Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Lexington, Kentucky |
| Reporting mark | L&BS |
| Locale | Kentucky (Fayette, Clark, Montgomery, Bath, Rowan, Carter, Boyd; built segment in Boyd) |
| Dates of operation | 1852–1869 |
| Successor | Elizabethtown, Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad |
The Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad (L&BS) was a standard-gauge railroad chartered in 1852 to connect Lexington with the Big Sandy River near Catlettsburg (later revised to Ashland).[1][2]
Before the Panic of 1857 halted further work, the company opened roughly 10 to 12 miles (16 to 19 km) west from Ashland to Princess/Coalton, including the 975 feet (297 m) Princess Tunnel.[3] Financial reversals left the project incomplete. In 1869, investors organized the Elizabethtown, Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad (EL&BS) as successor to the L&BS and began completing the central gap toward Lexington.[4]
By 1881, the through route via Mt. Sterling, Morehead, and Olive Hill reached Ashland; EL&BS was the first railroad through Rowan County and was completed there in 1881.[5] Between 1880 and 1892, the C&O leased and then purchased the EL&BS, operating it thereafter as the Lexington Subdivision.[6]
Charter and early construction (1852–1858)
The Kentucky legislature chartered the L&BS in 1852 to build from Lexington to the Big Sandy.[7] Construction progressed on the eastern end: by 1857–1858 about a dozen miles from Ashland to Princess/Coalton were in service, including the Princess Tunnel, before the financial panic checked expansion.[8]
Reorganization and completion (1869–1881)
Following the war, the enterprise was reorganized in 1869 as the Elizabethtown, Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad.[9] The eastern works (Ashland–Princess–Coalton) continued as the L&BS’s Eastern Division and were later renamed the Ashland Coal & Iron Railway (March 31, 1881).[10] The Lexington–Ashland route was finished in stages and was open through Rowan County by 1881.[11]
Absorption into the C&O
Between 1880 and 1892 the C&O leased and then purchased the EL&BS (including the former L&BS works) and operated the corridor as its Lexington Subdivision.[12]
Route
The original L&BS charter envisioned a line from Lexington across the Bluegrass and the Eastern Kentucky uplands to the Big Sandy. The portion actually built by the L&BS company proper lay in Boyd County from Ashland through Princess to Coalton; successors extended the line west through Carter and Rowan (Morehead) and across Bath, Montgomery (Mt. Sterling), and Clark (Winchester) to Lexington.[13]