Author: jbcowgill

I am one who loves to travel. I enjoy photography. I take many photos of my journeys. I also write short stories and poems.

The Adena Trail, Mount Sterling, Kentucky

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of Kentucky is a state known as the Bluegrass State.  Many people know about Kentucky Fried Chicken which was started by a man named Harland Sanders, commonly known as Colonel Sanders, even though he started in a restaurant in the state, the first Kentucky Fried Chicken was opened in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The state is known for its horses, and it has the continuously running sporting event in the world, the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, which is a horse race that is the first race of the Triple Crown.  The state is known for its bourbon, of which there are plenty of bourbon distilleries in the state mainly around the Frankfort and Lexington areas.  You may have heard of My Old Kentucky Home.  It is a real house in Bardstown.  In the city of Bowling Green, you will find the National Corvette Hall of Fame.  Along with Churchill Downs where the Kentucky Derby is run, the city of Louisville is known for the Louisville Slugger bat factory where many baseball bats are made and sold, and you can tour the factory and buy a bat of your own.  You have Mammoth Cave, the largest known cave system in the world.

Then you have the small town of Mount Sterling.  How many of you have ever heard of Mount Sterling, Kentucky?  A small town that is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) east of the city of Lexington, it is named after a small burial mound.  The town itself is small, but it does have the Adena Trail, a short, paved mile long trail that runs through the town south of the main historic district.  The town is small, but it is a special town to visit.

Some of you are saying, “This is nice.  Small towns are really special.  I am sure that the town of Mount Sterling is a special town.  There is a very big problem.  Mount Sterling is not a railroad town.  Therefore, I find no special reason to visit this town.”

You are right.  Mount Sterling, Kentucky is not a railroad town, and the town has no history with the railroad.  Why visit Mount Sterling, Kentucky?

Like many small towns in the United States of America, Mount Sterling, Kentucky has something special.  It has the downtown historic district where you have shops, cafes, historic architecture, and art.  Just south of the historic district, as mentioned, is a paved trail known as the Adena Trail.  It looks like a nice trail.  You decide to take a walk around.  The trail follows a small creek.  You then notice a structure next to the trail.  As you walk closer, you see that it looks like a train station.  Wait a minute.  This town has never been a railroad town.  Why is this train station here?

The town of Mount Sterling, Kentucky has never been a railroad town, but that did not keep the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway from passing through here.  The Adena trail was built on the old railroad bed.  It is about a mile long so walking the entire trail is easy.  As for the old train station, it was built in 1910 by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway as a passenger and freight depot.

As the railroad decline, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was forced to abandon lesser used railroad lines.  Mount Sterling, Kentucky was a victim of the decline.  Railroad service ceased to the town, and the railroad tracks were eventually removed.

Today, the old train station remains, and it is on the National Register of Historical Places.  As for the Adena Trail, it is a paved trail that it easily accessible for wheelchairs.  The train station and Adena Trail is located at the intersection of S. Maysville Street and Railroad Street about a few blocks from U.S. Routes 60 and 460 and Kentucky Route 11.

The next time you here about the town of Mount Sterling, Kentucky, think about a special town where the railroad once served.

Gassaway, West Virginia

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of West Virginia is a state that has so much natural beauty.  It has famous sites like the New River Gorge and the New River Gorge Bridge, the Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park, one of the most photographed mills in the United States of America, the natural spas in Berkeley Springs to include George Washington’s Bathtub where George Washington, well… you probably figured it out what he did here, plus the town of Harpers Ferry, and so much more.  It has its cities like the capital city of Charleston, Beckley, and Morgantown, and its many small towns.  One of these small towns located northeast of Charleston is the town of Gassaway.

Some of you are saying, “Interesting.  I bet the town got its name from the fact that somebody was getting gasoline, but the gasoline got away.”

You are very wrong.  The small town, established in 1905, is named after Henry Gassaway Davis, a West Virginia politician who was nominated for the Vice President of the United States of America in 1904.

Some of you are saying, “It is nice that they named a town after a politician.  There is a very big problem.  This is just a small town that has no railroad.  Therefore, I will not be taking these country roads to this town.”

If you were to ask people if they had ever heard of the town of Gassaway, West Virginia, you would get many strange looks.  The town is often overshadowed by the town of Sutton which is east of Gassaway and is famous for it Bigfoot Festival and museum.

