Eastern Kentucky Railway

Last updated
Eastern Kentucky Railway
Overview
Reporting mark EK
Localenortheastern Kentucky
Dates of operation18671933
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Eastern Kentucky Railway( reporting mark EK) was a railroad in northeastern Kentucky, United States. It served mainly mine traffic, running north from Webbville through Grayson to Riverton (now part of Greenup) on the Ohio River and Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.

Contents

History

The Kentucky Improvement Company was chartered in December 1866 and renamed January 1, 1870 to the Eastern Kentucky Railway. The first section, from Riverton south to Argillite, opened in 1867. Further extensions took it to Hunnewell by 1870, Grayson in 1871, Willard by 1874 and Webbville in 1889. At Hitchins, between Grayson and Willard, the line junctioned with the Elizabethtown, Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad, an east–west branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.

1883 map of the Consolidated Southern Railway (the red line heading north from the orange area) 1883 Consolidated Southern Railway.jpg
1883 map of the Consolidated Southern Railway (the red line heading north from the orange area)

The Consolidated Southern Railway was a plan in the 1880s to extend the EK south as part of a through line to Hickory and Statesville, North Carolina, also using the never-built Norfolk and Cincinnati Railroad and part of the Chester and Lenoir Railroad.

The EK went bankrupt in 1919, and the part south of Grayson was reorganized in 1928 as the Eastern Kentucky Southern Railway. That company stopped operations in January 1933, and the tracks were removed soon after. [1]

The EK is featured in the children's book A Ride with Huey, the Engineer (1966) by Jesse Stuart. The book "Eastern Kentucky Railway" by Terry L. Baldridge was published in September 2007.

Tracing the route

One of the bridges over the Little Sandy River, now used by KY 773 KY 773 bridge.jpg
One of the bridges over the Little Sandy River, now used by KY 773

The old alignment parallels KY 1 north of Argillite. From Argillite south to Hunnewell, the alignment except the tunnels has been used for KY 207. KY 3306 mostly follows the path west to Hopewell, and from there south to Grayson it runs along KY 1. From Grayson to Hitchins, the alignment was used for KY 773, including two old truss bridges now used as one-lane road bridges. (Part of the old grade of the Elizabethtown, Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad west of the EK is erroneously named EK Railroad Drive.) Finally, from Hitchins to Webbville, the railroad once again followed KY 1; an old alignment includes another remaining truss bridge, that one with no floor.

South end of the Argillite Tunnel, ca. 1880s Argillite Tunnel.jpg
South end of the Argillite Tunnel, ca. 1880s

The railroad had eight tunnels; all but the Argillite Tunnel, south of Argillite, have been flooded. The north end of Argillite Tunnel formerly could be seen from KY 207 where it curves to avoid the hill that the tunnel passes through. But the entrance was buried for safety reasons in 2017.

Station listing

MilepostStationConnections and notes
1 Riverton junction with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Barney Tunnel
McIntire Tunnel
6 Argillite
Argillite Tunnel
Callahan Tunnel
Laurel
Ramey Tunnel
Shelton Tunnel
13 Hunnewell
Big Tunnel
17 Hopewell
Hopewell Tunnel
21 Pactolus
23 Grayson
Vincent's
28 Hitchins junction with the Elizabethtown, Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad (C&O)
Reedville
34 Willard
Bell's Trace
36 Webbville

Related Research Articles

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

Grayson is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Carter County, Kentucky, United States, on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 64 in the state's northeastern region. It is approximately 21 miles west of Ashland. Within the city limits, the population was 4,217 at the 2010 census. Along with Carter County, the city is closely associated with the nearby Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area and is often erroneously included in the MSA being just 9 miles west of the M.S.A's western boundary.

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

Greenup is a home rule-class city located at the confluence of the Little Sandy River with the Ohio River in Greenup County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,188 at the 2010 census. Greenup is one of three county seats in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to share its name with its county; the other two being Harlan and Henderson.

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

Russell is a home rule-class city on the south bank of the Ohio River in Greenup County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 3,380 as of the 2010 census, down from 3,645 in 2000. Russell is a suburb of Ashland and part of the Huntington-Ashland-Ironton metropolitan area. It has close economic affiliations with its neighbors, Ashland and Flatwoods in Kentucky and Ironton, Ohio.

