History of the Depot & Trains

Introduction

One of the earliest big improvements Fordsville had was the coming of the trains. Stores sprang up and really prospered when they could receive merchandise in this way. We really thought there could never be anything better. If we had known there would be big transport trucks and cargo planes it might have lessened our pride in the trains of our day. But, not knowing, we were really proud and happy.

many called those trains the "iron horse" and horses were so frightened when a train went by that they caused accidents by causing people on horseback to get thrown off. Horse hitched to wagons would run away sometimes injuring the people or destroying their vehicle. Some people, particularly old people, were afraid to ride them (trains). My grandmother was old when she took her first ride. She and my grandfather "boarded' the train for a trip to Hartford, our county seat. It is doubtful if she had been to Hartford before. The Illinois Central conductor at Fordsville called out "all aboard" and they got on, she with fear and trembling. After they had been riding for a short distance she asked my grandfather, "when will this ting start"? He said, "Why Sis, it has already started and we are down here at the junction"! Grandmother said, "I couldn't tell when it started. I was expecting it to run rough like a wagon".

It was great fun to walk to the stations and meet the trains to see who got off them. Once when a nicely dressed couple got off, someone asked Whalen, a black man, who worked at odd jobs and got great delight in meeting trains and maybe getting a job carrying a "suitcase", if he knew who the couple was. Whalen said, "No I don't, they look similar but I can't organize them". That was his attempt to say " They look familiar, but I don't recognize them".

One man like riding the train so well that he said, "Every time I get a dime, I take a short train ride". After years of service when trains were to be withdrawn soon and had gotten in poor repair, my sister rode on one for a short distance during a hard rain. The top of the coach leaked so much she had to raise her umbrella and ride along under it...

Fordsville's First: The Owensboro and Fordsville Railroad

The first railroad and first rail trip into Fordsville was described by Keith Lawrence in the December 6th, 1977 Owensboro Messenger article entitled "Whistle Stops". A portion of the article follows and give a good picture of the trip...The crowd of businessmen from Owensboro, Frankfort, Louisville and Lexington who gathered outside the Louisville, St. Louis and Texas Depot on October 1, 1889, could easily have remarked on how far the Daviess County seat had come in 20 years. In 1869, crews were only starting to grade the route between Owensboro and Livermore for the Owensboro and Russellville Railroad -- the city's first. Now this crowd of civic leaders and journalist were about to embark on the maiden voyage of the third railroad to serve the city -- the second within a year. Captain Robert S. Triplett, a director of the Owensboro and Fordsville Railroad, ushered his guest aboard the three coaches at 10AM. His depot was still under construction and he had to use a competitor's that day. At Miller's Station, four miles past Whitesville, the train stopped so the passengers could examine the Deanfield Coal Company's new 60 foot mine shaft where a vein of coal 4 feet, 8 inches think was being worked. At Simpson's Crossing the train slowed to a stop once more to observe an Ohio County drift mine which ran horizontally into the side of a hill along the coal vein. All the stops delayed the trip, and it didn't reach Fordsville until 1PM. But most of the excursionist didn't mind. Triplett served a "splendid lunch" on board and brought out some "excellent whiskey". As the reporter for the Messenger wrote, "A few of the excursionists got hilarious but as the supply gave out before Fordsville was reached, the crowd went without irrigation the rest of the day, Fordsville being a dry town." A hundred or more Ohio Countians were waiting to see the first train chug into Fordsville and when the brakes were set a hearty shout went up from their throats, which was replied to from within the train. Many of those in Fordsville that day had never seen a train before and they spent the next three hours climbing around it to see how things worked. While Ohio Countians inspected the train, the visitors looked at Ohio County. Triplett secured a wagon and team to take some of his part out to the Bradfield iron ore beds some 50 yards from town. The first train trip to Fordsville almost ended in disaster when Tom Owen and James Handley got into a fight on the train. Several blows were struck and each drew a pistol, but decided to end their differences with words instead. At 4PM Triplett hustled his guest back aboard the train and set out for Owensboro with three women and several men from Fordsville who wanted to visit Daviess County. The only stop on the return trip was at Reynolds where the line was about to build a station (eventually changing the town's name to Reynolds Station). Triplett owned a mineral spring there and wanted his guest to taste its water. It was reported to be very fine and has an agreeable blending of alum, sulphur, magnesia and iron that will render it popular as a watering place. The spring is in a mountain that towers above the railroad track and will be piped down to the station. Newspaper reporters who made the trip pronounced the train line "first class". It has handsome, modern coaches and smooth tracks, they said. It was well past twilight when the crowd climbed down from the train that night to catch a mule car home. The Owensboro and Fordsville line was officially open. It was later on October 8th, 1889 when regular passenger and freight services began. Round trip tickets were reported to cost 85 cents from Fordsville and 50 cents from Whitesville.

The Louisville, Hardinsburg and Western Railway

The building of a railroad from Henderson east to West Point, Kentucky led to the building of several other lines. One of these was a line by the Louisville, Hardinsburg and Western Railway from Fordsville to Irvington. This line was started at Fordsville during 1890. The ground was plowed for the roadbed with yokes of oxen. Many Italians worked on it with picks and shovels. White oak timbers 40 to 50 feet long were used for making trestles such as one near Askins. This line from Fordsville to Irvington was completed on July 6th, 1891. This railroad operated under Louisville, Hardinsburg and Western Railway from 1891 to 1905. In 1905 evidence shows this railway was obtained by the Louisville and Nashville (L&N) Rail Company. The depot thus became the L&N Depot. At one time in 1907 M.H. and E (Madisonville, Henderson and Evansville) and the L.H. and St. L. (Louisville, Henderson and St. Louis) operated here.

On June 15th 1941 the last train ran the tracks between Irvington and Fordsville, and soon the tracks were taken up.

The Illinois Central and Gulf: Horse Branch to Fordsville

In 1893 the branch line of the Illinois Central and Gulf from Horse Branch to Fordsville was built. This route served the communities of Dan's Station, Olaton, Narrows, Davison Station, Fordsville, Reynolds Station, Deanfield, Whitesville, Philpot and Owensboro. At one time as many as six passenger trains per day made the run between Horse Branch and Owensboro. Many students surrounding Fordsville rode the early morning train to Fordsville and returned home on the evening train. Henry Daniels recalled that high school students along this line road to Fordsville and event o Whitesville, and that a book of tickets for students to ride from Narrows to Fordsville sold for $3.36.

In 1941, Fordsville's passenger trains were removed. only freight trains on the I.C. remained and they no longer came into town, but stopped at a junction freight building near the present school building... The freight train service continued until the late 1970's when all rail services of any type to Fordsville ended.

Fordsville Depot's

Fordsville has had four different railroad lines in it's history and two depots that handled passenger and freight traffic. Both the I.C. and the L&N trains came into Fordsville. The L&N backed in and pulled out while the I.C. pulled in and backed out.