Custom Search

The CNO&TP -- A Start

A self-guiding railfan tour

Latest Norfolk Southern Logo

Introduction

There are railroads and there are railroads. Some, like UP's Overland Route thru Nebraska, the Standard Railroad of the World thru central Pennsylvania, and the Canadian Pacific thru the Rockies, are well known, and deservedly so. However, there are other, just as impressive railroads which are not as well known, and the Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Texas Pacific is a case in point. Long a part of the Southern, and more recently, Norfolk Southern, the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific (CNO&TP) is a big-time, high volume railroad from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, and I defy anyone to show me a more enjoyable main line in North America.

This tour, as the title implies, is just a start, and chronicles the line from Faulconer to Keno. Complete within this tour are about 67.9 miles on the CNO&TP proper.

Contents And Navigation

About This Tour

Other Tours

Contributors

Help

Supplemental And Back-Up Data

Site Listing

The Tour

About This Tour:

WHAT YOU WILL FIND HERE: From a particular starting point, each segment of this coverage will allow you to follow the instructions given, drive to a railfan site, then to the next, etc. etc. Traffic levels and patterns will be given, and the photographic/ lighting considerations for each site will usually be mentioned. You'll be told about area attractions, such as tourist and historic sites, as well as hotels and restaurants which are trackside or otherwise worthy of note. In short, you'll be able to plan an entire family or railfan-only outing or even a vacation from this guide, as it is completed in the months to come.

WHAT YOU WILL NOT FIND HERE: This is a railfan guide, not a photo collection. There are already many excellent and enjoyable railroad photo sites available, and one more really wouldn't add much value to the general railfan. Besides, photos take up a lot of memory, and your humble Webmaster has to pay for memory. You will also not find fancy graphics, as this is a tour guide, not an exhibition of HTML or graphics expertise. You'll be able to load these pages quickly and print them without waiting a week for each page to print. Also, you'll conserve toner in the process.

Contributors:

Major contributors to this effort include:

Buddy Burton and Josh Blevins, content from Somerset south.

Tony Hill, Webmaster and all content, unless otherwise noted. Any first person singular pronoun used within this tour refers to Tony Hill, unless otherwise specifically noted.

Help

If you'd like to contribute to this, or any other tour, please contact me at webmaster@frograil.com, and let me know what you'd like to do. We'll work together: You supply the data/info, and I'll do the HTML stuff and upload it. You'll get a chance to review the fruits of your efforts before the general public sees the finished product, so you can let me have your corrections, additions and changes.

Supplemental And Back-Up Data

The Railroad. This was the Cincinnati, New Orleans, Texas and Pacific Railroad, and today it's a very important piece of Norfolk Southern's system. Despite the grandiose name, the CNO&TP was essentially a railroad from Chattanooga to Cincinnati, but while relatively short in length, today it is the main corridor for Chicago/Toledo/Bellevue -- Atlanta/Macon traffic. It is every bit as important to the Midwest - southeast traffic as the CSX ex-RF&P/ex-ACL east coast line is to north-south traffic on the coast.

The line goes thru the rolling hills of the western Appalachian piedmont, and traverses one of the loveliest parts of our country. The original line builders made use of extensive tunnels and cuts/fills, but the Southern, and later the NS, continually improved the line, including the elimination of most of the small, low-clearance tunnels in the "Rathole" area south of Somerset, KY. Today's railroad is single tracked, but there are so many passing sidings that you could be excused for thinking it's a double track railroad. The combination of the mostly southeast Southern and the mostly Midwest N&W (the NKP and Wabash portions) made the continuous improvements necessary, and the possibilities of more (perhaps a lot more) traffic from what was Conrail would seem to indicate the road will probably grow in importance.

Most of the coal business in Kentucky is east of Corbin, and as you might expect, there really isn't a lot of coal traffic to be seen. Automobiles and intermodal are the top 2 commodities over the road, and there is plenty of manifest, grain, and other traffic. Expect 1-3 trains per hour, and they can come in bunches. They also move fast, so be careful.

