The Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation was formed in 2015 with the goal of creating more educational and tourism opportunities focused on the state’s railroad history. Kentucky Steam was inspired by the history of Estill County and the potential to create a new destination for railway tourism at a decommissioned railway in the town of Ravenna.
Backdropped by a beautiful mountainous landscape, Ravenna sits just one mile from the county seat of Irvine, and as with many Kentucky towns, was built up around a railroad terminal in the early 1900s. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad completed construction of the yard in 1915. They reportedly named the town after Ravenna, Italy, upon request of an Italian foreman and interpreter who oversaw a railroad construction crew of approximately 60 Italian men.
The Estill County community is proud of their rail heritage and embraced Kentucky Steam’s idea. With leadership from Estill Development Alliance and many others, the community got to work on how to make it happen.
After signing an agreement with CSX Transportation to purchase the 40-acre railyard, Kentucky Steam’s plans for the Kentucky Rail Heritage Center began coming to life. The plans for the center include a museum, restaurant, brewery and event center, concert venue, walking trails and a railroad restoration instruction site for local schools.
The purchase was finalized in 2018 and they began making concrete plans for the arrival of one of their prized historical artifacts: a massive steam-powered Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) locomotive.
C&O locomotives are famous for their steam turbine engines and were built in the 1940s when most trains operated on coal. This 400-ton locomotive, Engine 2716, operated from 1943 to 1957, and is one of only 13 such models that were preserved rather than taken apart for scrap. For most of its post-operating life, it has rested in the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Kentucky, near Bardstown.
Kentucky Steam President Chris Campbell arranged a long-term lease and partnership with the Kentucky Railway Museum to move Engine 2716 to the future Kentucky Rail Heritage Center in Ravenna and restore it to operation.
Kentucky Steam and Kentucky Railway Museum partnered with CSX Transportation and R.J. Corman Railroad Group to move the engine over a three-day celebration period in July 2019, and complete the restoration after moved.
Along its 200-mile journey, the train made stops in Lexington, Louisville, Midway and Frankfort, bringing out hundreds of Kentuckians, tourists and train buffs to celebrate the piece of history. The events were wildly successful and helped raise critical dollars for Kentucky Steam and Kentucky Railway Museum. Nearly 1,500 people attended the arrival celebration in Ravenna where Engine 2716 was christened by local singer-songwriter, Senora May, with a bottle of moonshine.
Now that the engine is home, Kentucky Steam is organizing the restoration using professional talent, volunteers, and technical school students. With many replacement parts having to be custom manufactured and hand fitted, local technical students will train in welding, machining, pipefitting and more as they work on the restoration.
“The Steam Heritage group has been a welcome addition to Estill County. Beyond the multitude of economic development opportunities that come along with a ready-made tourist destination, their entire vision is based around developing assets and heritage that are already part of the fabric that makes us who we are,” Estill Development Alliance Executive Director Joe Crawford said. “And besides that, trains are cool!”
Creating destinations is critical to bringing new visitors in to our towns to see what Eastern Kentucky has to offer. Other towns in Eastern Kentucky also use the power of trains to draw tourists. In McCreary County, the Big South Fork Scenic Railway in Stearns runs along a 16-mile route, taking visitors through the historic coal mining town of Blue Heron. They also take people on “Polar Express” rides for the holidays. Other examples include the David A. Zegeer Coal-Railroad Museum in Letcher County, the Morehead Railroad and Historical Museum in Rowan County, and the Elkhorn City Railroad Museum in Pike County.
Designing opportunities for the destinations to also add to local quality of life, such as with the student involvement, events and walking trails planned for the Heritage Center, is also critical to serving local populations. This project is a great example of how communities can come together to build their New Day.
About: This is story #28 in the Appalachia’s New Day campaign, a new storytelling effort launched in June 2019 by MACED for Eastern Kentucky communities. We can work with you to help identify, shape and amplify stories about businesses, programs and initiatives in your community that are helping build a new economy. Read more stories here. Contact us or sign up here if you would like more details.
