Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad: “The Kentucky Midland Route”

1. 
   Home
   

 ›

2. 
   Short Lines
   

 ›

3. 
   Frankfort & Cincinnati Railroad
   

Last revised: May 21, 2026

By: Adam Burns

While many may not recognize the Frankfort & Cincinnati (reporting mark, FCIN) name, the short line is fondly remembered in the state of Kentucky. Within the industry the F&C was well-known for its primary source of freight, serving local distilleries. This earned the company the name The Whiskey Route (or sometimes The Bourbon Road, both names deriving from the Prohibition era) and it relied on this traffic for most of its years in service.

From an official standpoint, however, the F&C used The Kentucky Midland Route as its actual slogan. Beginning in the 1960s the F&C slowly began to curtail its system as freight dried up and by the 1970s only about a quarter of the original route was still in use. Over the years very little maintenance had ever been performed on the property and after a bridge could not be repaired the railroad was forced to suspend operations altogether in the mid-1980s.If there was ever a road which defined the classic local, bucolic short line it was certainly the Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad.

Construction and Early Years (1888–1899)

If
there was ever a road which defined the classic local, bucolic
short line it was certainly the Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad.  The history of the F&C can be traced to 1888 when the Kentucky Midland Railway was chartered by local businessmen to build east from Frankfort toward the coalfields of Eastern Kentucky, with the ambitious hope of making Frankfort a major coal distribution hub. Construction began in the early months of 1888. The line reached Georgetown in June 1889 and opened to Paris in January 1890, creating a system of 40.8 miles (65.7 km). Some segments followed parts of the historic Buffalo Trace. The total construction cost exceeded $500,000—a significant sum for the era.

The railroad featured light 70-pound rail and numerous wooden trestles, with a notable 2.4% grade climbing out of the Kentucky River Valley at Frankfort. It crossed Elkhorn Creek multiple times and included roughly forty bridges and trestles in total, earning later histories the apt title Forty Miles, Forty Bridges. The company advertised itself as the “Kentucky Midland Route” but faced immediate financial reverses. It went into receivership in 1894 and was sold at foreclosure in 1899, at which point it was renamed the Frankfort and Cincinnati Railway.

Even by this date the short line was serving three key distilleries—George T. Stagg in Frankfort (now Buffalo Trace), Old Grand-Dad at Elsinore (Forks of the Elkhorn), and Buffalo Springs in Stamping Ground—which comprised the bulk of its traffic. The Georgetown-to-Paris segment in particular helped distribute local fine Bourbon whiskey to broader markets. Other freight included general agriculture, some merchandise, various less-than-carload (LCL) shipments, aggregates, coal, lumber, and occasional farm equipment. By 1899 the railroad was credited with stimulating Frankfort’s growth during the 1890s despite never extending beyond Paris (proposed extensions to Mount Sterling and Alton never materialized).

Ownership Turmoil, L&N Involvement, and Reorganization (1900–1927)

The F&C (still operating as the Frankfort & Cincinnati Railway after the 1899 rename) had the benefit of major connections with two Class I lines. At Georgetown it crossed the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway (an early Southern subsidiary, protected by GT Tower) main line between Chattanooga and Cincinnati. It also interchanged with the Louisville & Nashville (L&N) at both ends of its system. The road used these interchanges effectively, playing each off the other to obtain the best freight rates.

The L&N was more than a simple interchange partner. In 1901 the L&N gained control of the F&CRy after the short line owed it roughly $100,000 and had no cash; stock was transferred in lieu of payment. In October 1909 the L&N nearly purchased the property outright, but the Kentucky Railroad Commission objected on monopoly grounds (the L&N already dominated several regional routes) and annulled the sale in April 1912. After divestiture, the F&CRy was left with minimal equipment: two steam locomotives, one passenger car, one combine, and one caboose.

In January 1927 the property was again sold at public auction for just $16,000 to a group of citizens from Frankfort and Lexington (including W.T. Fowler and Jim Perkins interests) and reorganized as the Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad. This independent era would define the line’s character for the rest of its life.

Timetable (1938)

Passenger Service and the “Cardinal”

Except for its very early years before the coming of the automobile, passenger operations on the F&C were typically rather insignificant, as the railroad served no major city outside of Frankfort. By 1920 it provided two round-trip passenger runs daily from Frankfort to Paris. In 1927 the reorganized F&C purchased two Brill gasoline-powered railcars for passenger and LCL service. Painted red and nicknamed the Cardinal (or sometimes “Dinky”), these doodlebugs became the face of passenger service for the next quarter-century. One unit (M-55-1) had controls at only one end and required turning at terminals; the second had controls at both ends.

On December 31, 1952 the F&C exited the passenger business altogether. The Cardinal famously broke an axle on Christmas Eve that year. For the final week of service, Superintendent A.E. Parker used his own sedan to shuttle the few remaining passengers between Frankfort and Paris. One of the doodlebugs survives today, preserved at the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

The railroad also ran occasional excursion trains for railfans, including trips to Paris that highlighted its scenic, meandering character through Kentucky’s Bluegrass countryside.