Mapwork: Much of the tour is not easy if you have no detailed map for back country roads. I definitely recommend you get a DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer, study it before your trip, and copy pertinent pages for your field work. You can find information here about Railfan Maps that are available.

Photo considerations. For most of the sites included herein, I try to give you an idea of the availability of photo fields. These ratings are not to be considered to be indications of the photogenic aspects of a place, they are merely an indication of how much room you have to take pix. I usually give all 4 compass points, such as: NE3, SE1, SW4, NW4. In this example, there is no photo access from the west, poor from the northeast, and excellent from the southeast. If it's 9AM, this is a good photo site, but if it's 5PM, you might want to use the tour photo ratings to suggest better locations. This is mostly a north-south railroad, so most of your ops will be of southbounds. Please note that contributions from fans other than your Webmaster may not have detailed photo quadrant ratings.

Security. As you can imagine, this tour is mostly very rural. Unlike the typical tour which encompasses fairly large urban areas, there is relatively little concern throughout the tour's length with personal security. You've kind of got to work hard to get bopped over the head. However, there is a major concern with personal security once "away from civilization." You do not want to scramble down a hillside to get to a remote location by yourself. If you fall and break an ankle, you could very well die out there. In all railfan outings, you are encouraged to have at least one male buddy with you.

WEBMASTER'S NOTE: I do not recommend, or even condone, walking along the tracks, as this means trespassing or exposing yourself to danger. You will have to be creative, in some instances, to avoid trespassing while getting to the detailed locations included herein, but you will either have to be creative or not visit those sites. At no point in this tour guide, or any other tour which is part of Frograil, is it recommended that you trespass or expose yourself to danger. If you are a fool and have a leg cut off (or worse), don't come crying to me: You have been warned. Trains are big, powerful, and often surprisingly quiet. Don't end up being a statistic.
Railfan sites: Lawrenceburg - Danville - Keno Area
Alphabetical Sequence Sequential Order:
East to West
Burnside Faulconer ~MP 107.0
Burnside -- Cumberland River Bridge Danville -- Perryville North
Danville -- Perryville North Danville -- Perryville Overpass
Danville -- Perryville Overpass Danville -- Perryville South
Danville -- Perryville South Junction City MP 120.8
Eubank Moreland
Faulconer McKinney -- North End Siding
Floyd McKinney
Junction City South Fork
Keno -- Cave Springs Road South Fork -- Trestle
Keno -- Garland Road Kings Mountain MP 138.9
Keno -- Keno Road Waynesburg -- Jacobs
Kings Mountain Waynesburg
McKinney Eubank
McKinney -- North End Siding Floyd
Moreland Science Hill
Norwood Norwood
Science Hill Somerset -- Cliffty Street
Somerset -- Cliffty Street Somerset -- Dispatch Office MP ~161.5
Somerset -- Dispatch Office Somerset -- Pittman Creek
Somerset -- Pittman Creek Burnside
South Fork Burnside -- Cumberland River Bridge
South Fork -- Trestle Tateville
Tateville Keno -- Garland Road
Waynesburg Keno -- Cave Springs Road
Waynesburg -- Jacobs Keno -- Keno Road MP 174.5

Back to the top

The Tour

Faulconer. South of Harrodsburg, you'll cross the Mercer/Boyle county line. Almost immediately thereafter, you'll see LR-1896(?)/Faulkner Road to your left (east). Note that you'll see "Faulkner" and "Faulconer" on maps. Who knows what's correct. Take Faulkner Road and you'll soon cross the Louisville-Danville line we've been following so far, but the crossingis very poor for photos and train watching. Continuing east on Faulkner Road, and you'll come to a right on South Buster Road. Don't take this yet, but continue on down to the crossing of the robust CNO&TP double track main line and the road. This is the Cincinnati - Chattanooga main line, and is one of the busiest on the Norfolk Southern system. The crossing is superb for photos: NE1, SE1, SW4, NW1. This place is called Faulconer by the railroad. There is a defect detector at Burgin, about 3 miles north of the crossing.

