Louisville's Central Station
End of the line is near for Central Station by David W Haulker , Dec 19, 1960 Louisville Times
Walking into Central Stations hollow waiting room a visitor found a lone man sitting on a bench. His name he said was John H.Walker. He was 68 and lived by himself at 808 W Jefferson. He retired from the Big Four operation here in 1952 after 32 years of railroading. His wife and three children have since died. I 'vet got no place to go said Walker " so I come down here most every day. I sit and sometimes I see a fellow I used to work with. We talk; then I sit a spell. I 'm just passing away time. John Walker and Central Station are two of a kind. They've nothing left but memories John Walker's working day past and so , almost is Central Stations. When the Baltimore and Ohio Kills its last two passenger trains serving Louisville on January 3rd. This will leave the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroads trains the last using the seventy year old station. The Chesapeake and Ohio hasn't announced any plans yet to give up but the Illinois Central which owns the depot, began thinking of what it would do with the almost unused station at Seventh and Fort Nelson. The Illinois Central just plain doesn't know what is to become of it . And knows the stations days are numbered. It just means we can't have just an office in this building forever said general freight agent W.P. Schindel . The Illinois Central cut off its last trains January 29, 1957 in to the station. If the Illinois Central rids themselves of the station it won't necessarily affect the C & O which could move to near by Union Station. Louisville and Nashville Railroads home at Tenth and Broadway. According to spokesmen for the Louisville and Nashville his railroad has not been contacted as of yet by the Chesapeake and Ohio in regards to sharing space at Union Station. The History of Central Station is sketchy , But this much is known. I t was built in 1890 by the Chesapeake and Ohio Southwestern railroad no kin to the present day Chessie. The tracks linked Louisville to Elizabethtown and Paducah. The Illinois Central bought out the Chesapeake and Ohio Western in the mid 1890s. The first station built on this site was a wooden building which was blown away in the 1890 cyclone. It was replaced with a brick building the same year. This building burned in 1908 but according to reports of the day no lives were lost due to a telephone switchboard operator who did not leave her post until all were notified of the fire. Following the fire the railroads conducted business from a tent until the new Union Depot was finished in 1909. To save confusion from Union Station the name was changed to Central Station. The structure consisted of three stories and a tower. The stations baggage area was a somber place during the Flu epidemic of 1917, Camp taylor was at the height of its population as a military post then and many of the flu victims were stationed there. Caskets for a short period of time the stations only baggage. The I.C's division offices used to be here but were moved to Paducah in 1931 There were at least 200 persons working at the depot at its busiest time in the 1920 s and at least 36 trains in and out every day. The railroads that used the depot were the Illinois Central, Baltimore and Ohio, Chesapeake and Ohio, Southern Railway and New york Central. The station housed about 300 victims of the 1937 flood until high water forced its evacuation too. Water was four inches deep on the second floor at the floods height. In 1944 the railroad lopped off the stations tower and third floor because they wern t needed any more, pushing a group of local rail fans and their model railroad out. The flood of 1945 once again washed into the stations first floor, and loaded coal cars were put a top the wooden tressle leading east from the station to keep it from washing away. The Southern Railway was the first railroad to pull out in 1948 and the New York Central in 1952. Following the IC's departure in 1957 the station lost its stationmaster. Today there is one red cap left along with several ticket office workers and 15 office employees handling IC freight matters. The baggage area is leased to a fertilizer company Rate clerk John Nicklies 74, still working after 53 years with the IC, recalls the days of the special pay car, when the railroads paymaster traveled to Central station and other points along the line, handing out wages once a month. In 1906 the railroad quit paying their employees in gold pieces Nicklies said he ws the last man out of the building when the 1937 force d the stations evacuation. A friend he said had left only moments before, intending to only step across the street for a sandwich. By the time he finished eating it was impossible to get back. " I came sown the steps and water was coming up" said Nicklies . "A fellow had on hip boots and came over by the tressle we had built from the door to higher ground, He piggy backed me over to the landing". Miss Ann Sweany who is secretary to train master E,L, Parker and who has been at the station longer than she will tell, recalls that during the 1945 flood" I came to work in a boat rowed through the door and climbed over a bannister on the stairs to make it to the second floor. Miss Ann and Nick have fond memories of Romanian Queen Marries visit to the station in 1926 and the visits by British Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1923 and President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909. They recall days too during the second world war when the station was sealed off due to the movement of the gold trains to Fort Knox. These are just a few memories of the old timers like John Walker, Miss Ann and Mr. Nick who sit by now watching Central Station wither away. Editors note Chesapeake and Ohio abandoned Central Station in 1962 and moved its operations to Union Station. Renewal Agency wants to buy area including Central Station Jan 13, 1965 The City Urban Renewal Agency wants to buy the old Center Station and some other property located north of the foldaway between Sixth and Eighth Streets. Part of the land would be used to extend River Road to Seventh Street. Either the station itself or the land it is on might be used a a new home for the Kentucky railway Museum now located on River Road near Beargrass Creek. About three acres of land most of it owned by the Illinois Central are in the proposed area and the Central Station itself is in current redevelopment plans. Weather or not Central Station will be saved has not yet been determined according to Urban Renewal Director
Jack D, Leith.
Louisville Central Area which represents the interests of downtown business men proposed reallocating the museum to the station area as a part of the new Belvedere development project.
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