Gravel Switch, Livingston County, Kentucky

For the locale in Marion County, see Gravel Switch, Kentucky.

Gravel Switch is an area along the Paducah & Louisville Railway (PAL) between the Kentucky Dam on the Tennessee River and Grand Rivers in Livingston County, Kentucky, United States near the interchange of U.S. Route 62 and Kentucky Route 453.^[2] The gravel of the area was prized as one of the best cementing gravels for the construction of railroad track ballast.^[3] It remains a rail, barge, and transloading terminal for aggregates for Vulcan Materials Company's Grand Rivers Quarry.^[4][5][6]

Gravel Switch, Kentucky
Dam, quarries, and port in area
Gravel Switch Location in Kentucky Show map of Kentucky Gravel Switch Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 37°00′51″N 88°14′56″W
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
County	Livingston
Elevation	387 ft (118 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CST)
GNIS feature ID	493181[1]

History

In the early 1900s PAL's predecessor, the Illinois Central Railroad, had a spur line (its Kentucky Division^[7]) to this locale where rock was harvested for use as track ballast for the laying of track.^[8] Older maps (1936) show the spurs and surroundings.^[9]

After the Kentucky Dam was built and the Tennessee River basin filled (1955 maps), half of the Gravel Switch area and part of the rail line was submerged. The rail line was re-routed over the dam^[10] and through the Gravel Switch spur area, which was left above water level,^[9] the elevation difference about 36 feet (11 m).^{[lower-alpha 1]}

See also

• Railroad switch
• Siding (rail)

Notes

1. As recorded in 1906 the elevation was 351 feet (107 m) and as recorded in 1979 was 387 feet (118 m), difference of 36 feet (11 m)
   Gannett, Henry, ed. (1906). "A Dictionary of Altitudes in the United States (Department of the Interior USGS Bulletin No. 274)". U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
   "Gravel Switch ID 493181". U.S. Geological Survey: Geographic Names Information Service (1976-1981). September 20, 1979. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Gravel Switch, Livingston County, Kentucky
2. "Railway Age". Simmons-Boardman. May 19, 1928. p. 658 – via Google Books. Tracks in Kentucky and on the south 70 miles in Illinois are ballasted with a cementing gravel obtained from Gravel Switch, Ky., on the Tennessee river 20 miles east of Paducah. About 3,000 cu. yd. was applied per mile.
3. Charles Henry Richardson (1920). The Kentucky Geological Survey, Series Six Volume One, The Glass Sands of Kentucky 1920. p. 106. Gravel Switch is on the Illinois Central Railroad about two miles below Grand Rivers. There is not only a flag stop by that name, but a switch that sends the freight trains to exceedingly valuable gravel beds. The gravel beds are more than 1,000 feet in length and 50 feet in thickness above the present level of the railroad tracks. (1) There is one gravel bed more than 1,000 feet in length close to the Gravel Switch which has been temporarily abandoned. (2) A second gravel bed just above Gravel Switch. (3) A third gravel bed of more than 1,000 feet in length now operated by the Illinois Central Railroad. ... The gravel is broken down by explosives and loaded by steam shovels into cars for shipment as railroad ballast and for the manufacture of concrete. When this product is used as ballast it soon becomes as hard as concrete. When shipped to Birmingham, Alabama, it becomes hard like cement before reaching its destination. It is the largest and best gravel deposit known by the author. ... This material is of great value in the manufacture of permanent roads for it has high resistance to abrasion and high cementing power.
4. "Reed Mine (Grand Rivers Quarry; Vulcan Materials), Livingston Co., Kentucky, USA". www.mindat.org.
5. Minerals Yearbook. The Bureau of Mines USGS. May 21, 2009. p. 191. ISBN 9781411323292 – via Google Books.
6. "Lower Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers Navigation Feasibility Report, Kentucky Lock Addition: Environmental Impact Statement". 1992. Retrieved May 20, 2020. Most of the land surrounding the embayment east of the campground is leased to Reed Crushed Stone for use as a barge and rail shipping terminal for their aggregate operation. A spur line of the Paducah ad Louisville Railroad bisects this quadrant to give access to the Reed Terminal and beyond to the community of Grand Rivers.
7. Illinois Central Magazine, vol. 46–47, Illinois Central Magazine, 1957, p. 39, ...worked on the Kentucky Division in 1902 as operator at Gravel Switch
8. Works), United States Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil (May 19, 1999). "Lower Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, Kentucky Lock Addition: Communication from the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), Transmitting a Letter from the Chief of Engineers, Department of the Army, Dated June 1, 1992, Submitting a Report Together with Accompanying Papers and Illustrations". U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 626–627 – via Google Books. 6.03 As illustrated by the aerial photos which pre-date construction of the dam (Figures 2 & 3), most land use in the area prior to construction of the lock and dam was related to either agricultural or forest production. Generally the flatter land south of the river was more agriculturally oriented, while the steeper topography north of the river contained more timberland. Apparently a smaller gravel operation existed even at this early date, on the north side of the river, in fact a spur rail line (gravel switch) is indicated on Figure 2, between the dam-site and the community of Grand Rivers.
9. "Get Maps (Compare 1936 map to 1955)". USGS Topoview.
10. Gary W. Dolzall and Jerry Mart (March 1988). "The Paducah & Louisville A heritage of coal, crushed stone, and HO scale" (PDF). Trains. Retrieved May 20, 2020. Between Paducah and Princeton, the P&L is a relatively flat railroad...the railroad coexists with waterways, crossing Kentucky Lake (Tennessee River)...Barkley Lake (Cumberland River) 3 miles farther east...Construction of both of these lakes necessitated IC line relocations, at partial government expense, from bridge crossings to usage of the dams' causeways. Kentucky Lake was formed in 1944...)^{[permanent dead link]}