Southbound run throughs, such as unit grain and intermodal, are often fueled here, via tank truck, so they don't tie up the yard in Danville. This is an excellent spot for pix, but you will miss the Louisville - Danville traffic. The latter is about one-third that of the CNO&TP, so it's quite significant.

Drive back to South Buster Road and go south, which will lead you close to the junction of the Louisville and Cincinnati lines. You'll be able to see the junction, perhaps 1/2 mile to the south down a private railroad road, but there is no public access to the area, which is a real shame. Continue on to the stop sign at LR-33, and turn right towards Danville. Shortly, take a left onto LR-2168 and drive over the tracks (on a non-photogenic overpass) back to US-127 and go south. When US-127 splits, take US-127 (not US127By-Pass) into Danville. You'll go over the railroad on another overpass (not a railfan location), and you will come to an old-fashioned, two-story elementary school on the west side of the street. Next, you'll see the admissions office of Centre College, and then you will reach Perryville Street. Note that there will be confusing street names in the downtown area, and Perryville seems to exist both as the overpass (it's called Perryville Road) over the railroad north yard throat as well as the old, ground level road the overpass must have replaced (this is Perryville Street). When you reach the first Perryville Street, you've reached the north end of the Danville yard. Perryville Road is a block further south.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Danville -- Perryville North. The yard in Danville is pretty good sized, but seems hard-pressed to keep up with today's traffic. Surprisingly, there is little coal traffic thru the yard -- autorack traffic seems to dominate, followed by general manifest and intermodal traffic. Autoracks seem to be on every train thru the yard. The yard extends thru most of the length of the town, but is rather inaccessible for most of its distance. Realistically, the best place to watch the action is at the north end of the yard. There are several areas, and I've lumped them into 3 specific locations: Both sides of the tracks north of the Perryville Road overpass, the overpass itself, and both sides of the tracks south of the overpass. These are all very close together, but each is quite different from the others.

Turn right onto Perryville Street and drive to the tracks. There is a small NS yard building in front of you, a parking lot to your left, and a large, 2-story brown brick building to the south of the parking lot. The latter was a dormitory for crews, but is apparently unused now. There is plenty of area here well back from the tracks, but you'll get no sweeping photos, because you can't get a large enough field of vision. However, for watching the action and roster shots, this area is excellent.

If the light is against you, go back to US-127, continue south, and turn right on Perryville Road (which is US-150Business)going west. Go over the overpass and keep to the right after it. Take the first right into Burkmann Feeds, and get permission to take photos at the rear of their property. There is a gate, so make sure you get permission. There is also a lot of truck travel in the area, so don't go here without permission. If the facility is closed, park on US-150 and walk thru the grounds of the Woodlawn property to the rear of the Burkmann property. In either case, be discreet, and leave very faint footprints.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Danville -- Perryville Overpass. In the preceding location, you've gone back and forth to locations north of this overpass. However, IMHO, the overpass itself is the best place in Danville to watch the action. No broad, sweeping vistas here, but an intimate look at how a modern railroad works is offered. As you might suspect, the photos are down-on, but the real enjoyment is in putting your camera down and just watching how blocks and trains are swapped and handled in the yard. [NOTE WELL: Perryville Road is very busy, and you will not be able to casually walk back and forth across the 2-lane bridge. Be careful and alert: Your safety is #1, and the trains are a very distant #2.]

By the way, there is a really excellent down-on view of the convoluted depot from the overpass. More about the station in the next location.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Danville -- Perryville South. As in the Perryville -- North site detailed above, the area south of the overpass has both and east and west locations. For the east location, assume you're in the middle of the overpass facing east. Drive on to your first right onto Maple Street. Likewise, take your first right from Maple onto Walnut Street and drive thru lovely Centre College to the tracks. Be careful thru here, as there are lots of students, and they sometimes forget that a road carries cars and trucks and not just students. When you get to the tracks, you can park in the employee parking lot, but don't get out of the car and wander about. You're between the yard tower and the depot. Based on the lines of the station, it was probably built by the Southern, but I'd be glad to have more information on it. It's a most interesting structure, and would be an absolute nightmare to model.

