In a Surface Transportation Board filing dated July 2, the Eastern Kentucky Railway Co. issued its notice of exemption to lease and operate a portion of the Ravenna Yard and neighboring tracks from the Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp. The non-profit preservation group announced its purchase of the neighboring Ravenna property from CSX in May.
The notice of exemption includes 18.5 miles, including 10.6 miles in Ravenna Yard, along with a request of an additional 7.9 miles of trackage rights on CSX Transportation’s EK Subdivision between Milepost 142.2 near Irvine, Ky., to near Milepost 150.1 near Pryse, Ky. The filing states that CSX and the EKRC will interchange at or near Pryse.
“As of now we have just set up the entity in order to be prepared for how fast or slow this will transpire,” Kentucky Steam President Chris Campbell tells Trains News Wire.
Campbell says the establishment of a railroad will help the organization transfer equipment in and out of the Ravenna facility when the group prepares to relocate its equipment.
No timeline has been given on when that may take place, as the group continues its focus on rehabilitating the Ravenna Shops before relocating equipment to the property.
The group doesn’t have any immediate plans for locomotives to be stationed in Ravenna either, but Campbell says the group does have various organizations prepared to mobilize motive power if those needs were to arise.
He says the ability to interchange and handle local switching will help the Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp. and work in partnership with the group, operating on KSHC-owned tracks in Ravenna.
Campbell is the only person representing Eastern Kentucky Railway Co., who also represents the Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp.
Looks like lots of potential here. Charming looking small town in a scenic area, 25 miles off the interstate with lots of hotels. (At the interstate) Lots of room to grow. Hopefully a town that realizes the value of the attraction.
I must say I hope the folks running the operation have a plan and a theme. I think the down fall of a lot of museums is not being able to say “no”, so they end of with acres of rusting “projects” that have no relevance to local history. The best way to stay relevant is to have something a majority of the population can relate to as opposed to stuff that only hard core fans want to tromp through the weeds to look at.
given the shameful exit of 587 and ITM from Nobelsville indiana, this action preserves an active connection to the national rail network. I would say these folks know what they are doing and I can’t wait to see their results.
It appears from the photo that all the trackage at the car shop is gone. Looks like their first order of business will be to relay yard trackage and restore a switch with the CSX line.
Hard to tell. Check out the Google Maps Link.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ravenna,+KY+40472/@37.6838919,-83.9558776,205m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x88430d23703df107:0x2e46ff3b29492ab7!8m2!3d37.6845272!4d-83.952979
Roger Cole
Look closer and you’ll see that some of the tracks are still there on the right side of the shop building, they’re hard to make out, but if you look close enough you can see them.
Hope they are successful, looks like they have some space to work with.