Muddy Creek Bridge

The Richmond, Nicholasville, Irvine & Beattyville Railroad (RNI&B) was completed between Versailles and Irvine, a distance of 60¾ miles, in 1890. ¹ The line was sold under foreclosure to the Louisville & Atlantic Railroad (L&A) in 1899. A 34¾-mile extension of the L&A was completed between Irvine and Beattyville in November 1902. The L&A then acquired the 6½-mile Beattyville & Cumberland Gap Railroad, which offered a connection to the Louisville & Eastern Railroad (L&E) at Airedale (Beattyville Junction), giving the L&A a distance of 101 miles.

Elsewhere, the Kentucky Highlands Railroad (KH) constructed a 6½-mile line between Frankfort and Millville in 1907-08 to service two distilleries. ¹ The Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) acquired the KH in 1909 and began work to extend the KH 9½ miles up Glenns Creek to the L&A in Versailles, which opened in 1911. The L&N then purchased the L&A in 1909 and the L&E in 1910.

After the L&N constructed a low-grade alignment between Irvine to Winchester, it discontinued use of the former L&A between Millville and Irvine in 1932. ¹ Portions of the former RNI&B alignment were converted for roadway use, including Meadowbrook Road.