From your car, you'll see crews start and end their runs and shifts, trains, switching, and the whole bit. The near tracks are main, so you shouldn't have much of a problem with parked cars blocking you view.

For afternoon sun, go back over the overpass to the west and take your first left onto KY-34, and then your next left, which will lead you down to another Burkmann Feed location. [Hint, hint: You can get between the two Burkmann Feed locations by walking under the west end of the overpass, but I wouldn't do it during working hours without permission.] There's plenty of non-railroad parking here, and if you don't get snookered by parked railroad cars, you'll see plenty of yard action.

As a practical matter, this ends the tour within the Danville area. You can struggle to get trackside all the way south to the end of town, but it's not worth the trouble. The south yard lead is immediately north of the US-127By-Pass overpass, and I've hoofed it down to the tracks. Forget it -- there is lots of poison ivy, thistles, nettles, chiggers, ticks, etc, but no photo opportunity whatsoever. We continue the tour southward!

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Junction City. From the corner of US-127 and US-127Business in the south of Danville, go south on US-127, and you'll shortly come into Junction City. At Shelby Street, turn right and drive over to the tracks. The photo ratings are: NE2, SE1, SW1, NW3. The railroad is double track here, and is almost dead north-south. Therefore, you'll want to go after southbounds. There's a signal bridge just to your south. This is an excellent place to watch trains, and there are plenty of them. There's a defect detector at MP120.8.

The crossing south of here on Knob Lick Road is not a railfan location, so retrace your drive back to US-127 and continue south. Further south, there is a crossing at Bowen Road about 2 miles south of the Lincoln County, but it's so-so, and only worth going to if you've got to get trackside in a hurry.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Moreland. You'll soon be in the community of Moreland, and you should take a right onto Jeffries Street. Go to the tracks and you'll find a nice grassy area on the northeast quadrant of the crossing. The ratings are NE1, NE4, SW4, NW1. Another place for southbounds, as you're still dead north-south here. It's a good location.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

McKinney -- North End Siding. As you go south on US-127, the now single-track line will go off to the southeast. At Hustonville, turn left to go east on KY-78. After several miles, you'll again cross the line (not a railfan location), and should take your first right, which will be McKinney Road. This unmarked road is very narrow and winding, and is a beautiful drive if you slow down and enjoy it. There is a broad curve which brings you trackside at the point of the start of double track southbound. There is some room trackside, but it's really a marginal location.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

McKinney. All the way into the village of McKinney, and pretty far south from there, you'll be very close to the tracks. However, there are solid trees along most of the line, and they effectively block your views. In McKinney itself are two locations, and one of them is a good AM spot. As you come into the village, there's an open area on the east side of the tracks, so your morning southbound shots will be fine. Afternoons are a problem, as there is no viewing from the west. There is an overpass in the village, and it has nice, wide sidewalks. I'm not impressed with the viewing, however, and don't consider it a particularly good photo spot.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

South Fork. Drive south from McKinney on McKinney Geneva Road, and you continue close to the tree-lined railroad. Go thru Geneva, which offers no railfan locations, and you'll soon go over the tracks and continue south on LR-1778. You'll reach the vicinity of a place named South Fork, and because the railroad runs northwest - southeast here, this is a good afternoon location for all trains. Before you get close to the river, you'll see a small, private road to the left going over the tracks, after which it ends. The crossing is as follows: NE4, SE1, SW2, NW2. I recommend you get permission from the land owners before you set up for photos.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

South Fork -- Trestle. Less than a mile south of the South Fork location, the road will split, with South Fork Lake Road going off to the east, and Tunnel Creek Road going south. Look up -- straight up. This massive structure is the South Fork Trestle. It is single tracked, and in the afternoon, you can get some interesting photos. My recommendation, especially during the fall to early spring period, would be to walk down Tunnel Creek Road and take your pix as far back as you can get. You'll want to get permission from the property owner, and if he's got winter wheat planted, don't go into the field.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Kings Mountain. As the railroad works its way up Kings Mountain from the area of the South Fork Trestle, there is no way to follow it directly, so go east on South Fork Lake Road from the trestle. You'll come to an intersection with the road you're on going straight and becoming a gravel road. Take the right onto South Fork Road (watch the road names, as they tend to all sound alike), and drive several miles to a stop sign at what I believe is Waters Cemetery Road. Take a right, and you'll shortly come to another 3-way intersection, and you should turn left, which will take you into the village of Kings Mountain.

