Bluegrass Railroad and Museum facts for kids

The Bluegrass Railroad and Museum is a fun place in Versailles, Kentucky, United States. It's both a museum about trains and a special railroad where you can ride old trains.

It's located in the Woodford County Park. The museum offers exciting train rides that are 11 miles long, going through beautiful horse farms in Kentucky. The train travels to Tyrone, Kentucky. There, it stops at Young's High Bridge. Passengers can get off the train to see the amazing bridge and the Kentucky River valley.

The railroad uses diesel locomotives, which are like the engines of the train. They have four trains that work and two that are just for display. They also have about 40 other train cars. All this equipment is stored in three different spots along the museum's 5.5 miles of track. You can see them all during your train ride!

What is the Bluegrass Railroad Museum?

The museum started in 1976. It was created by some people from the Bluegrass Railroad Club, who loved model trains. They began collecting old train equipment from local railroads.

At first, they stored the equipment in different places. Eventually, in 1988, the museum moved to its current home. This is on Highway 62, just outside Versailles, Kentucky. After a fire in 2006, an old house was fixed up. It became the museum's station and main building.

The Train Rides and Tracks

In 1987 and 1988, the museum got 5.5 miles of railroad track. This track goes from Versailles to the Kentucky River. They also bought nine and a half acres of land in Woodford County Park. This was to create the museum site and start offering train rides.

The Rail Line's Story

The train tracks were first built in the 1880s. They were part of the Louisville Southern Railroad. Over the years, different companies owned the line. These included the Monon Railroad and later the Southern Railway.

Eventually, the Norfolk Southern Railway owned the tracks. They decided they didn't need the part of the line between the Kentucky River and Versailles. So, they sold it to the museum! This allowed the museum to have its own tracks for train rides.

Young's High Bridge

The tracks from the Kentucky River to Lawrenceburg were removed in 2009. But Young's High Bridge itself was saved! A private group bought the bridge. They plan to turn it into a tourist spot.

Today, Young's High Bridge is famous for bungee jumping. A group called Vertigo Bungee has made it a permanent bungee jumping platform. It's now known as the highest permanent platform bridge jump in North America!

See also

• List of heritage railroads in the United States