Railroads
The first railroad built in Montgomery County was the Elizabethtown, Lexington & Big Sandy RR. It
ran from the Ohio River at Louisville through Lexington on through Winchester in Clark County to Mt. Sterling. The section to Mt. Sterling was built in 1872, but further construction was halted due to lack of money. Construction began again in 1879 and the line between Mt. Sterling and Ashland, West Virginia was completed in 1881.
The line was consolidated into the C & O Railway in 1892. The above depot in Mt. Sterling was built in 1910 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Passenger service was dropped on the line in 1970, and the line was abandoned in 1985 under CSX ownership.
During the time that further expansion of the Elizabethtown, Lexington & Big Sandy RR was delayed in 1872, another railroad, the Mt. Sterling Coal Road, was built between Mt Sterling and Rothwell in Menifee County. It was originally built as a narrow gauge railroad to bring lumber and coal to market. It opened in 1875.
From Mt. Sterling the Mt. Sterling Coal Road ran southeast through Gatewoods, Coons, Spencer, Oggs, Walkers, and Johnsons Station (Hope). It continued on through Menifee County with stops at Clay Lick, Cedar Grove, Chambers Station (Means), Sentinel, Cornwell, and Rothwell. Around 1898 it was extended to McCausey Ridge and Appearson.
A man by the name of McCausey had a large lumber camp there and employed many loggers. Local farmers in that area shipped hides, ginseng, snakeroot and chickens back to Mt. Sterling.
In 1882 the line came under the ownership of the Kentucky & South Atlantic Railway and later the C & O Railroad. The line was discontinued in 1911 when standing timber in that area had been depleted. Source: Ghost Railroads of Kentucky By Elmer Griffith Sulzer
This 1879 map shows the Elizabethtown, Lexington & Big Sandy RR to Mt. Sterling, as well as the Mt. Sterling Coal Road to Rothwell. It was drawn before the Elizabethtown, Lexington & Big Sandy RR was extended from Mt. Sterling to Ashland.
A cut-out from an 1886 Sanborn Insurance map of Mt. Sterling shows several interesting railway features. As of that date, the main line from Lexington through Mt. Sterling to Ashland was known as the "Newport News & Mississippi Railway" and the line down to Rothway was known as the "K & S.A. R.R." or the Kentucky & South Atlantic Railway.
We can see that a turn table was used to transfer railway cars between those two lines. There was a water tank for the steam locomotives of that era, along with a pump house for filling the tank from Hingston Creek. We can see two depots, one for the main line and one for the K & S.A. R.R. There was an engine house for working on the locomotives, a freight house and several other utility sheds. One of the side tracks was designated a scale track with a set of scales for weighing loads. All of this was located about a block east of the 1911 depot Railroad Street.
A bit of research shows Newport News & Mississippi Railway was formed in 1879 to extend the Elizabethtown, Lexington & Big Sandy RR from Mt. Sterling to Ashland. However, it was consolidated into the C & O Railway in 1892.
Railroads and Genealogy
Locating Railroad Employee Records
U.S. Railroad Retirement Board
Cyndi's List of Railroad Employee Records
Contacts
Marvin Allen  Montgomery County Coordinator |
| Suzanne Shephard KY Asst. State Coordinator |
| Jeff Kemp KY State Coordinator |
