Coal town in Kentucky, United States

Blue Heron, also known as Mine 18, is a former coal mining community or coal town on the banks of the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River in McCreary County, Kentucky, United States, that has been recreated and is maintained as an interpretive history area in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tombstone Junction</span> Former theme park in Kentucky, US

Tombstone Junction was a small, Western-town-themed park located on Kentucky Route 90 in McCreary County, Kentucky near the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. It began operating in the 1960s and continued uninterrupted until it was heavily damaged by fire in 1989. The park continued with limited operation until it was completely destroyed by a second fire in 1991. The venue featured a recreation of a small, Western frontier town complete with train station, working saloon, dance hall, jailhouse, shanties, and shops. There was also an outdoor amphitheater that hosted live shows featuring country and western music of the period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Railway 630</span> Preserved American 2-8-0 locomotive (SOU Ks-1 class)

Southern Railway 630 is a 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive built in February 1904 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia for the Southern Railway (SOU) as a member of the Ks-1 class. It was primarily assigned to haul freight trains on the Murphy Branch between Asheville and Murphy, North Carolina until its retirement in the 1950s. No. 630, along with sister locomotive No. 722, were sold to the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC) to be served as switchers.

Barthell is a former coal town in McCreary County, Kentucky, United States. It was established in 1902 and was the first of 18 mining camps to be built by the Stearns Coal and Lumber Company. It now serves as an open-air history museum, which is open from April through Thanksgiving.

References

  1. You Need To Know Archived March 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Big South Fork Scenic Railway. Retrieved 2013-07-30
  2. K&T No. 14 Archived 2013-03-18 at the Wayback Machine Big South Fork Scenic Railway. Retrieved 2013-07-30
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "W's Network". W's Network. Retrieved January 14, 2024.