As you approach the town of Gassaway, the very first thing you see it the ‘Welcome to Gassaway’ sign.  Many towns have a welcome sign to greet you as you enter, but you see something interesting.  What do you see?  You see a steam locomotive on the sign.  You continue to drive into the town, and you see an old railroad bridge.  You drive further into the town, and you see an old train station.  You drive to the old train station, and you see a mural with a steam train.  What you do not see is a railroad line.  Well, the railroad line is now a railroad trail.  How did the train station get here?  Today, the town of Gassaway, West Virginia does not look like much, but that was not always the case.

The town of Gassaway, West Virginia was a town built by the railroad.  The Coal and Coke Railway, which ran between Charleston and Elkins, ran through the town of Gassaway, and, in 1914, they built the train station giving passenger train service to the town.  There was also a railroad yard in the town as they changed locomotives in the town as more powerful locomotives were needed to pull the trains to Elkins while locomotives with less power could be used for trains to Charleston.  During its heyday, the town had two hotels, a bank, retail stores, office buildings, and, schools, and churches.  When the railroad went into decline, so did the town.  Railroad service ended and was eventually converted into a rail trail.

As for the train station, it was abandoned for many years, but it was then restored and was put on National Register of Historic Places, and it now serves as an event and meeting space for the town.

The town of Gassaway, West Virginia is four miles west of Interstate 79 on West Virginia Route 4.  The old train station is located on 4th Street one block west of West Virginia Route 4.  It is open available for events like weddings and parties.

The small town of Gassaway may no longer be a railroad town, but the ghosts and the legacy of the railroad remain.

September 27, 1825

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

What is significant about September 27, 1825?

Some of you are saying, “Well, it was the twenty-seventh day in the month of September in the year 1825.”

You are absolutely right, but something happened on this very day.

Some of you are saying, “Trillions of things happened on September 27, 1825.”

Yes, but something in particular happened on this particular day.  What happened?  On this very day, the railroad began.

Some of you are saying, “Sorry, but you have your dates wrong.  The first railroad began on February 27, 1827.”

On February 27, 1827, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began in the city of Baltimore in the U.S. state of Maryland.  This was the first railroad in the Western Hemisphere.

On September 27, 1825, in the northeastern region of England in the nation of Great Britain, ‘Locomotion 1’, the world’s first steam locomotive, was operated by George Stephenson for the Stockton and Darlington Railway pulling the first ever passenger train going eight and a half miles across the region.  The original ‘Locomotion 1’ is still intact and is on display at the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum located in an old train station in Darlington, England, Great Britain.

As we come upon the 200th anniversary of the railroad in the United States of America, let us remember that it all began in a town in England.

The Kentucky Railway Museum, New Haven, Kentucky

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of Kentucky is a state known as the Bluegrass State.  Many people know about Kentucky Fried Chicken which was started by a man named Harland Sanders, commonly known as Colonel Sanders, even though he started in a restaurant in the state, the first Kentucky Fried Chicken was opened in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The state is known for its horses, and it has the continuously running sporting event in the world, the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, which is a horse race that is the first race of the Triple Crown.  The state is known for its bourbon, of which there are plenty of bourbon distilleries in the state mainly around the Frankfort and Lexington areas.  You may have heard of My Old Kentucky Home.  It is a real house in Bardstown.  In the city of Bowling Green, you will find the National Corvette Hall of Fame.  Along with Churchill Downs where the Kentucky Derby is run, the city of Louisville is known for the Louisville Slugger bat factory where many baseball bats are made and sold, and you can tour the factory and buy a bat of your own.  You have Mammoth Cave, the largest known cave system in the world.  Very few people think of the railroads in Kentucky as there of plenty of great railroad sites in the state.

Welcome to the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Kentucky.  Although the original museum was founded in 1954, it has been at it current site since 1990 after the land was donated by locals to be used as the site of the museum.

As you enter the museum parking lot, you are greeted by Locomotive Number 11 from the Louisville Cement Company.  You park your car, and you notice a wooden boxcar next to the old train station.  What is this boxcar?  It is known as a Merci Car and it one of fifty wooden boxcars that were sent to different areas of the United States of America by France as a thank you to the U.S. for protecting the nation of France from being taken over by Nazi Germany during World War II.  The Kentucky Railway Museum was one of the fortunate recipients of one of these cars.

Now it is time to go inside.  You enter the gift shop which is located in the ticket master’s office.  You see the telephone, the telegraph machine used to send Morris code, and you get a view that the ticket master had of the trains even though it is much different today that the original view.

