C&O Raceland Car Shops 1929 – 2020($24.98Value)

Description

At Russell, Kentucky, during the 1920s, C&O built a major railroad coal distribution yard from which to dispatch Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia coal to Great Lakes ports and Midwest markets. To support this railroad coal yard, C&O built a Locomotive Repair Shop at the east end of the yard, Russell, and in 1929, a freight car repair shops at the yard’s west end, Raceland, Kentucky. The shop buildings and tracks of the Raceland Car Shops (#1) have thus been part of the Russell Terminal rail scene since 1929. After extensive study and planning by C&O, it was decided to build the new car repair shop at Raceland, Kentucky. The Car Repair Shops would be located north of the thoroughbred racetrack (1924-1928) that gave the city of Raceland its name. The Shops were originally called the Russell Car Shops, but this was soon changed to Raceland Car Shops. C&O selected Raceland as the site of its main Car Repair Shops because it was near the central point of its rail lines, and cheap land was available.