C&O Lexington Subdivision
| Lexington Subdivision | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Other names | C&O Lexington Subdivision |
| Status | Mostly abandoned; Ashland–Coalton industrial stub active |
| Owner | Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (later CSX Transportation) |
| Locale | Kentucky, United States |
| Termini | |
| Stations | (historic) Olive Hill; Morehead; Salt Lick; Olympia; Preston; Mt. Sterling; Winchester; Lexington |
| Service | |
| Operator(s) | Chesapeake and Ohio Railway; later CSX Transportation (Ashland–Coalton) |
| History | |
| Opened | 1881 |
| Closed | 1985 (most of route) |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 109 mi (175 km) |
| Character | Rural branch/main; tunnels and trestles |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) |
The Lexington Subdivision was a Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) line between Ashland and Lexington in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Large sections were built by the Elizabethtown, Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad (EL&BS), successor to the Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad (L&BS); the C&O acquired the route in 1892. The line ran about 109 miles (175 km) across Boyd, Carter, Rowan, Bath, Montgomery, Clark, and Fayette counties.
The C&O maintained a large terminal at Lexington known as Netherland Yard (often rendered "Netherlands" in contemporary sources). Most of the right-of-way west of Ashland was removed in the mid-1980s. An eastern stub from Ashland to the Boyd–Carter county line remains to serve local industry and, for a time, municipal solid-waste trains to the Big Run Landfill.