Private company

Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad

The Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad is a defunct shortline railroad based in Kentucky. Despite its name, it had no connections with Cincinnati, Ohio. The Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad ran between Frankfort, Kentucky, and Paris, Kentucky, with a major stop in Georgetown, Kentucky; a distance of 40 miles (64 km).2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

F&C Route
Photo: C. Bedford Crenshaw, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons4

The Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad is a defunct shortline railroad based in Kentucky. Despite its name, it had no connections with Cincinnati, Ohio.2

The story

The Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad was originally known as the Kentucky Midland Railway. Construction of the route began at Frankfort in the early months of 1888, and reached Georgetown in June 1889, and Paris in January 1890. Some of the route laid upon the Buffalo Trace. The total cost of the construction was over $500,000. Its name changed to the Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad in 1899. There were efforts to extend the route to Mount Sterling, Kentucky, and Alton, Kentucky, but it never happened. The total length of the railroad was 40.8 miles (65.7 km).

When it started, the Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad had "serious financial reverses" before it even laid its first piece of rail. It even went into receivership in 1894. But by 1899 it was touted as a major factor in the stimulation of Frankfort's 1890s growth. The route between Georgetown and Paris helped distribute the local fine Bourbon whiskey to markets. On October 28, 1909, the F&C was almost purchased by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N), but the Kentucky Railroad Commission objected and the sale was annulled on April 22, 1912. In January 1927 the railroad was sold in public auction, with its owners a collection of citizens of Frankfort and Lexington, Kentucky.

From Wikipedia’s article on Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3