Today I took the opportunity of not having class on Friday and not working to get into the car with a friend and head over to view Young's High Bridge and High Bridge, Kentucky. No, they aren't the same. Young's High Bridge was built by the Louisville Southern railroad, and spans the Kentucky river at Tyrone, KY. It goes right past the Wild Turkey distillery. This bridge, last operated over in 1985 is the focus of a preservation effort. The bridge remains in its as-built, unmodified condition, really quite amazing for an 1880s era structure.

After looking at Young's High Brige, and some eqipment of the Bluegrass Railroad Museum, we headed over to High Brige Kentucky, located on NS's busy Cincinnati-Chattanooga mainline. This bridge, built by the Cincinnatti Southern railroad in the 1880s, has been rebuilt and double tracked. Both bridges are still quite impressive to see. The Kentucky river runs in a deep valley through Central Kentucky. The valley is often walled by steep rock walls.

After lunch, we headed over to Midway, Kentucky. Midway is Kentuck's first railroad town, being exactly midway between Lexington and Frankfort. The Lexington and Ohio railway originally built its line in the late 1820s using stone "rails" with iron strap rail over them. No cross ties were used. Recently, a church in the area was building a parking lot when excavation uncovered a portion of the strap rail in place, evidently left from an original line extension. Two of the rails were placed on display in the middle of town, near the old L&O line through the city.

The point of the post is to point out that railroad preservation is all around, and sometimes not confined to museums. Young's High Brige is threatened by demolition, while High Brige is still functioning. Sometimes you have to look outside the museum for preservation in the world around us.

david.wilkins@bardstown.com

> The point of the post is to point out that
> railroad preservation is all around, and
> sometimes not confined to museums. Young's
> High Brige is threatened by demolition,
> while High Brige is still functioning.
> Sometimes you have to look outside the
> museum for preservation in the world around
> us.

David:

You are quite right. One of the things I think we often overlook is the small town depots, preserved and restored by local, non-railfan, people. Quite often, they have done fantastic jobs.

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)

midlandblb@cs.com