ABOVE: On April 4, 2009, a loaded coal train is pulling west on CSX’s Cincinnati Sub along the Ohio River in Maysville, Ky. LEFT: Helpers bring up the rear of a coal train as seen from Maysville’s Simon Kenton Road suspension bridge. The train is working west toward the crossovers located near the Amtrak station where it will cross to track one and head east toward the transloader.
68 where you will find several good morning angles. Tarr Road is an oft- photographed location where the train starts a nice grade toward Millersburg. From there the line parallels Route 68 most of the way to Millersburg where there is a through truss bridge that’s lit well for afternoon southbounds. Track speeds are typically an easy-going 25 m.p.h. except for a few speed restrictions, notably the 10 m.p.h. through the tight curves at Carlisle. From Carlisle take Ewing Road (Route 32) north towards Myers. A few miles south of Myers, Route 32 crosses over the track on an overpass
currently being replaced.
Then the tracks follow the road all the way past Myers to Pleasant Valley. At milepost 139 in Pleasant Valley the
tracks cross a large bridge over Fleming Creek and begin the steep 1.66 percent climb toward Cowan, a grade over four- and-a-half miles long. Trains of more than 80 carloads require helpers for this stretch since the railroad passes through the line’s two tunnels, 1,131-foot-long Pleasant Valley tunnel at milepost 141.1 and 481-foot Cowan tunnel located at milepost 141.9. Access to the Pleasant Valley tunnel is minimal at best, but the north end of Cowan tunnel is accessible off Hammonds Road. Trains running through here create as impressive a show as anywhere in shortline railroading. After you cross over the line on Route 32 out of Cowan, take Cowan Road north toward Ewing and take a right
on Route 165. The tracks pass through Ewing and past a restored former L&N depot at milepost 145. Take Route 165 back toward Route 32 to Elizaville, and take a left on Route 170 toward Flemingsburg Junction where another depot stands near the junction with the former Flemingsburg & Northern Railway. From here the tracks pass through Helena toward Lewisburg where the tracks cross a bridge over old State Route 11. The tracks follow along Strodes Run Pike most of the way toward Somo, providing several easily accessible locations to photograph the train in either direction.
From Somo the line takes the steep 2 percent descent down into the Ohio River Valley. Access here is limited so it’s a good idea to go ahead and set up on the Simon Kenton Bridge in Maysville and wait for the train to pull onto CSX trackage. After getting permission onto CSX track, trains will pull west toward the manual crossovers near the Amtrak station. From there they will pull east toward the transloader located a few miles to the east. Typically it takes about two and a half hours for the train to get from Paris to Maysville. The transloading facility is not accessible
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