This is the start of double track to the south, and you can drive and park in the area south of the signal bridge. It's an open area, and should be very good for AM shots, as the railroad has a slight northwest - southeast bias thru the village. There is a defect detector just north of this location, at MP 138.9. There is an overpass north of the switch, which should give interesting shots, but it's pretty dicey, as there aren't nice wide sidewalks on it. I don't recommend it, therefore. There is no photo access from the west side of the tracks.

Once again, you'll have to do some cross country driving before re-joining the railroad. From the village of Kings Mountain, go east on LR-501/Kings Mountain Road, but stay on Kings Mountain, which splits from LR-501, as the latter goes more to the north. You'll come to KY-1247, and you'll take a right to go south. Note that if you need to leave the tour at this point, US-27 is right past KY-1247. We'll take the latter and continue the tour.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Waynesburg -- Jacobs. After a few miles on KY-1247, Jacobs Loop will be on your right. Take it to a crossing, where there is very good viewing from the northeast, but only fair on the west. Continue south on Jacobs Loop, and there is another crossing in about 1/2 mile, with pretty good viewing from the west, but only fair from the east. Therefore, depending on the time of day, pick the one which best fits your photo light requirements. For general viewing, the northeast quadrant of the first crossing is the best. There is double track thru here. This area is really not part of Waynesburg, but I've included it so those not following along on the tour will be able to figure out where the area is on a road map. The "Jacob" area appears on no maps.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Waynesburg. At the second crossing described above, go across the tracks to the west, and the road will shortly turn 90° to the south, wander around the countryside for a mile or so, and then join LR-328. Take a left and drive into the village of Waynesburg. The crossing is NE1, SE1, SW4, NW2, which is obviously excellent for morning shots, and pretty good for PM's. There is a signal bridge just north of the crossing, and a set of crossovers north of the signals. This is a good railfan location.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Eubank. Go back to KY-1247 via either LR-328 or Old Waynesburg Road, and go south. It will join US-27 for a short while, and then branch off once again as Old Somerset Road. You'll pass Ike Singleton Road which goes over the tracks on an overpass, but it isn't a railfan location. KY-1247/Old Somerset will take you right into Eubank. At 2nd Street, take a right and drive one block to Depot Street. There is a fairly large gravel area where the depot used to be. Plenty of parking is there, plus a good view of the mainline in each direction. However, in the summer the area can get a little overgrown, so I'd suggest using the weed whacker if you're planning on spending any time here. There is no viewing from the west side of the tracks. The crossing of the tracks in town is via an underpass.

Continuing on south via Old Somerset, you can take a left onto KY-70, and drive a short distance back to US-27. On the latter is found Ward's Restaurant, described as "...a good hole-in-the-wall place that [Josh's] family has been eating at for as long as [he] can remember. It's cheap, good, and the desserts are excellent."

(Josh Blevins contributed some details to this location's description, as well as the description of Ward's Restaurant.)

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Floyd. Continue south on KY-1247. You need to be alert, after about 2 miles, for a full 4-way intersection. It is very easy to miss, and road names are not marked. Take a right onto what is, I believe, Floyd Switch Road. It will take you to the tracks and make a 90° turn to the south. This point is marked as Floyd by mapQuest. There is an underpass to the west side of the tracks, but it is only 8'6" (can you believe that?), so it should be studiously avoided. The road will eventually become Freedom Church Road somewhere south of the underpass, and there is a nice viewing area from the east in the vicinity of Gradison Road. There is no viewing access from the west. This is a very quiet, peaceful place.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Science Hill. Freedom Church Road follows the tree-lined railroad for a few miles, and then veers sharply to the east, and shortly joins KY-1247. You'll shortly come to an underpass on Old Bull or Dixon Smith or some other name entirely, but there is no railfan location, so continue on KY-1247. You'll go thru the crossroads of Pulaski, but the is no railfan location there. Just continue south all the way into Science Hill, where there is a truly excellent area for railfanning. Between Pulaski and Science Hill, there is a defect detector at MP 151.8.

