Owensboro to Moorman
Daviess, McLean, and Muhlenberg Counties
20.6 miles
This former Louisville & Nashville line
ran from Owensboro to Moorman
where it joined an east-west line of the L&N. It was built in 1871 as the
Owensboro and Russellville RR and abandoned to Livermore in 1984. The
portion from Livermore to Moorman was abandoned in 2000 by CSXT and was
proposed for trail use. The line was going through rail banking procedures
and there are still rails and ties on the ground here.
Between Owensboro and Livermore the line is almost completely intact. A few sections have been obliterated by new construction (particularly in Owensboro) and some sections have been used by adjacent property owners (it has been absorbed into a salvage yard at one spot). The rest is mainly clear right of way with limited vegetation growing over it. Some sections have been mowed and maintained because they share a right of way and ditch with county roads.
In
Livermore, the right of way is mostly intact, though it disappears in and
out of yards in some places as it has been reclaimed by neighbors. At the
site of the former depot a small park has been developed that includes a
restored caboose and short walking path. At the river there is another
park with a picnic shelter and a pier remaining from the original railroad
bridge that was dismantled at abandonment. There are steps and an overlook
platform at the top of the pier along with
interpretive signs.
If trails were developed on the portion south of the river and north of the river a new bridge would be necessary to join them because the railroad bridge is gone and the highway bridge has no shoulders or sidewalks.