You then go into the big room.  What is in the big room?  Of course, you have railroad artifacts.  You have an HO model train display.  You have many models of locomotives and passengers cars on the wall.  You have model locomotives enclosed in glass.

The model trains and artifacts are nice, but you want to see big trains.  Time to go outside.

Locomotive Number 770 from the Nashville and Louisville Railroad is the first thing you see as you approach the train shed covering a row of cars.  Many of these cars to include passenger cars were used on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.  If you are fortunate enough, the museum does have train rides.

The Kentucky Railway Museum is located 136 South Main Street (U.S. Route 31E) in New Haven, Kentucky.  Hours vary by the time of the year.  Parking is on site.  The great news is that the museum and the train is wheelchair accessible.  You can get more information about the history of the museum, admission, train rides, and hours at https://www.kyrail.org/.

The Kentucky Railway Museum is one great museum to visit.  You can almost say that it is one of the state’s great treasures.

Autumn by Rail

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized
Photo by Vlad Vasnetsov on Pexels.com

Summer has ended.  Autumn has begun.  The leaves will be changing.  The leaves on the trees will be multiple bright colors.  It is a great time to take a walk through the forest… or you can just take your seat on the train and watch the colors as you roll by.

You arrive at the station.  Some of you want to hear the sound of the steam locomotive and watch and smell the smoke puff out of the stack, and some of you could care less.  You are on a train.  You just hope that they have open air cars where you can get an unobstructed view of the colors, but if the open air car is not available, you aim for the window seat.  You get as close to the window as you can.  You hope that the window can open so that you can feel the breeze blow through.  So your window does not open.  No worries.  You can still see the colors from your seat.  You enjoy the ride hoping that you do not get too comfortable and fall asleep.

Many people make the journey from the city to the countryside to see the changing colors of the leaves, and many people enjoy seeing the changing leaves by train leaving the driving to the engineer.  The railroad is the number two method behind hiking as the way to see the autumn leaves.  If you have never seen the leaves by rail, may this autumn be your very first time, but you will want to go early as many excursions trips fill up early.  You will deal with crowds, but the beauty of the leaves and the sound of the rails will overshadow that.

So, have a happy autumn season, and spend this season on a rail journey that you will remember for ages.

The Hagerstown Police Department, Hagerstown, Maryland

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of Maryland is one of the original thirteen states.  It was in this state where the National Anthem of the United States of America was written near Fort McHenry.  The oldest Catholic Church is in this state.  The oldest continuously operating airport in the world, College Park Airport, in located in the state.  The capitol building in Annapolis is the only capitol building in the nation where the capitol dome is completely made with wood.  It is where you will find the largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay, in the nation.  As for the railroad, the first railroad began in Maryland, and you can still ride the first mile and a half of railroad at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore.  The oldest railroad bridge in the nation as well as the oldest railroad aqueduct in the nation are in the state and still used today by the Chessie Seaboard System (CSX).  The oldest surviving train station in the nation is in Ellicott City and is open as a museum.

Then you have the city of Hagerstown.  Located in the western region of the state, it is a city that is at a crossroads.  The National Road (present day U.S. Route 40) passes through here as well as U.S. Route 11, and it is where Interstates 70 and 81 meet.  In the city of Hagerstown, you have the Hagerstown Police Department.  What is special about the Hagerstown Police Department?  Well, it is like any other police department in the nation, but they do have one exception.  What is special about the Hagerstown Police Department?  We must look to their headquarters.  Yes, some cities have a fancy elaborate headquarters for their police, but Hagerstown is different.  How?  It was not always the headquarters of the Hagerstown Police Department.

Before it was the Hagerstown Police Department Headquarters, it was a train station for the Western Maryland Railway.  The structure you see today was not the original train station for Hagerstown.  The current structure was built on the site of the original train station.  When passenger serviced ceased to Hagerstown, the building was spared and bought by the city of Hagerstown and became the headquarters of the police department.

The Hagerstown Police Department Headquarters is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 11 and U.S. Route 40.  Along with the station, there are a few monuments to the police and to the railroad on the grounds.

I Am the Engineer

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

I am the engineer

I pull the train throughout the year

In a heavy pouring rain

I pull the train

It is a crime

When the train is not on time

I always take pride

As people enjoy the ride

And I feel great

As I pull that freight

You have nothing to fear

I am the engineer

The Reading Railroad Heritage Museum, Hamburg, Pennsylvania

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

What was the Reading Railroad?

