Mammoth Cave Railroad

Mammoth Cave Railroad ("Dinkey Train") was a short rail line with a small train off the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) that went to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. The tiny 9-mile (14 km) railroad from Glasgow Junction (Park City) to Mammoth Caves was started in 1886 and operated for 45 years. The complete Dinkey Train consisted only of a "dummy" 0-4-2T type steam locomotive and a wooden coach to carry passengers and their luggage. Among the many stops on the way to Mammoth Caves were Diamond Caverns, Grand Avenue Cave, Procter Cave and Hotel, Chaumont Post Office, Union City, Sloan's Crossing, and Ganter's Hotel. The Dinkey Train could obtain speeds of 25–35 miles per hour on the lightweight rails.

Between the ending of the Civil War and 1880 there were about 40,000 to 50,000 passengers annually of the L&N Railroad that stopped off at Glasgow Junction, and then took a stagecoach to Mammoth Caves. Colonel Larkin J. Procter owned and operated this stagecoach line that began at Bell's Tavern. Procter also owned the Mammoth Cave Hotel and estate.

The Mammoth Cave Railroad was not built by the L&N, although it owned the railroad rights to Mammoth Caves. A contract was entered into between two companies whereby the L&N would lease its rights. In 1874 Procter chartered the Mammoth Cave Railroad with his brother George and other investors. They leased the railroad rights to Mammoth Cave from the L&N Railroad. The new railroad acquired four used steam engine locomotives. They were Baldwin "dummy" steam engines formally used on street railways in Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee. They also acquired two wooden passenger coaches and two wooden combination coaches and baggage cars. Usually at any one time there were two sets of Dinkey Trains operating. The coach cars had open vestibules and were heated with a coal stove. They were always painted red.

Before the actual construction work began the L&N agreed to lease the railroad rights to Mammoth Caves for 25 years from the completion of the spur railroad. The actual work on the railroad did not begin until 1880 when the first short part went to Diamond Cave. Construction stopped again until July 1886 when Jim McDaniel and Henry Chapman resumed work on the roadbed. The railroad officially opened for business in November 1886 under this 25-year lease from the L&N. It cost $3 per ticket when it first started running as is recorded in the Mammoth Cave Hotel register on November 8, 1886. The first passenger was a W. F. Richardson. The hotel register reads

...
Wikipedia