Railroads
The first railroad (1881-1985) in Bath County was the Elizabethtown, Lexington & Big Sandy RR. It ran from the Ohio River at Louisville through Lexington on through Winchester in Clark County to Mt. Sterling. The section to Mt. Sterling was finished in 1872, but further construction eastward was halted due to lack of money.
Construction began again in 1879 and the line between Mt. Sterling through Bath County and on to Ashland, West Virginia was completed in 1881. There were three stops in Bath County; Preston Station (Crooks P.O.), Olympia, and Salt Lick. The line was consolidated into the C & O Railway in 1892. Passenger service was dropped on the line in 1970, and the line was abandoned in 1985 under CSX ownership.
The next railroad (1897-1913) in Bath County was the Licking Valley RR. It was a narrow gauge line that ran from a lumber mill at Yale to Salt Lick through Ragland Mills. When it failed in 1899, it was bought by Yale Lumber and renamed Licking River RR. In 1905 it was extended to Blackwater in Morgan County. As native hardwood trees became depleted and lumber operations slowed down, the railroad became unprofitable and ceased operations in 1913.
The third railroad in Bath County (1914-1916) was the Owingsville & Olympia RR. It was only 6 miles long and also the shortest lived railroad line in Kentucky. It was another narrow gauge line and was built from rails previously used by the Licking Valley RR. The O & O carried freight and passengers between Owingsville and Olympia. After a locomotive brake failure, passengers became apprehensive and the line soon went out of business.
Although not an established railway lines, a narrow gauge track had been laid between the Rose Run iron beds and Olympia. It was only 3 miles or so in length and used horse drawn rail carts to transport iron ore south to the C & O RR line at Olympia. Another even shorter narrow gauge track had been laid between the Howard Hill mine and Olympia for the same purpose.
Be sure to check out my source http://myhometownblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/in-days-of-iron-horses-bath-countys.html for a great history of railroading in Bath County.
Contacts
Marvin Allen  Bath County Coordinator |
| Suzanne Shephard KY Asst. State Coordinator |
| Jeff Kemp KY State Coordinator |
