(Fallen Flags of America) Episode 5- The Louisville & Nashville Lebanon Branch

Good evening Railfans, Historians, & Train People welcome back to another Fallen Flags of America- Today we take look at the former Louisville & Nashville Railroad Lebanon Branch from Lebanon Junction, Kentucky-Nashville,Tennessee. History:The former Louisville and Nashville Railroad Lebanon Branch (AKA Knoxville Branch) was 77 miles long and ran from Lebanon Junction in Bullitt County to near Mt. Vernon in Rockcastle County. Construction of the branch began in 1857, reaching Lebanon in that year. The line was extended to Crab Orchard[1] in 1866 and completed in 1868. Most of the line was abandoned in 1987. The portion from Stanford to Mt. Vernon was abandoned during the 1990s. Timeline: 1854 - Track is laid between Lebanon Junction off the Main Stem to New Haven 1857 - Lebanon reached on November 18th, the branch line is 37.7 miles long running from Lebanon Junction to Lebanon. 1863 - John Hunt Morgan burns the depot at Lebanon during a battle with Federal troops there. 1864 - Lebanon Branch extension approved. 1865 - Gravel Switch reached by the railroad. The town is named after a spur off the Lebanon Branch used for loading gravel for ballast for track. 1866 - Parksville is reached on February 19th. Goresburg, later renamed Junction City after arrival of the Cincinnati Southern, is reached on April 9th. Stanford was reached on May 17, and Crab Orchard on July 1st. 1879 - Cumberland & Ohio branch from Lebanon to Greensburg completed. The L&N later purchases this line in a foreclosure sale. 1883 - First train run from Louisville to Knoxville in March. 1900 - A passenger train derails on the Rolling Fork River bridge at Calvary on the Greensburg Branch. 1903 - Two freight trains collide in a head-on collision at Tilfords, a mile east of New Hope. Several crew members are killed. 1923 - Head on collision between Trains 52 and 55 at Nelsonville, KY. 1932 - Franklin D. Roosevelt visits Stanford on the Lebanon Branch during a whistle stop campaign tour. 1940 - Centralized Traffic Control signalling installed on the Lebanon Branch between Lebanon Junction and Lebanon. 1941 - Collision between two trains at St. Francis, KY. 1956 - The movie "Raintree County" is filmed using the Lebanon Branch for railroad scenes, the Baltimore & Ohio's William Mason is used in the movie. 1958 - Final passenger train run on the Lebanon Branch. 1979 - Final freight train run to Greensburg. The line between Campbellsville and Greensburg is abandoned afterwards. 1985 - Final trains on the Lebanon-Campbellsville portion of the Greensburg branch. 1987 - Last through freight train crosses the branch on July 8th. CSX announces plans to abandon the line. 1990 - The Kentucky Railway Museum purchases 17 miles of the branch between New Hope and Boston, KY. 2020: Still abandoned between west of New Haven,KY-Nashville,TN Interesting Facts: 1.Junction City,KY hosted a station & Diamond (When Tower) serving the L&N (Lebanon Branch) and SOU (CNO&TP North-South Mainline) Railroads but is unknown what happened to the buildings after 1958 when Passenger Service ended in 1958 on the Lebanon Branch. 2.The Branch once served the Maker Mark Distillery near Laretto,KY 3. The L&N had a depot at Stanford,KY; thankful apon being abandoned in 1990 it was restored to a Museum.