Locomagic press

Date: 10/11/07

The Trains are a Comin’…

LocoMagic

Irvine's Magic Moment

 

by Ralph Barnes
Citizen Voice & Times
February 20, 1997

 

The first week of November in 1915 started off like any other week in the sleepy little backwater town of Irvine. E. P. Campbell’s livery stable advertised reasonable rates for feeding and stabling and claimed that special attention was paid to the horses of traveling men. But a new product was also being advertised that would soon destroy the livery business. V. M. Gains, a local insurance agent, was offering new Overland touring cars for only seven hundred and fifty dollars. There was a Welch grocery, then as there is now, but that one offered free delivery by horse and wagon. The Gem Store, Irvine’s first five-and-dime, was offering bargains galore as was the Irvine Drug Company. The venerable drug store, popularly known as Rexall Drugs, was operated in the modern era by Clive Rogers. The latest in women’s fashions were on sale at Lena Wallace’s ladies apparel shop.

Europe was in the middle of World War I but the small village of Irvine was not directly affected and took little notice of that faraway conflict. Local boys, Everett Snowden, Robert Flynn, Charles Henry and a good portion of the U S Army had been spent the last year, down on the Mexican border trying to catch the bandit Poncho Villa, but that was not cause for major concern. The town was pretty much as it had been since the decline of the Iron Furnaces several generations ago.

Two important projects, completed during the intervening years, boded well for Irvine’s future economic development. The railroad to the eastern Kentucky coal fields was completed and the final lock on the Kentucky River was constructed, making the river navigable all the way to the Ohio. Both projects were designed to offset the often impassable roads that hindered the development of the more mountainous regions. Luckily, Irvine was sitting smack dab on top of both commercial arteries and the little village was primed for growth.

The anticipated boom hit the town like a thunderbolt during that memorable first week of November and Irvine was never the same afterwards. The RNI&B, Irvine’s first railroad, had been bought by the L&A Railroad. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad acquired the L&A in 1909 and another small line, the L&E that carried mostly coal, a year later. On November the first, L&N officials announced that the two lines would be combined into the Eastern Kentucky Division of the L&N to be headquartered in Irvine. The offices of the General Superintendent, Chief Dispatcher, Claims Agent and numerous other administrative offices were relocated to Irvine. In addition the L&N announced the opening of a new locomotive roundhouse that would employ a large number of repairmen. The L&N facilities were built on a tract of railroad land that included much of present day Ravenna. The move by the railroad created hundreds of new jobs in Estill County. Many of the jobs were filled by existing employees of the two former lines. So a multitude of soon-to-be residents flooded into town looking for a place to live. To ease the housing crisis, the railroad offered to sell lots to its employees in a planned community called Ravenna. Many of the people living in Ravenna today can trace their roots to the railroaders that moved here in 1915.

WLEXTV—News Clip about LocoMagic!

 

 

Television Coverage

LocoMagic Press Release December 2007

Graffiti is okay on Keith’s train

By Angela Stepp, CV&T, Staff Writer

 

Keith Tuggle of Keith’s Hair Design has come up with a different idea for decorating their train statue for the LocoMagic project taking place in Estill County this year.
Tuggle says he wanted to do something that would involve the whole community and that’s when he decided to have as many people as possible sign the statue.
“It’s kind of a community graffiti theme,” he said. “I want the entire community, or as many as possible, to participate. The whole reason for the project is community involvement.”
So far all of his customers and some of their family members and his staff have signed it, but his plans don’t stop there. He wants to take the statue to the Estill County Public Library and Irvine Health & Rehabilitation Center for a couple of days to let people there get involved as well.
He has also asked local organizations to sign it including the Masons, Eastern Star and area teachers.
“I think it will be fun for everyone to have interaction with it,” Tuggle added.
The statue will be on display at Tuggle’s shop on Richmond Road mid February when the Estill Development Alliance plans to hold the LocoMagic kickoff event to display all the trains in one location.
As long as there is space available on the statue, Tuggle extends an invitation to anybody who would like to stop by and sign it.
The trains will also be on display at the 2008 Mountain Mushroom Festival in April, 2008 Fourth of July Celebration, LocoMagic Auction Gala and many other smaller events throughout the year.
There are still trains available for sponsorship at $900 each. Businesses are welcome to go in together to sponsor one train. The auction will be held during the end of the Bicentennial Celebration year event.
For more information about sponsoring a train contact the EDA office at 723-2450.