Some of you are saying, “Well, duh!  It was a railroad where people read books while riding the railroad.”

Ladies and gentlemen, that is not the correct answer.

Some of you are saying, “Oh!  I see. It was a railroad that had the ability to read so they called it the Reading Railroad.”

Ladies and gentlemen, that is not the correct answer either.

What was the Reading Railroad?  (In case you are wondering, it is pronounced red-ing as in the color red as opposed to reading as in reading a book.)  It was originally called the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Road running mainly along the Schuylkill River between the city of Philadelphia and the city of Reading in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, and it was one of the earliest in the United States of America.  It was later renamed the Reading Company but was commonly known as the Reading Railroad or the Reading Lines even though the headquarters remained in Philadelphia.  The Reading Company served the eastern region of Pennsylvania connecting the coal mines to the ports in Philadelphia until they were overtaken by Conrail in 1976.  Many of the surviving railroad lines are now owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum.  The museum is completely dedicated to the Reading Company.

The journey begins at the entrance.  The museum occupies a structure originally owned by the Pennsylvania Electric Steel Casting Company.  You enter the gift shop and then the museum.  You see models of trains.  You see model train displays.  You see a replica of a station master’s office.  You see tools and artifacts used by the Reading Company.

Some of you are saying, “That is nice that they built a museum that remembers the Reading Railroad, but it would be nice to see some real trains.”

That is where we come to the best part of the museum.  What is the best part?

Welcome to the yard.  This is a railroad yard made up mostly of railroad cars used on the Reading Railroad with a few exceptions.  You have boxcars, passenger cars, locomotives, cabooses, and so much more.  There is also a replica railroad tower.

The Reading Railroad Heritage Museum is located at 500 S. Third Street in Hamburg, Pennsylvania.  It is a short drive from Interstate 78, U.S. Route 22, and Pennsylvania Route 61.  The museum is only open from March to December on Saturdays from 10:00am to 4:00pm and Sundays from 12:00pm to 4:00pm.  Admission required to enter the museum.  Parking is street parking.  The museum is self-guided, but only guided tours for the yard.  The museum is wheelchair accessible, but the yard tour requires walking on terrain that is not paved and may be difficult for wheelchairs.  You can get more information at https://www.readingrailroad.org/.

Come to the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in Hamburg, Pennsylvania.  Learn more about the Reading Railroad, a railroad worth reading about.

The Mansfield Historical Society and Museum, Mansfield, Missouri

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of Missouri is located in the heartland of the United States of America.  It is a state that has so much to offer.  You have the city of Saint Louis, nicknamed the ‘Gateway of the West’.  It is famous for the Gateway Arch, a huge arch that rises over the city that is located on the Mississippi River just south of where the Missouri River flows into it.  The Saint Louis Cardinals, the city’s professional baseball team, is the second most championed team in Major League Baseball.  (The New York Yankees are number one.)  On the opposite side of the state is Kansas City that is mostly in Missouri with sections in the U.S. state of Kansas.  The city is known for being a city of fountains having more fountains that any other city in the nation, and it has been known for its barbeque, but it has been most famous for the Kansas City Chiefs, an American football team that is part of the National Football League.  The state has its small towns.  The most famous small town in the state is Hannibal.  What is famous about Hannibal?  No, it is not named after the famous criminal Hannibal Lector.  It is where the famous author Samuel Clemens, famously known as Mark Twain, grew up, and his famous stories, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was based.  You have Branson, a city kind of known as the Las Vegas of theme parks.  (In case you are wondering, Las Vegas, Nevada is famous for its numerous casinos.)  Then you have the town of Mansfield.

What is special about the small town of Mansfield, Missouri?  As you visit the town of Mansfield, Missouri, it may appear to be an average American town.  It was the home of baseball pitcher Carl Mays, and it was also the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author who gave us Little House on the Prairie which was made into a television series, and her home is open for tours and she is also buried in a cemetery in town.  As you go to the center of the town, it may not appear to be much, but the town was much different in its heyday.

Welcome to the Mansfield Historical Society and Museum.  As you approach the museum, which is also the tourist information center, you will see that it looks like a train station.  Well, it is a replica train station built on the site of the original train station which was demolished.  There is also an old passenger car on the site.