Take LR-635 in the center of the town and drive west to the tracks. This crossing is rated as follows: NE1, SE1, SW1, NW1. Bingo! Get out your lawn chairs, cooler and scanner, and get comfy and enjoy the parade. Have lots of film, guys. This is the best single railfan location on this entire tour, with the possible exception of the Perryville Road overpass in Danville.

Contributor Josh Blevins informs us that "...at the base of the hill on LR-635, just down from the tracks in Science Hill, is a good place to get ice cream. They have good shakes and sundaes."

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Norwood. Leave Science Hill via KY-1247 southward towards Somerset. Just before re-joining US-27, you'll go by the crossroads of Norwood and a nice crossing on Norwood Road. This is a nice location from the east, but the west isn't good. Because you're going to be on busy US-27 from here south, this is the last nice place before you actually get to Somerset. You'll be quite close to the railroad all the way into town, but trees and the increasing hilliness of the area disallow any fanning.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

[Webmaster's Note: From here south, this "tour" is primarily a stitching together of contributed locations. It is not detailed to the degree for which Frograil tours are noted. However, for the one-time or first-time visitor, you'll find the tour quite satisfactory.]

Somerset -- Cliffty Street. As you enter town on US-27, continue south until you go over the tracks on an overpass. About 1/2 mile after the overpass, take a left onto Cliffty Street (it's on the left next to Somerset Florist). Just across the tracks is a rough service road, or if you wish, a few yards from the crossing is a warehouse where you can park, if you stay out of the way of the truck traffic. The railroad has a nice curve in both directions, making photography interesting. NOTE: Cliffty Street is variously called a Road or Street, but it's the same street. There is an Old Cliffty Road further east of here, so be careful with your map work.

Frograil thanks Josh Blevins for this location.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Somerset -- Dispatch Office Area. This is no longer a dispatch office, but it's a darned good place to catch some action.

Keep going southeast on Cliffty until you get to the busy intersection with KY-80. Take a left on KY-80, and continue on to Main Street. Take a right and go thru the downtown on Main. After downtown, per se, the road will begin to twist and turn, but just stay on Main. Before going thru the railroad underpass (a most dangerous piece of roadwork, if you ask me), take a left and go up the hill. This will still be Main Street, but it will shortly turn into Jacksboro Street. You'll see, on your right, a sign to the Norfolk Southern Railroad, a railroad office building, large parking lot, and what appears to be the north end of the small yard in Somerset. Note that there is a more direct route from Cliffty Street to the underpass just mentioned, but it is somewhat confusing, and better left to those who know their way around.

Go down to the parking lot, and park. Stay in your car, except to actually take your pix, and you'll probably be OK. Even so, I'd go into the office building to attempt to get permission from the railroad. This building, by the way, housed the dispatcher office for the CNO&TP until early in 2002. Just south of the yard is a defect detector at MP 163.1.

Frograil thanks Josh Blevins, who contributed to this location.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Somerset -- Pittman Creek. Leave the Dispatcher Office area by continuing south on Main/ Jacksonboro/KY-1247. As you leave town, this will cross over KY-914, a major road. After crossing KY-914, KY-1247 will cross the tracks and head down a hill. The bottom of the hill offers a good shot of the Pittman Creek bridge. The view is best in cold weather with the leaves gone, but for good photographers it offers a dramatic shot all year of the trains crossing the bridge over head.

