



Produced by David Garcia and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Kentuckiana Digital Library)











A Pioneer Railway of the West

By Maude Ward Lafferty

[Illustration]




  This restoration of a portion of the original track of the
  Lexington and Ohio (now Louisville and Nashville) Railroad
    laid at Lexington in 1831, is dedicated to those men of
     forethought and courage who were pioneers in railroad
                   development in America.

                     Erected Anno Domini
                           MCMXVI.

                    Dedication Exercises
                          10 A. M.
                       May 30, 1916

        College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering
                   University of Kentucky




During the month of July, 1915, there appeared in a local newspaper an
account of the finding of "Old Rail Stones" and "Old Strap Iron Rails"
which had been used in the construction of the railroad generally known
as "the old Lexington and Frankfort Road," though it was incorporated
under the name of the "Lexington and Ohio Rail Road." It is believed by
many to have been the first railroad west of the Alleghany Mountains.
Be that as it may, the quaint and interesting relics had just been dug
up that week by the workmen who were reconstructing the freight yards
of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. The workmen were moving more
recently laid tracks back to _the old original road bed of the pioneer
railroad_, and in doing so they unearthed those curious relics of 1831.

Although just starting that very day for a summer vacation, I hurried
down town a little before train time, and went to the Main Street
offices of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad where the interesting
relics were on display.

As