Bird’s Eye View!

If you own and use a computer or smart phone, you now have access to a great tool for locating rail lines and more interestingly, abandoned rail lines.

Lately, I’ve enjoyed Elmer G. Sulzer’s Ghost Railroads of Kentucky first published in 1967, by Indiana University Press (originally by Vane A. Jones Company) which presents 23 chapters of railroads that used to be.  Chapter 18 unpacks the history of the L&N’s and IC’s adventures through Clay, Dixon, Morganfield and Henderson, KY, right in our back door.

Now back to the computer and/or smart phone.  I’ve begun to “mentally overlay” the satellite images available on sites like Google Earth and other mapping apps on Sulzer’s maps provided in the book.  The drawback to the latter is that there are no roads mapped in Sulzer’s book, just rivers, streams, county and state lines.  You have to be a little creative, but it’s fun to find some of these places on the computer screen then visit in person.  And, if you have the smart phone map app, it will  pinpoint your location as you move.

Many of you are probably familiar with this technology as am I, but I wanted to share the possibilities with those who may just be getting caught up with it.

As a side note, also included in Sulzer’s book are railroads which once served Russellville, Adairville, Gracey, Princeton, Elkton, Guthrie, Hartford, Irvington, and Falls of Rough.

Mr. Sulzer also published Ghost Railroads of Tennessee and Ghost Railroads of Indiana. I’m looking forward to browsing through both of these in the near future.  All are available on Amazon.com.

Bill Thomas…