Waiting on a train at the north wye, on the Buster Pike overpass, north of Danville, Ky on the NS CNO&TP First District, during a day of railfanning will fellow photographers, David Higdon Jr, Bryan Burton, Ryan Scott and a Facebookless, Bill Crecco! A great time by all and a great day of railfanning with friends!
I recently spent the day with four other railfans chasing the RJ Corman Lunch and Dinner train that runs out of Bardstown, Kentucky and also made our way over to Danville, Kentucky to catch a few trains on the Norfolk Southern line that runs through there and splits off to Louisville and Cincinnati, Ohio.
Usually when I go trackside to railfan it’s a solitary event, or at most one other person, but this trip was a bit different with the five of us. They included good friends and fellow railfan photographers, Ryan Scott from Indiana, Bryan Burton from Tennessee, David Higdon Jr. from Illinois and Bill Crecco, who we jokingly call “Facebookless Bill” because he doesn’t have a Facebook account, is also from Indiana.
I started my part of the trip at 4am in the morning where I drove to Henderson, Kentucky and met up with Ryan and Dave, so we could all carpool over to Bardstown together. As most who know me, that’s pretty early for me to be up these days, but it’s not bad as long is it’s only once in awhile! We arrived in Bardstown about 9am local time which gave us time to grab breakfast at Cracker Barrel and figure out or plan of attack for the two runs that day of the train. Bryan, from Tennessee had be up to Bardstown earlier in the month and had pretty much scoped out what he felt were the best spots and we all relied on his judgment, which didn’t disappoint as you can see from the pictures accompanying this post!
RJ Corman’s (RJC) My Old Kentucky Dinner Train with FP7A #1940 and 1941 pulls into Limestone Junction, Ky with a string of dining cars, on the RJC Bardstown Line. This is the turn around point for the train, where the engines run around their train before heading back to Bardstown. According to the RJC Dinner Train brochure, Limestone Springs Junction is located at MP: 24 and is the final attraction along the route. This old-English style depot is presently owned by the Jim Beam company, but in the past it reportedly housed numerous famous and wealthy passengers on the second floor of its overnight facilities. The depot also served as a filming location for the 1981 movie “Stripes” featuring Bill Murray and John Candy.RJ Corman’s (RJC) My Old Kentucky Dinner Train with FP7A # 1940 leading, 1941 trailing and a string of dining cars, passes the Samuels Bourbon Rickhouses, which are used to store barrels of bourbon, on the RJC Bardstown Line at Deatsville, Kentucky. The Rickhouses store barrels of bourbon.
While we didn’t ride the lunch or dinner trains this trip, I had before when I worked for The Messenger Newspaper. Reporter Garth Gamblin and I did a series for many years called “Saturday Adventures” and the dinner train was one of the features we did for the Sunday Lifestyles page. The food and two hour trip were great back then and I’m sure nothing has changed since then.
It was a long day, but as you can see from the photographs above and the gallery below we all came away with great photographs and memories of a fun day trackside!
Norfolk Southern 1115 leads a northbound train past the north wye, in this view from the Buster Pike overpass at Danville, Ky.
NS 7630 leads a northbound Intermodal as it passes the old depot on the CNO&TP Second District at Danville, Kentucky.
RJ Corman’s (RJC) My Old Kentucky Dinner Train with FP7A # 1940 and a string of dinning cars, passes the Samuels Bourbon Rickhouses, which are used to store barrels of bourbon, on the RJC Bardstown Line at Deatsville, Kentucky.
RJ Corman’s (RJC) My Old Kentucky Dinner Train with FP7A #1940 and 1941 pulling a string of dining cars, rounds the curve heading past the Jim Beam Distillery, on the RJC Bardstown Line at Shepherdsville, Kentucky.
RJ Corman’s (RJC) My Old Kentucky Dinner Train with FP7A # 140 and a string of dinning cars, passes the old T.W.Samuels Bourbon buildings, on the RJC Bardstown Line at Deatsville, Kentucky.
RJ Corman’s (RJC) My Old Kentucky Dinner Train with FP7A #1940 and 1941 pulling a string of dining cars, passes the Jim Beam Distillery, Clermont, Kentucky.
RJ Corman’s (RJC) My Old Kentucky Dinner Train with FP7A 1941 leading the way, heads back toward Bardstown, as it passes through the crossing at the Jim Beam Distillery.
RJ Corman’s (RJC) My Old Kentucky Dinner Train with FP7A # 1940, 1941 and a string of dinning cars, passes the old L&N Depot on the RJC Bardstown Line, at Deatsville, Kentucky.
RJ Corman 1941 and 1940 pull the evening My Old Kentucky Dinner train as it heads past one of the many rickhouses, used to store bourbon, as it heads into Bardstown, Kentucky on it’s return trip.
A southbound NS freight passes the old depot on the CNO&TP Second District at Danville, Kentucky.
