13. Train Wreck; January 17th events

Strange. Yesterday, in my essay on 22nd Street and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I wrote at length about the road where I was raised, South Park Road. In that essay I mentioned the hill where the South Park Country Club sits as well as the L & N Railroad, now a part of the CSX System. I didn't mention that it was 15 years ago this week the CSX closed up the old railroad shops along Floyd Street, taking what few employees were left to Florida, along with the name L&N, no longer a part of Louisville's history, except for the lights which shine from the old L&N Headquarters, thanks to State Senator Tim Shaughnessy, whose father was an old L&N man. But that is another story.

In all likelihood, the only mention of South Park Road (known as Coral Ridge Road in Bullitt County) and the L&N Railroad in recent days appeared on this blog, maybe read by five lucky souls. That all changed this morning as a train derailed in northern Bullitt County near the intersection of E. Blue Lick Road and Huber Station Road, in the community of Brooks, Kentucky. Huber Station Road runs along the east side of the L&N RR while Coral Ridge Road runs along the west side. This particular line is the main line originally established in the mid 1800s which gave the railroad its now former name, the Louisville and Nashville. Years ago this same area was in the news as one of the "Superfund" sites, places needing major cleanup from the storage and dumping of illegal chemicals. Smith's Dump is just over the hills to the west from the derailment site. Ironically, new and very high-priced homes have been built along the ridge of hills separating the dump site from the derailment site.

Not far away at all is Brooks Elementary School which has been evacuated. Not too much further in Jefferson County are Coral Ridge Elementary, Blue Lick Elementary (where I attended 1st and 2nd grades), and Knight Middle School. Coral Ridge has shut off its ventilation system in response to the wreck. Roads all through the area have been shut down, including the modern day equivalent of the L&N RR, that being Interstate 65 which is closed between Colesburg [I know you have no idea where that is], south of Lebanon Junction, and the Gene Snyder Freeway in Jefferson County. Many business and homes in the area have also been evacuated. A number of residents have taken up shelter at either the Little Flock Baptist Church or the Okolona Christian Church, both megachurches along Preston Highway between Okolona and Shepherdsville.

Much of what I have written on my blog has pertained to "place" rather than person or thing. Most of it is trivial, but personally important to me. This story will be the lead story for most of the day in our Commonwealth, and will grant Louisville, as the closest large city to the site, a spot on the evening national news broadcasts. Tonight, the personally important but generally trivial "place" notes I've made on South Park Road and the L&N will merge in importance with national and international news-making places like Baghdad, Teheran, and Washington, D.C., celebrating, unfortunately, their proverbial fifteen minutes of fame.

So far it seems everyone is safe, something for which to be thankful.

Incidentally, Louisville will be back in the news tomorrow as one of our own celebrates his 65th birthday. Muhammad Ali (nee Cassius Clay), arguably one of the most recognized people on the planet, turns 65 tomorrow. As an aside, my little brother Kevin turns 45. On Kevin's 16th and 32nd birthdays, Louisville was snowed under with snowfalls of 16 inches in both years, 1978 and 1994. The 1994 snowfall closed most of Louisville down, including the airport and I-65, both of which have been affected by the Bullitt County train derailment. Should you see either Muhammad or Kevin tomorrow, wish them a Happy Birthday.