Frograil thanks Josh Blevins for this location.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Burnside. Leave the Pittman Creek area by continuing south on KY-1247. You'll go pretty much cross-country alongside the tracks, but for the most part, the tracks are treed in. KY-1247, which we've followed off and on since well north of Somerset, ends at US-27 north of the Cumberland River and the village of Burnside. Take a left and cross the Cumberland River to enter Burnside. This small town has streets to the east of KY-1247 that provide at-grade crossings and fair to good photo access off railroad property.

A real railfan amenity is General Burnside State Park, which is actually a large island in the river. It is accessed via KY-1247 right in Burnside. There are camping areas, an 18-hole golf course, and other things for the vacationer. The Park would be a great place to stay while you're exploring CNO&TP-land.

Frograil thanks Josh Blevins and Buddy Burton for this location

Burnside -- Cumberland River Bridge. There is a new highway bridge over the Cumberland just after you turn off of KY-1247 onto US-27. As soon as you cross the river, there is a road to the right that will take you under the bridge. There is a place to park, and a good shot of the NS trestle if you walk under the highway.

Frograil thanks Dale Sutor for this railfan location contribution.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Tateville. Continuing south on US-27 from Burnside, after about 3-4 miles, take a left onto Antioch Road. After about 1/2 mile, you'll come to the tracks. At the crossing is the "new" Tateville interlocking. Norfolk Southern recently did a double tracking project from Tateville all the way to Greenwood. This appears to be a pretty good indicator of the traffic levels thru here!

From Tateville all the way south to about Emory Gap/Kingston Junction, Tennessee, you are now touring the portion of the CNO&TP universally referred to as the "Rathole", although the nickname is probably no longer appropriate. When originally built, there were over 20 tunnels between Tateville and Emory Gap, most of which were short, tight and low. Massive relocation and daylighting projects have resulted in a modern, super highway for trains. Double tracking from Tateville to Greenwood is just one example of the almost constant, continuing efforts by Norfolk Southern to improve the productivity of this important piece of its rail network.

This contribution to Frograil is from Buddy Burton.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Keno -- Garland Road. [Webmaster's Note: It is difficult to tell just where or what "Keno" is. However, there is a location found by MapQuest for "Keno|KY", a Keno Road, a Keno Spur (a road, not a railroad spur), and other geographic features with the work "Keno" in them. Unfortunately, without a good deLorme Atlas and Gazetteer, Keno is probably best described as an easy place to get lost. Visit the Frograil Railfan Store and order a deLorme atlas before you try to explore the Rathole from here south.]

From the Tateville crossing, go back towards US-27, but take a left onto Old US Highway 27 Road, and go south. You'll pass Cassie Lane, and will then parallel the tracks all the way to US-27. Get on US-27, go under the tracks, and look for a store on your right. You'll see the store and an old Southern Railway caboose on the store's property. Take a right at the store to go south on Garland Road. You'll have good views of southbounds, especially in the morning, that parallel the tracks as you go uphill. Scout around a bit and pick your spot.

This contribution to Frograil is from Buddy Burton.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Keno -- Cave Springs Road. Get back on US-27 heading south, and after about 1 1/2 miles, take a right onto KY-751, which should be posted as Keno Road. Take a right and go about 2 miles to another right onto Cave Springs Road. The street name sign at this intersection is a favorite for thieves, so there will probably be no such sign. Note that you'll pass a Forest Service road shortly before you get to Cave Springs Road. Drive 500' or so to the overpass of the tracks.

What you'll see is a broad, double tracked cut leading north towards Tateville. Photo ops for southbounds are excellent, and, depending on the time of both the day and year, northbounds can be quite good, also. You're within Daniel Boone National Forest, and will enjoy the beauty of the area.

This contribution to Frograil is from Buddy Burton.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

Keno -- Keno Road. Head back to KY-751, take a right, and continue south. After a mile or so, you'll come to another overpass. Featured here is a great shot of the northbound tracks and the intermediate signals at MP 174.5.

This contribution to Frograil is from Buddy Burton.

Back to the top Back to the Site Listing

We temporarily end the tour here -- If anyone would like to provide segments north of Faulconer, west of Lawrenceburg, or south of Keno, I'd be delighted to work with you. Contact me at frograil@yahoo.com . Thanks in advance.