Saturday Morning Railfanning at the Kentucky High Bridge and in Wilmore, Kentucky. 12/9/2023.

Hello everyone, and welcome to today's video! On the second Saturday of December, Cincy Railfan Productions and I ventured on down to the Kentucky High Bridge for our December Railfanning trip. We mutually decided to head down to the Kentucky High Bridge and the village of Wilmore, Kentucky. Located in Central Kentucky about 30 minutes south of Lexington, the Kentucky High Bridge is the highest railroad bridge above a navigable waterway in the United States. The Kentucky River runs beneath this behemoth of a bridge, and this bridge is one of the most important pieces of the Norfolk Southern Railway network.
The bridge and the village of Wilmore see a total of 20 to 25 trains per day, and is a vital part of the mainline between the Great Lakes and the Deep South. Each day, a variety of intermodal, manifest, and grain trains traverse through the Kentucky hills and the many viaducts. On this morning of railfanning, Cincy Railfan Productions and I saw a total of six trains; two grain trains, three manifest, and one intermodal. Much to our surprise, the first train featured the Lehigh Valley Heritage Unit (NS 8104) as the third unit on the southbound grain train, 50G. This was my first heritage unit since catching the Virginian back in October, and the ninth Norfolk Southern heritage unit I have seen this year. Following 50G, we saw northbound manifest 188 and headed into Wilmore to check it out.
Downtown Wilmore is quite honestly an underrated place to view the trains. Near the center of town, the Norfolk Southern mainline runs as a double track from the bridge on up through Wilmore. The grade crossing in downtown features a clear vantage point down the track in both directions, but also an old Southern Railway caboose. The red cabooses of the Southern Railway are a common feature in many towns in the south, particularly in towns along the mainlines. In town, we saw two more northbound trains; intermodal train 28C and manifest train 174. After spending about a little over an hour in Wimore, we headed back to the High Bridge and saw two more trains before we left; a northbound grain train and manifest train 142. Curiously, train 142 featured a CSX ES40DC as the second locomotive on the train; a very odd choice for foreign power. We left High Bridge and headed home after 142.
Overall, Cincy Railfan Productions and I had a rather good time of railfanning and exploring the area. We were very pleased to see the Lehigh Valley Heritage Unit as well as the old Southern caboose. I highly recommend you visit the High Bridge as it is one of the great engineering marvels in the United States and has been in action for over 90 years. To say the scenery is majestic is an understatement, and the High Bridge is rightfully considered as one of the sacred locations of railfanning in the Norfolk Southern Railway System.
Thanks for watching, have a very Merry Christmas, and I hope you enjoy the video!
-N&W475.

[@TriGogglin]

Fantastic, great catches. I've only been to high bridge one time, I didn't catch anything, but I still had a great time. Thanks foe sharing

[@NW475]

Thanks for watching! The bridge is one of my favorite places to see trains. Hopefully you'll be able to catch a train the next time you visit.

[@keithbrianwilliams8039]

Neat video, that's such a groovy bridge.

[@NW475]

Thanks man, this bridge sure is awesome.

[@VirginiaRailfanProductions]

Merry Christmas!

[@NW475]

Merry Christmas Caleb!