Denton is an unincorporated community near Grayson in Carter County, Kentucky, United States. The community's postal zip code is 41132. A post office existed here from 1881 until 2004 when it was closed and mail service was transferred to nearby Hitchins although the community retained its zip code. It is centered around the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway track where several stores and a hotel once operated. The former hotel and a store building are still standing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chesapeake and Ohio Railway</span> Defunct American Class I railway

The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond to the Ohio River by 1873, where the railroad town of Huntington, West Virginia, was named for him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Allegheny Passage</span> Rail trail connecting Cumberland, Maryland, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) is a 150-mile (240 km) rail trail between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cumberland, Maryland. Together with the C&O Canal towpath, the GAP is part of a 335 mi (539 km) route between Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., that is popular with through hikers and cyclists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Ridge Railroad (1849–1870)</span>

The Blue Ridge Railroad was incorporated by the Commonwealth of Virginia in March 1849 to provide a state-financed crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains for the Virginia Central Railroad, which it became a part of after completion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky Route 1</span> State highway in Kentucky

Kentucky Route 1 is a 48.486-mile-long (78.031 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It originates at a junction with KY 3, one mile (1.6 km) east of Cadmus in Lawrence County. The route continues through Grayson in Carter County to terminate at US 23 in Greenup in Greenup County. Part of the highway is co-signed with the Jenny Wiley Trail. Segments of KY 1 are built upon the old Eastern Kentucky Railroad. KY 1 follows parts of the Little Sandy River and parts of a smaller fork of the Little Sandy called the Little Fork upstream of Grayson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Covington and Ohio Railroad</span>

Covington and Ohio Railroad was part of a planned railroad link between Eastern Virginia and the Ohio River in the 1850s. The mountainous region of the Allegheny Front of the Appalachian Plateau between an existing canal, railroads and navigable rivers represented a formidable obstacle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sciotoville Bridge</span> Bridge in Ohio, USA

The Sciotoville Bridge is a steel continuous truss bridge carrying railway tracks belonging to CSX Transportation across the Ohio River between Siloam - a junction located north of Limeville, Kentucky and east of South Shore, Kentucky - and Sciotoville, Ohio in the United States. Designed by Gustav Lindenthal, the bridge was constructed in 1916 by Chesapeake and Ohio Railway subsidiary Chesapeake and Ohio Northern Railway as part of a new route between Ashland, Kentucky and Columbus, Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 31W</span> U.S. Highway in Kentucky and Tennessee

U.S. Route 31W is the westernmost of two parallel routes for U.S. Route 31 from Nashville, Tennessee to Louisville, Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Bridge of Kentucky</span> Railroad bridge crossing the Kentucky River Palisades in Jessamine County, KY, US

The High Bridge is a railroad bridge crossing the Kentucky River Palisades, that rises approximately 275 feet from the river below and connects Jessamine and Mercer counties in Kentucky. Formally dedicated in 1879, it is the first cantilever bridge constructed in the United States. It has a three-span continuous under-deck truss used by Norfolk Southern Railway to carry trains between Lexington and Danville. It has been designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C&O Railroad Bridge</span> Bridge in and Cincinnati, Ohio

The C&O Railroad bridge is a cantilever truss bridge carrying the CSX Transportation Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision over the Ohio River. It was the first railroad bridge connecting Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky Route 67</span> State highway in Kentucky, USA

Kentucky Route 67 is a Kentucky State Highway originating at a junction with Interstate 64 (I-64) near Grayson, Kentucky in Carter County. The route continues through rural ridgetops in Greenup County and briefly touches Boyd County before terminating at U.S. Route 23 (US 23) in Greenup County in between Wurtland and Greenup. KY 67 is also known as the Industrial Parkway.

Transportation in Kentucky includes roads, airports, waterways and rail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 62 in Kentucky</span>

U.S. Route 62 (US 62) in Kentucky runs for a total of 391.207 miles (629.587 km) across 20 counties in western, north-central, and northeastern Kentucky. It enters the state by crossing the Ohio River near Wickliffe, then begins heading eastward at Bardwell, and traversing several cities and towns across the state up to Maysville, where it crosses the Ohio River a second time to enter the state of Ohio.

Kavanaugh, Kentucky is an unincorporated community located in Boyd County, Kentucky, located along U.S. Route 23 directly north of the Lawrence County line. In 1984, the original alignment of U.S. 23 was replaced with a modern four-lane highway. CSX Transportation's Big Sandy Subdivision railroad tracks pass through the community. The railroad was formerly operated by the Chessie System and its predecessor the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C&O Lexington Subdivision</span> Railway line

The Lexington Subdivision was a line operated by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway between Ashland and Lexington in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Large sections of the line were built by the Elizabethtown, Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad, a predecessor to the Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad. The C&O purchased the railroad in 1892 and connected its mainline in Ashland, KY. The C&O had a large yard in Lexington, KY, named the "Netherlands Yard." Most of the right-of-way was torn up in the mid-1980s due to little online traffic and the difficulty of maintaining a line running perpendicular to Kentucky's draining pattern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky Route 207</span>

Kentucky Route 207 (KY 207) is a 23.9-mile-long (38.5 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The highway connects mostly rural areas of Carter and Greenup counties with Argillite and Flatwoods.

Webbville is an unincorporated community in Lawrence County, Kentucky, United States. The community is located at the intersection of Kentucky Route 1 and Kentucky Route 201 11.4 miles (18.3 km) south of Grayson. Webbville had a post office from January 11, 1867, until March 23, 2013; it still has its own ZIP code, 41180. The community contains one small business: Perkins Sawmill.

References

  1. Eastern Kentucky Railway (2007, Baldridge, Terry L.)