User:Douglas Coldwell/Sandboxes/168

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Mammoth Cave Railroad ("Dinkey Train")^[1] was a spur off the Louisville and Nashville Railroad that went to Mammoth Caves.^[2] The 8.7 mile spur from Glasgow Junction (Park City) to Mammoth Caves was completed in 1886. The complete train consisted only of a "dummy" 04-2-0T type steam engine and a wooded coach to carry passengers and their luggage.^[3] It cost $3 per ticket when it first started running. Among the many stops on the way were Diamond Caverns, Grand Avenue Cave, Procter Cave and Hotel, Chaumont Post Office, Union City, Sloan's Crossing, and Ganter's Hotel. ^[4]

[edit] History

Between the time of the ending of the Civil War and 1886 there were about 50,000 passengers annually of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad that stopped off at Glasgow Junction that took a stagecoach to Mammoth Caves. Colonel Larkin J. Procter owned and operated this stagecoach line that began at Bell's Tavern. He also owned the Mammoth Cave hotel and grounds.

The Mammoth Cave Railroad was not built by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad althought they owned the railroad rights to Mammoth Caves. A contract was entered into between two companies whereby the L & N Railroad would lease their rights.^[5] In 1874 Procter chartered the Mammoth Cave Railroad with his brother George and other investors. The actual work on the railroad did not begin until July of 1886 however. The new railroad acquired four used steam engine locomotives. They were Bladwin "dummy" steam engines formally used on street railways in large cities. They also acquired two wooden passenger coaches and two wooden combination coaches and baggage cars.

The railroad offically opened for business in November of 1886 under lease by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. It ran successfully for 6 years. The stockholders then reformed the company under the same name and assumed full control from the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1903.

In 1904 an Indianapolis judge drove the first car to the caves which represented the doom of the railroad line. The establishment of the Mammoth Cave National Park in 1926 put the final nails into the coffin. The train discontinued service shortly thereafter and replaced it temporarly by a railcar until 1931 when it finally shut down permanently.^[6] On the first of August 1931 the railroad made its last run in its 45 year career.^{[4] [7]}

The cost of the entire Mammoth Cave excursion in 1913, including roundtrip railway fare, cave fees, hotel, and meals was $11.75. Also at this time there were additional services that included a side trip to Colossal Cavern for $1.50 and a bed inside a Pullman Sleeper for $1.75 (90 cents each if two occupied the space).

Mammoth Cave museum collection on site at the Mammoth Cave National Park contains Baldwin steam engine number 4 and passenger coach number 2 located at the line's terminus. This display is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.^[8]

[edit] Dummy

The steam driven "dummy" locomotive filled up with water at Glasgow Junction before it made the 9 mile jounney pulling the coach up the Chester Escarpment, gaining 200 feet in elevation about every mile. The two component train on the spur went through a series of hills and valleys. It would wind its way over a trestle at Doyle Valley and eventually come to Mammoth Cave hotel and estate. The train carried at least a three man crew that consisted of a train engineer to run the locomotive, a boilerman to stoke the engine, and a conductor to tend to the passengers. Many times there were up to seven employees to operate the railroad train. On rare occassions the train pulled additional cars besides the passenger coach. Most famous of the steam engine locomotives was number 3, which was called Hercules.^[4]

The reason the small steam Baldwin locomotive was called a "dummy" was because it was boxed up to look like a passenger street car.^{[9] [10] [11]} The idea was to prevent the horses from being spooked when it came close to them. Most times horses are very sensitive to mechanical machines and load noises. ^[12] It covered the mechanics of the rods, linkage, pipes, bolts, rivets, and most of the moving parts.^[12] Its condensing engines operated without the noise of escaping steam.^[4]

The steam engine locomotive was made to look like an ordinary street car for other reasons as well. The mechanics was covered and boxed up in this manner because the raw engine parts were considered to be too brutish to be on city streets. These "dummy" locomotives used at the Mammoth Cave Railroad were originally used in cities as street railroad steam engine locomotives and originally constructed in this "dummy" style by Baldwin Locomotive Works.^[12]

[edit] References

[Category:Defunct Kentucky railroads]] [Category:Louisville and Nashville Railroad]]

List of Louisville and Nashville Railroad precursors