Today, only the main railroad line passes through the town, but the town was once the site of a railroad yard.  The Ava Southern Railroad, a short line railroad, went south to the town of Ava.

You go inside the museum.  Of course, the museum is about the history of Mansfield Missouri, and the different displays are about the life in the town to include the lives of Carl Mays and Laura Ingalls Wilder.  During here time in Mansfield, Laura Ingalls Wilder made much use of the railroad and the train station as she use the railroad to brings many of her goods to the town.  As you look through the exhibits, you will see a photo of Laura Ingalls Wilder attending an event with the driving of the last spike of the Kansas City Ozark and Southern Railroad which later was known as the Ava Southern Railroad.

Mansfield Historical Society and Museum is located at 101 W. North Street in Mansfield, Missouri, one block south of U.S. Business Route 60.  It is open from 10:00am to 3:00pm Monday through Saturday.  (It is closed on Sunday and from 12:00pm to 1:00pm.)  Parking is on site.  Admission is free, but they do take donations.  The museum is on one floor in two different rooms that are wheelchair accessible.  You can get more information about the museum and read more into the historical society at https://mansfieldhistoricalmuseum.com/.

The state of Missouri is nicknamed the ‘Show Me State’.  Allow them to show you the small town of Mansfield.

Arlington Depot Square, Arlington, Tennessee

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

Many states in the United States of America has a town called Arlington.  You have most famous Arlington in the U.S. state of Virginia which is a suburb of Washington D.C. and it home to Arlington National Cemetery, one of the most famous cemeteries in the world as it is the burial ground of many men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.  It is also where former United States President Howard Taft is buried, and it is also where former United States President John Ferdinand Kennedy and his family is buried.  His gravesite overlooks the National Mall with a view of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the United States Capitol.  The most moving part of Arlington National Cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknowns.  The tomb is guarded by soldiers day and night in all types of weather.  Then you have Arlington in the U.S. state of Texas, a suburb of the city of Dallas.  It is here where the Dallas Cowboys, an American football team that plays in the National Football League.

Then you have the town of Arlington in the U.S. state of Tennessee.

Some of you are saying, “Wow.  You are Arlington, Virginia, and you have Arlington, Texas, but I have never heard of Arlington, Tennessee.”

Well, most people, including those who live in Tennessee, have never heard of the town.  It is about thirty miles (fifty kilometers) east of Memphis, the city famous for the king of rock-n-roll, Elvis Presley, and, sadly, the city where Martin Luther King Junior was assassinated.

What is special about Arlington, Tennessee?

Some of you are saying, “I bet it is a famous railroad town.”

Well, it is not a famous railroad town.  The town was established before the railroad arrived, and it was originally called Haysville.

Some of you are saying, “Oh, the town got its name from being a place where you can get hay.”

Well, that is not true.  It is named after Samuel Jackson Hays.  He was the original landowner of the region, but he also has another claim.  What is that claim?  He was a descendant of United States President Andrew Jackson.  In the town’s beginning, it was not very prosperous.  It was not until the Memphis and Ohio Railroad came to town and a train depot was built that the town began to grow.  The town was renamed Arlington in 1883 naming it after Arlington, Virginia.  The suggestion was made by Captain Henry Pitman who visited Arlington National Cemetery and thought that the cemetery was the most beautiful place on planet earth.  The townspeople boarded the train at the station to visit Memphis and enjoy life in the big city.  Sadly, the original train depot, which became the centerpiece of the town, was demolished in 1971, but many of the original structures of the town remain.

Today, when you visit the town of Arlington, Tennessee, you can visit Arlington Depot Square.  A replica depot has been built on the site of the original depot and is now a senior center.  You can visit some of the original structures to include the post office, a general store, a blacksmith shop, and a small cabin.  Depot Square is also used for concerts in the warm months.  Most important of all, you can see a passing train as the railroad line is still active.

Arlington Depot Square is located on Chester Street.  It is just off of U.S. Route 79 and a short drive from Interstate 40.  Parking is on site.  You can get more information about Arlington Depot Square and read more into the history of the town at https://www.townofarlington.org/.

What does Arlington, Tennessee have that Arlington, Virginia and Arlington, Texas does not have?  Arlington, Virginia has Arlington National Cemetery.  Arlington, Texas has AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys.  As for Arlington, Tennessee, they have Arlington Depot Square, a place where you can see a replica train depot, watch a concert, and, most important, watch the trains go by.