Cadiz Railroad Locomotive - Cadiz, KY - Locomotives on Waymarking.com

The Cadiz Railroad was completed just after the turn of the century. The railroad was a 10-mile spur off the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad in nearby Gracey, KY. However, the line was abandoned in 1990. Since then, the tracks have been pulled from Gracey to Cadiz, and all that remains is this old Cadiz Railroad locomotive and tracks near US 68. A paved walking trail replaced the tracks in Cadiz. The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad does pass through the northeastern portion of Trigg County, but does not serve Cadiz.

The locomotive is available to the public 24/7 with no fee. We found a geocache on there and the kids climbed on it for a bit before we left. I hope you have as much fun as we did that day. Here is a bit of history about the rairoad that was functional for many years.


Exerpted from (*THE NASHVILLE TENNESSEAN MAGAZINE JAN 3, 1954)

CADIZ RAILROAD, TRIGG COUNTY, KENTUCKY

6 MAN (1 WOMAN) RAILROAD


This is a railroad sage, not of a vast trans-continental network, but of a
colorful 52 year old Cadiz Railroad company that operates over the 10.33 miles
of track between the western Kentucky towns of Cadiz and Gracey.
Across the tobacco fields and grazing lands, Gracey is no more than eight miles
away from the Trigg county seat but, back in 1901 when the line was organized, a
company had to have more than 10 miles of tracks to be classified officially as
a railroad. So William Cleland White, the founder, constructed two extra miles
of curves to get the line over the 10-mile-long minimum. He didn't want anyone
to say that Cadiz didn't have a railroad.
Two of White's grandchildren today manager the railroad, which is one of the
shortest of the short-line railroads in the nation. Neither counts the hours
that he spends working on the railroad, but both have other jobs.
William Cleland White II, officially listed as general manager and general
freight and passenger agent, runs the business end. He is also owner of a lumber
yard in Cadiz. Henry Stanley White Jr; is superintendent of operations. In
addition, he finds time to manager the mill for the Cadiz Milling company.
Though the line was founded primarily for passenger service, it is now operated
entirely for freight hauling. The station is still maintained in Cadiz, however,
with Miss Birdie Shaw serving as station agent, just as she has for 48 years.
The station is as clean and well kept, too, as it was when before 1920, the
railroad did more then $10,000 a year in passenger business alone. The train
stops for an occasional farmer now, but these are rare occasions.
Miss Birdie's father, Thomas S Shaw, was the first engineer for the railroad.
Before settling in Cadiz, he had boomed his way across the country and had been
an engineer on a work train that helped build the Central Pacific. He was at
Promontory Point, Utah when the gold splen was drive there to commemorate the
meeting of the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific. A railroad for 52 years,
he retired as engineer on the Cadiz line in 1912, but stayed on for another
eight years as conductor. He died in 1920.
Most of the business of the line now is hauling out lumber and cross-ties and
bringing in coal, fertilizer, cement, gas, oil products and the general run of
commodities required in a farming community. The train operates every day except
Saturday and Sunday, leaving Cadiz at 7:00 in the morning and returning at
10:30.
Lloyd Allen has been engineer for the past eight years. Other members of the
crew and their length of service are Henry Atwood, conductor, 30 years; Robert
Mayes, brakeman 15 years; and Fay Allen, fireman, six years. Mayes was on the
section crew before becoming brakeman.
In case of sickness, Stanley White doubles in brass as engineer. A 29 year old
Navy veteran of World War II, Stanley practically grew up in the cab of an
engine, began firing when he was 16 and advanced rapidly to taking over the
throttle.
"Operating expenses are on the increase." he says, "and it is getting
increasingly harder to make ends meet." He is on the industrial committee of the
Cadiz Chamber of Commerce and has a double-barreled reason for wanting industry
to come to Cadiz: for the progress of the town and to increase business for the
railroad.
In addition to the four-man train crew, the railroad employs a five-man section
crew and one man to do shop work at night. Major repair work is usually done by
Illinois Central mechanics who come to Cadiz from Princeton and Paducah on their
off hours.
One of the unusual things about this short railroad is the amount of maintenance
work done on the line. It is one of the very few short-lines in the entire
country that clears its right of way every year and which uses treated cross
ties and limestone ballast on which the tracks are laid. An average of 1000
treated cross ties are purchased each year. Cadiz, indicentally, is a leading
cross tie center and the railroad sometimes loads three or four cars ot them.
Short lines are inspected regularly and are subject to the same regulations as
the longer lines. The Cadiz road always has rated well on inspections.
When the railroad was organized (it was financed entirely with the Cadiz
capital) it was about the only satisfactory way to get into Cadiz. The roads
were so bad that they discouraged all but the heartiest travelers. Before the
railroad came, most freight for the county was brought down-- or up, the
Cumberland river to Canton by boat and hauled over by wagons to Cadiz, nine
miles away.

Locomotive Type: (required): Diesel Electric Do you need to pay an entrance fee to view this locomotive? (required): No How accessible is this locomotive display? (Required): Display is designed to allow additional climbing access. If "other" what is the engine type? (optional): Not listed If a fee is required what is the approximate cost for admittance? (optional): Not listed

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