Elizabeth and I arose at the Best Western Lexington Inn and following our morning preparations, checked out and she drove us to Bob Evans for a very hearty breakfast. I drove us south on Interstate 79 to Mount Vernon, where I filled the car at Speedway then continued south on Kentucky 401 to Shopville, onto Kentucky 80 then US Highway 27 to Stearns and arrived at the Big South Fork Scenic Railroad.
When Coal, Lumber, and Railroads Were King…In 1902, Justus S. Stearns of Ludington, Michigan bought 30,000 acres of virgin timberland in southern Kentucky. When coal was discovered soon afterwards, the Stearns Coal & Lumber Company was established. The company built the town of Stearns to serve as the hub of a logging and mining empire that would control over 200 square miles of land, build the Kentucky & Tennessee Railway, erect the first all electric sawmill in the U.S. and employ over 2,200 people living and working in 18 coal and lumber camps.
Most of the buildings in the Stearns business district were painted in company colors – sage green with white trim. The Company office headquarters building and surrounding Company houses were painted white with dark green trim. Residents enjoyed services provided by the Company, such as water and sewage, electricity, and steam heat for their homes. Recreation amenitiesincluded a golf course, tennis courts, pool hall, and baseball field for their leisure time.
The Kentucky & Tennessee Railway once stretched over 25 miles into the Big South Fork River valley and operated 12 steam locomotives. It served as the primary passage not only for timber and coal, but also for workers and supplies going to camps along its line. The K&T, like many shortline railroads operated steam locomotives several years after the mainline railroads had switched to diesel power. One of the more notable steam locomotives, Southern Railway No. 4501 was purchased by the K&T, re-lettered K&T No. 12, and operated until 1964. The only original K&T steam engine still in existence today is the K&T No. 10. Both No. 4501 and No. 10 are now located at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga.
In the 1950’s, the Stearns Company closed several coal mines and the K&T discontinued passenger service. By 1976, the Stearns Coal & Lumber Company had sold its mining operations to Blue Diamond Coal Company. The Company's vast land holdings transferred to the National Forest, the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, and private ownership. Coal mining ceased along the K&T in 1987. Today, the McCreary County Heritage Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization, has taken on the task to preserve, protect, and interpret the rich history of one of the few company towns in America still surrounded by its coal, lumber, and railroad roots. The National Historic District of Stearns, McCreary County Museum, and Big South Fork Scenic Railway provide the venues necessary for the Heritage Foundation to keep this thriving history alive.
Our visitWe went inside the station and paid for our tickets, as these were the only tickets we had not bought beforehand, then purchased two T-shirts before waited inside the station until boarding was announced. Wee walked to the chain and waited while Cars 1 and 2 were loaded. No one had chosen Car 3 and we were Car 4. At 11:00, the horn was sounded and we were on our way, Elizabeth's first time on the Big South Fork Scenic Railway.
The former Southern mainline with a green signal for a southbound move.
An former Amtrak Amfleet coach at Crossroads Railcar Services.
And a GP30 of unknown heritage.
Union Pacific dome coach 7000 built by American Car and Foundry in 1954, was sold to Auto Train 700 in June 1972; to Jonathan Gallucki, Atlanta, Georgia in December 1981; to Ken Bitten in 1999, leased to American Orient Express and Montana Rockies Rail Tours service; to Oregon Rail Corporation (Henry Hillman, Jr.) in August 1999; stored in 2000, with primer paint; moved to American Orient Express facility at Chehalis, Washington, in September 2001; moved to Denver, Colorado, stored on Denver Rock Island Railroad trackage north of Denver in suburban Commerce City, numbered as PAXX 7000; moved to Tennessee the Streans, Kentucky.
A platform observation car.
Rounding a curve.
The view from the rear of the train.
The locomotive pulling our train west down into the gorge.
Another view from the rear.
The Dynamite House.
We then entered the railroad's only tunnel.
We travelled along Paunch Creek.
A rear view as we were seated at the rear of the coach.
Paunch Creek.
We ran through the deep cut of rocks.
Barthell Coal Camp.
Union Railroad 0-6-0 14 built by American Locomotive Company in 1944. In 1955, it was sold to Morehead & North Fork Railroad Company 14 at Clearfield, Kentucky then later sold to dealer George Silcott and in 1969, became the property of Cumberland Falls Scenic Railway. Later the engine was sold to the Tombstone Junction Amusement Park and renumbered 77, where she operated until 1989. The amusement park then burned down and 77 was sold to the Kentucky and Tennessee to be restored and operate on the Big South Fork Scenic Railway.
The engine curved through Barthell.
Barthell.
Big South Fork Amercan Hoist crane.
Curving through Barthell.
One of the miner's houses.
Barthell Company Store Number 2.
Big South Fork caboose CAB 1, history unknown.
Another of the buildings.
The school house.
Another curve on this railroad.
A more gentle curve.
Still running along Paunch Creek.
We came to the junction of the line to Blue Heron and it was announced that was the end of the trip and we would be returning to Stearns because of a flood a few years ago. Elizabeth therefore would not see Blue Heron.
We started back to Stearns with this opposite view of our engine.
The unknown caboose again.
We ran through Barthell on the return trip.
The Barthell Coal Camp.
Another engine view.
Milepost 3.
Entering and exiting the 256 foot long tunnel.
Rounding another curve.
We went by Crossroads Railcar Services again.
We returned to Stearns and detrained.
Big South Fork Scenic Railway SW900 106 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1951.
Back at the car, we departed Stearns and drove south to Tennessee on US Highway 27 to Oneida and turned onto Kentucky Highway 456, where in the city park, we found the station and caboose.
Virginian caboose 530343 built by the railroad in 1959, and painted as Norfolk and Western 530343.
Southern Railway Onieda station built in 1879.
From here I drove Kentucky Highway 456 to Kentucky Highway 297, which took us to Royal Blue where we switched drivers and Elizabeth navigated us south on Interstate 75, then to Interstate 540 to Interstate 40. We had to drive a detour around an accident then continued on Interstate 40 into North Carolina, where we had dinner at Dodge City Steakhouse in Waynesville. I drove us south on US Highway 71 to the Best Western River Escape in Dillsboro and we checked in for the night but later went for a brief walk across the road.
Amtrak baggage car 1144, ex. Amtrak 1186, exx. Penn Central 9188, nee New York Central 9120, built by American Car and Foundry in 1946.
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad ballast hopper car 778 built in 1957.
Conrail 60 foot mill gondola 598670, nee Penn Central 598670, builder and year unknown.
A caboose frame.
Chesapeake and Ohio 50 foot box car 489273 built by the railroad in 1957.
Behind the hotel was the Tuckasegee River. We returned to the room and I worked on the stories before calling it a night.
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