Kentucky’s ‘Train Trail’ is chugging along. How to explore the state’s railroad history
Take a tour of the Nostalgia Station Toy Museum in Woodford County, where there are thousands of toy trains on display, and you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into a time machine.
The museum, located at 279 Depot St. in Versailles, is housed in an old train station that first opened in 1910. For owners Winfrey and Wanda Adkins, running the museum is a “labor of love,” and one that represents Winfrey’s lifelong passion for collecting toy trains.
You can find toy trains from every era over the last century and beyond here, from the steam-powered models of the 1880s and 1890s, to modern pieces powered by circuit boards. Adkins’ first toy train, gifted to him by his father in 1948, is also on display.
“They’re like magic,” Winfrey said, summing up what draws him to the mechanical marvels. “The operating of a toy train is just hypnotic, almost.”
Winfrey, a retired banker and former president of the local Bluegrass Scenic Railroad and Museum, has owned the Nostalgia Station Toy Museum for more than 40 years.
The toy museum has a lot to offer visitors, including a repair shop for restoring and preserving these historical artifacts. But in today’s screen-obsessed world, Winfrey admits it can be tough to pull people away from their devices and get them to pay attention.
The centerpiece of his collection is a massive toy train display that once drew children to a Lexington department store in the 1950s.
“This is a teaching mechanism,” said Mike Stevens, who works with Bill Benjamin to restore toy trains in the museum’s workshop. “This hobby teaches art, carpentry, electricity, logical thinking, mechanical skills — and most of all — patience.”
Nostalgia Station is one of 13 destinations featured in the new Bluegrass Train Experience, which launched in October with five historic Kentucky train communities. Along with Woodford County, those include Oldham County, Bardstown, McCreary County and Warren County.
Inspired by Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail, travelers can collect stamps at each attraction and fill up their passport book in exchange for prizes. You can pick up a passport book at any participating tourism office or by visiting one of the 13 attractions along the trail.
What does the Bluegrass Train Experience offer?
Kentucky’s railroad history begins in the first half of the 19th century as the commonwealth’s identity was shifting from a frontier to state and America as a whole was expanding westward.
The Lexington and Ohio railroad was Kentucky’s first. Built in the early 1830s between Lexington and Frankfort, the railroad got its start in 1834 with horse-drawn cars, according to a history from the La Grange Railroad Museum and Learning Center. Wood-burning locomotives later replaced the horses.
By the 1850s, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad had been chartered, making it Kentucky’s first interstate standard carrier railroad, according to the railroad’s historical society. At the start of the American Civil War, the L&N Railroad had 269 miles of track. While the Civil War hurt its expansion, it was a only a minor setback as the country relentlessly expanded west. In the following 30 years, the L&N grew to connect St. Louis, Cincinnati, Birmingham and Mobile, Ala., Pensacola, Fla., and New Orleans.
The small community of Midway, which today has about 1,700 residents, got its start as Kentucky’s first railroad town. The first lots of land there were laid out by the Lexington and Ohio Railroad in 1835.
As explained by Emily Downey, executive director of Visit Woodford, the railroad has always been the beating heart that powers life in Woodford County.
Midway takes its name from its central location. It’s situated between Lexington and Frankfort, Georgetown and Versailles. Today, the RJ Corman train line still runs regularly throughout downtown Midway, Downey said.
In Versailles, the Bluegrass Scenic Railroad and Museum offers train rides and special seasonal events, such as rides with the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.
For a more personalized experience where you explore the countryside at your own pace, there are rail bike rentals through Rail Explorers.
If you’re making a day trip of it, Downey suggests grabbing dinner at Wallace Station or Ricardo’s, two other local passport stops.
Other stops on the Bluegrass Train Experience include:
- Historic Railpark and Train Museum in Bowling Green
- Kentucky Railway Museum in Bardstown
- My Old Kentucky Dinner Train in Bardstown
- Big South Fork Scenic Railway in McCreary County
- Historic Peewee Valley Caboose in Oldham County
- La Grange Railroad Museum & Education Center in Oldham County
- Main Street La Grange Welcome Center in Oldham County
Do you have a question about life in Kentucky for our service journalism team? Send us an email at ask@herald-leader.com or fill out our Know Your Kentucky form.
This story was originally published January 17, 2025 at 6:00 AM.