'LocoMagic' coming to Estill County bicentennial

 

Travel Briefs Courier-Journal.com

 

IRVINE, Ky. – Brightly painted statues of railroad locomotives can be found throughout the Eastern Kentucky communities of Irvine and Ravenna as part of Estill County's bicentennial celebrations.

Trains have been key to Estill County's development since the late 19th century, when the transportation of coal, timber and oil from resource-rich Eastern Kentucky began in earnest and transformed the county into a railroad hub.

All of the locomotives that have been painted so far will be on view during Estill County's annual Mountain Mushroom Festival April 25-27. The main celebration of the Estill bicentennial will take place June 23-29. On June 28, the bicentennial festivities will include fireworks, a beauty pageant, food vendors, carnival games and a free performance by Goose Creek Symphony and other traditional musicians.

Irvine and Ravenna are about 20 minutes east of Richmond on Ky. 52.

"EDA chose a public art project because of the success of the hand statues in Berea, the fish in Somerset and the horses in Lexington and Louisville," said John Spurlock, an Estill Development Alliance official.

Eventually, all the locomotives will be auctioned, but not before they've toured the state and been displayed at the Kentucky State Fair, Spurlock said.

More information about LocoMagic and Estill County's bicentennial is at www.locomagic.net and www.estillcountyky.net. The EDA's phone number is (606) 723-2450

 

 

Date: 4/20/08

Date: 2/7/08

Date: 2/20/1997

Trains become ‘mascot’ for bicentennial celebration

 

By Angela Stepp, CV&T News Writer

 

Lexington had its horses, Fairhope, Ala. had its pelicans, it’s only fitting that Estill County has its trains.

The LocoMagic project is chugging right along with three trains already in tow and more on the way. LocoMagic is a celebration of Estill County’s Bicentennial in 2008. The train statue represents a historical part of Estill County’s ties to the railroad industry.

One of the three trains on display in downtown Irvine is the bicentennial train at the Estill Development Alliance office on Main Street. The second train is designed after the slogan and sign “Where the Bluegrass kisses the mountains” with beautiful mountain scenery and Irvine bridge depicted on it. It is on display in the lobby of Irvine City Hall and will also bear the signatures of the city council members.

The third, but certainly not least of the three, is on display at the Citizens Guaranty Bank on River Drive. Its theme is the “Money Train” and has been designed to look like a safe in a brick wall underneath the black money train.

Each of these trains are unique in their own way, but were all designed by Cindy Trujillo, an artist located in Louisville.  The businesses gave her an idea of what they wanted on the trains and she was able to accomplish the designs to their specifications as well as come up with a few of her own ideas to accommodate the themes.

According to Main Street Manager, John Spurlock, they have about 10 more trains already sponsored by local businesses, but they haven’t been painted yet. He also expects to have about 10 more sponsors in the near future.

“We currently have 36 trains still available for sponsorship but expect to have about 10 of those sponsored soon,” Spurlock said. “We would then have about half of them left.”

The trains will be on display in the local businesses until they begin taking them on tour in August.  Spurlock also plans to add the images of the completed trains on the LocoMagic website for viewing at www.locomagic.net.

Get on board the LocoMagic project by sponsoring a train today. Anyone interested in sponsoring a train or being an artist on one or more trains can contact the EDA office at 723-2450 or log onto the above website for more information.

Date: 2/28/08