It's been suggested I post this link:

http://ziza.ru/2007/03/23/poezda_na_ulice_48_foto.html

Explanation is in Czech but pictures are rather self-explanatory. Remind me of Michigan City on the South Shore or Ft. Collins on the C&S. And check out the green "second unit" behind the one diesel!

Les

Russian - Czech is written in the the Latin alphabet, not in Cyrillic.


Brno is a lovely town southeast of Prague, I believe the traditional capitol of Moravia (there's a castle on the hill here). The local museum had a steam dummy operational some years ago.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q ... 85645&om=1

JAC

Yah,
The ".ru" in the web address indicates Russia.

John and Brian -

Thanks for the clarification. But I can't read Russian either!

Les

It says:

On the streets of the Czech city of Brno it is possible to see this picture: instead of the streetcars moving along their routes … old locomotives! It is a pity … would that it were possible to combine the romance of the train with the usefulness of streetcars.

It reminds me of Layfayette, Indiana on the old Monon, or New Albany Indiana on the B&O and Monon's entrance to the Kentucky and Indiana Terminal R.R. Bridge.

The other interesting place for street running was LaGrange, KY on the L&N's Louisville to Cincinnati line. Just imagine seeing a giant L&N 2-8-4 pulling a freight right through the middle of the street!

David -

I was in LaGrange this past Easter weekend. The track upgrade project undertaken by CSX is finished and the track and pavement through the downtown area is very nicely done. I have witnessed a number of CSX trains go through LaGrange and also seen photos of various CSX and L&N diesels, but have never seen a photo of an L&N steam engine on the trackage, Big Emma or otherwise! You wouldn't have one would you?

On another matter, I recently came across a listing that showed an old interurban wood depot still surviving in LaGrange that was supposedly located at 204 W. Main Street (this is the street that the L&N/CSX track runs down). There was no such building at that location and it appeared that it would have been on a church's property, and that church has been there for a long time! On a hunch, I went back into town and found a small wood building with a hip roof located at 204 EAST Main that is now a barber shop. I think this may have been the subject interurban depot. I am a bit confused though by its location. Did the interurban run on the same track as the old L&N? Did it run NEXT to the L&N (the railroads track is slightly off-center so that might have been a possibility)? Or did the interurban come in from the another street perpendicular to the L&N? And finally, if this last was the case, did it cross the L&N there or was LaGrange the end of the line?

Lots of questions.....no answers!

Les

I don't know if that building is the old interurban depot.

LaGrange was once served by the Louisville and Eastern interurban line, later merged into the Louisville and Interurban system, which was a subsidiary of the Louisville Railway Company.

All streetcar operations, and all but one interurban route in Louisville were built to a 5' gauge. The Line to Lagrange paralleled the L&N trackage, and at some point along the route, split with another line going to Shelbyville.

The interurban station in Anchorage still stands, having been used by an eatery for as long as I can remember.

The oddball gauge was one reason the interurban didn't last long. The interurban routes were all abandoned in the 1930s.

There is a CERA bulletin done in the 1950s that contains some information on the L&I and its routes. My last check with an older KRM indicated that somebody is working on a book about the Louisville Railway Co. I don't know how far the project is along, or what information it will contain about the interurban routes.

Unfortunately, the author of the book on Louisville Railways (and the L&I interurban) was George Yater, who passed away last year. He may have been planning to gain assistance from Jim Calvert, another rail historian and expert on both the L&I and Louisville Railway) but Mr. Calvert has also passed away. They were friends and both did volunteer work at the University of Louisville library, which has an extensive photo collection of both lines.

A few years ago, I did a video documentary of these lines and was fortunate enough to interview both of these historians. Their descriptions became the commentary for the video, titled "Streetcars of River City". It was our last project to release on VHS before DVD came along. Only a few copies are left so I might convert it to DVD. Most of the show is illustrated from stills in the U of L and personal collections of these men plus the only know movies of Louisville's streetcars which also included the last day of service to Louisville of the Indiana RR interurban in 1939.

As for the LaGrange interurban depot, it survived until a few years ago and was on the same street as the L&N (CSX) line. It, too was a restaurant and was torn down to make a parking lot, I believe for a church. For awhile, it housed the Oldham County Historical Society. I have a video shot or two of CSX trains passing in front of it. The interurban approached from the northwest and terminated in a lot on the west side of the depot.

-Jim Herron

Jim -

Thanks for all of the info. And especially the information on the LaGrange interurban depot. That makes sense as I believe there is a parking lot across from the church that I mentioned in my previous comment.

Les

Jim,

I had heard that the project had been taken over by someone at the request of Jim Calvert's widow.