Freight Operations: The Bourbon Road

What remained was a freight business that still leaned heavily on Kentucky’s renowned Bourbon whiskey industry. Not only did these businesses provide the railroad with carloads of outbound alcohol (which interestingly enough boasted their own Federal guards when set out overnight awaiting pickup by either the CNO&TP/Southern at Georgetown or the L&N at Frankfort/Paris) but also the products necessary to produce the “Bluegrass Firewater.” Inbound traffic included hoppers of corn mash, boxcars of bottles and packaging goods, new barrels, and other supplies; outbound included finished whiskey and spent barrels.

During World War II the distilleries even received carloads of Idaho potatoes used in the manufacture of butyl rubber, an important war material. The F&C also handled aggregates (including rock and gravel from a quarry west of Paris for I-75 construction), coal, lumber, agriculture, and farm equipment. As the CNO&TP/Southern began running more trailer-on-flatcar (TOFC/piggyback) trains in the 1960s, the F&C and its Frankfort distilleries picked up this traffic, installing multiple loading ramps in the Frankfort yard.

The line functioned as a useful “bridge route,” moving cars between L&N connections at Paris and Frankfort and the Southern at Georgetown when rates or routing favored it. Operations were never hurried; trains meandered along the countryside, often requiring two locomotives to tackle the steep grade out of Frankfort or navigate weight-restricted bridges.

Motive Power and Infrastructure Challenges

In 1946 the Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad ended its remaining steam operations when it purchased a single General Electric 70-ton switcher, #100. Two years later it acquired two more (#101–102). These three units comprised the diesel fleet for the next 15 years, though a pair of Lima 2-8-0s (#15 and #16) purchased in 1945 were held for emergencies and railfan trips. Earlier steam power had included 4-4-0 Americans, 2-6-0 Moguls, and other 2-8-0 Consolidations from builders such as Baldwin, Pittsburgh, and Schenectady.

In 1961 the F&C, which had been owned by the Fowler interests of Frankfort for decades, was sold to Samuel Pinsly’s family of short lines. Under new ownership the railroad purchased second-hand Alco S-2 and S-4 switchers (#103–104, #106–107) to complement and eventually replace the 70-tonners. These 1,000-hp units weighed about 115 tons each—the maximum the line’s bridges could reliably handle.

Infrastructure woes mounted over time. Deferred maintenance, light rail, and aging wooden trestles (many later replaced with steel girder or concrete) became chronic problems. Specific incidents included the 1980 collapse of Bridge #4 over Comanche Trail under a loaded grain train and the 1985 derailment that damaged Bridge #5 over Elkhorn Creek (involving a corn car). Crews sometimes placed empty boxcars between heavy loads to distribute weight.

Decline, Abandonments, and the Final Years

By this date deferred maintenance, light 70-pound rail, and aging bridges were catching up with the railroad. The year 1968 (following ICC approval in 1967) witnessed its first major abandonment as the 16-mile route from Georgetown to Paris was ripped out, leaving just 24.8 miles in place. In reality The Kentucky Midland Route had hoped to shut down remaining operations then, but pressure from the distilleries kept it going.

By 1980, with just a few distilleries still active around Frankfort, the F&C was truncated again—primarily operating as a switching railroad on roughly seven miles outside of Frankfort (Frankfort to Elsinore/Old Grand-Dad and spurs to Stagg). Then in 1985 the damaged Elkhorn Creek trestle (Bridge #5) from a derailment forced the railroad to shut down entirely when it could not afford repairs. Two years later in 1987 the last rails were pulled up.

Legacy

The Frankfort and Cincinnati was a fascinating operation not only because of its down-home feel but also its laid-back nature, never seeming to be in a hurry as it meandered its way along the Kentucky countryside. Today, while nature is reclaiming the right-of-way and development has destroyed other sections, bits and pieces can still be seen here and there—including surviving abutments and bridges over Elkhorn Creek, portions of the old roadbed (visible via satellite or on the ground), and the relocated or remembered depots. The Centreville Depot (built 1889) once served as a community hub under agent George R. Burberry and his family (1892–1960); it burned in 1963.

The preserved Cardinal doodlebug at the Kentucky Railway Museum stands as the most tangible reminder of the line’s passenger era. The railroad’s story is also captured in two excellent books: Forty Miles, Forty Bridges by Ken Hixson and Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad: History and Remembrances of the Bourbon Road by Ed Vasser & Jerry Sudduth. Modern echoes live on through Buffalo Trace Distillery tourism and the enduring legacy of Kentucky’s bourbon industry, which the F&C helped sustain for nearly a century.

(Thanks to Ed Vasser for help with the information on this page.)