![]() ![]() Sawmills, planing mills, and flooring mills sprang up all along the L&E's route. Several mills were built to produce lumber and staves. The town of Clay City grew up around the Red River Iron Works, but the community was quick to take advantage of the lumber boom and the railroad. The logs were loaded on small carts that ran on narrow tracks and carts were pulled by mules or oxen. Numerous tramlines intersected the L&E along its route. The narrow gage line came from the Wolfe County community of Eastintown on Devil's Creek. Between Torrent and Fincastle the Eastintown rail line junctioned with the L&E on Walker's Creek. Between Natural Bridge and Torrent the Red River and Beattyville Southern Railroad connected the L&E with the lumber boom town of Ridgewood. The Mountain Central Railroad also began as a lumber carrier, but became a common carrier in 1906. It was the Dana Lumber Company that built the Nada Tunnel and the railroad that opened the Red River Gorge country. Lumber was "king" along the L&E, and later the L&N, from around 1890 until the oil boom began. In 1917 the Lee County "Oil Boom" opened the largest oil fields east of the Mississippi River. The L&E sold out to the L&N (Louisville and Nashville) about 1911 and the tracks were completed to McRoberts in Letcher County to open the coal fields of southeastern Kentucky in 1915. The rail line was completed to Natural Bridge and Torrent around 1889 and Jackson in the 1890s. The tracks passed through Clay City, Stanton, Natural Bridge (also known as McCormick's), Torrent, Fincastle, St. The late 1800s and early 1900s were a busy time along the L&E (Lexington and Eastern) route which stretched from Winchester to Jackson. The mineral water from Swango Springs was advertised as "good for most anything that ails you." Visitors to Campton could find overnight accommodations there or take a short six-mile buggy ride to Hazel Green to find lodging at the Rittenhouse Hotel at the famous Swango Springs Resort. Over 40 companies operated 5,005 miles of line, scheduling hundreds of passenger trains. Kentucky rail mileage reached its maximum by 1930. The tracks passed through Clay City, Stanton, Natural Bridge, Torrent, Fincastle, St. Patrick attended the Alvan Drew School, boarding institution located at Pine Ridge, along the train route to Campton, and he was a frequent traveler on the railroad. Hick Patrick, a former Lee County schoolteacher, once remarked that no roller coaster in the country had a thing on the Mountain Central Railroad when it came to thrills. At one point in the journey, travelers could look across the cliffs and valley and directly through the Natural Bridge arch itself. Still, the incline was dramatic and the scenery was spectacular. The train made it up the steep grade with the assistance of a switchback track system. From there, the little narrow gage railroad made its way to Campton, the county seat of Wolfe County. The Mountain Central Railway intersected the L&E at Campton Junction (the end of the Natural Bridge tunnel where the sky lift is currently located). Some park visitors stayed several days to enjoy the scenery and delighted in the side excursions to local communities. The L&E did not go to Beattyville but junctioned with the Beattyville and Cumberland Gap Railroad at Maloney. Park guests frequently chose to travel on to Beattyville where they could spend the night at the luxurious Nina Webb Inn, also billed as a health resort hotel. Many came and went the same day, but those who stayed overnight had the choice of camping in the park or spending the night at the L. Excursion trains brought carloads of tourists from Cincinnati, Dayton, Lexington, and Louisville to enjoy the wild natural beauty and the geological wonders that made up the Natural Bridge Park. Park Hotel at Torrent took great advantage of the considerable tourism trade that frequented the L&E Railroad Park at Natural Bridge, three miles from the hotel. Evidence of that philosophy was the resort hotels built for the tourism trade. Even before the turn of the 20th century, promoters were proclaiming this area as one of the healthiest places on the planet to be. Tourism has long been an economical factor in the Eastern Coal Field section of Kentucky. ![]() The Natural Beauty Was Spectacular, Drawing Tourists To What Was Known To Be One Of The Healthiest Places On The Planet ![]()
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