By Bill Farrell, Chapter Treasurer
On Thursday the 6th of February, Ricky Bivins and Bill Farrell drove to Crofton, Kentucky to make a presentation of two hundred dollars. These funds were presented to the Crofton City Council to be used for their War Memorial Park. If you have never been to this small community alongside of the CSX track in Northern Christian County at night, you should. This community is on the upswing with new businesses and civic improvements all along highway 41. The most noticeable is the new War Memorial Park which was completed about eighteen months ago. If you drive through at night you can’t miss it, clean, neat, and all lite up.
After we made the presentation of the check, we were invited to say a few words on behalf of our chapter and NRHS. Ricky did a great job of thanking their city council for all they do in allowing the chapter to have our annual picnic on Crofton City property each fall. One of the biggest assets we get is, the use of the restrooms in city hall. Mayor Danny Lacy and the entire city council were very appreciative of the check and made it known that the Western Kentucky Chapter members were always welcome to the City of Crofton.
An idea was brought forth to the members of their council that were present. The idea of a small railroad museum dedicated to the preservation of L&N and the CSX railroads. It was pointed out that the city of Crofton was in a prime location for a venue of this type. The fact that the city is divided by the main line of CSX makes it a perfect location for a museum and “railfanning”. We pointed out that I-169 is just three quarters of a mile from downtown Crofton. Spring, summer and fall would be perfect for tourism in this little North Christian community. The Western Kentucky Chapter members have enough L&N, and CSX artifacts that we could fill most any building they might want to use. Of course, any item used in the museum would be on loan by the owner. We offered our assistance in this effort if the city wanted to explore the possibilities in the future.
As a group we talked for about twenty-five or thirty minutes. All people present seemed very interested in a project of this nature. Ricky and myself pointed out the possibilities of obtaining money for such a project through local and federal grants. At one point I turned to Ricky and said “we have to leave; we are using up all their council meeting time”. Before leaving Mayor Lacy brought up an idea of having a structure erected that would resemble the old Crofton depot so people could sit and watch CSX rolling stock pass through their fair city.
As Ricky and I stepped out into the cold snow filled air, we too were excited about the possibilities for this small town. As we made our way through the parking lot, I couldn’t help notice the excitement in my comrade’s voice. I asked him would he be willing to work on such a project, of course the answer was, yes. As I turned my SUV south on highway 41, I couldn’t help to think about Mayor Lacey’s idea of building a permanent structure for people to sit under. Then it hit me, what about the old Sebree, Kentucky depot? What a perfect fit for Crofton, a station built by L&N brought back to life beside its former main line.
Just before Ricky and I departed for the evening I told him, “the ball is now in Crofton’s hands, let’s see what they do with it”.