Appalachian History Series
A Yard Built for Coal Country
On a broad bottom along the Cumberland River, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad built a new classification yard at Shonn, the rail hamlet that would soon be known as Loyall. Construction occurred in 1921 to serve the coal boom that was transforming Harlan County. Contemporary descriptions and later summaries agree on the timing.
From its first season the yard functioned as the L&N’s principal marshaling point on the Cumberland Valley Subdivision. It concentrated loads from branches on Clover Fork, Martin’s Fork, and Poor Fork, before sending them west through Corbin and beyond. The early plant featured seventeen classification tracks along the riverbank, a 100 foot turntable, locomotive servicing, and a multi track coaling tower.
From “Shonn” to “Loyall”
Railroaders called the place “Shonn,” a local slang word for a siding. The post office adopted Shonn on September 2, 1922, then took the name “Loyall” on May 1, 1932. Historians of Kentucky place names note that the town likely honors a railroad official, although the exact namesake is not documented in surviving records.
Coal, Crews, and Community
Through the 1920s and into the mid century coal era, Loyall’s tracks were rarely quiet. Hoppers rolled in from Benham and Lynch, from Wallins, from the small hollows where new tipples sprouted. The yard handled heavy volumes and supported shops and a roundhouse with nine stalls in the steam years. Several stalls came down after dieselization, but the footprint of the shops and service tracks lingered for decades.
Signals and the Main Line
In the postwar modernization push the L&N installed centralized traffic control between Corbin and Loyall. A 1958 trade article described the Cumberland Valley as a heavy coal corridor with 20 to 24 trains a day, and it documented CTC in service on the 64 miles from Corbin to Loyall. The project reduced meets, sped freights, and made the road more fluid even as the yard continued to classify coal.
Flood Control on the River
The Cumberland River that made Loyall a natural yard site also flooded Harlan County again and again. In the 1990s the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built levees, tunnels, and a floodwall system to protect Harlan, Baxter, Loyall, and Rio Vista. The project was dedicated at Loyall on October 25, 1999. Corps photographs show the Loyall wall in January 1999 nearly complete.
From L&N to CSX
Corporate flags changed but coal kept the rails polished. L&N entered the Seaboard System in 1982 and the CSX era began in 1986. Into the 2000s, AC equipped road engines still cycled through Loyall to lift loads toward Corbin and return empties up the forks. By the 2010s the pattern shifted as Central Appalachian coal volume declined and more classification work moved elsewhere.
What Remains Today
Recent photography shows the scale of contraction. In May 2025 a track geometry train stood on the former yard lead while a mine run crept past. The caption noted that most of the yard tracks had been lifted, leaving only a handful of mains and stubs. It is a quiet tableau compared to the steam and early diesel years, yet Loyall still anchors CSX movements on the Cumberland Valley Subdivision when coal moves off nearby loadouts.
Why Loyall Mattered
Loyall concentrated the output of an entire coal county. It provided the place where hundreds of cars were sorted by mine and destination, where engines were turned and serviced, and where crews tied up between runs. The yard also shaped a town’s identity. Shonn took the name Loyall, incorporated in the 1920s, and grew around the switch lamps and the sound of air pumps. Even as the rails simplified, the imprint of that railroad landscape remains visible in street grids, floodworks, and memories.
Sources and Further Reading
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “Harlan Flood Control Project dedicated 20 years ago.” News release and photo archive, includes images of the Loyall floodwall and the October 25, 1999 dedication. LRD USACE+2LRD USACE+2
Railway Signaling and Communications 1958 index and article. “CTC Loyall–Corbin, Ky., 64 mi,” and “CTC saves time and money for the Louisville & Nashville.” Describes operations and the CTC installation on the Cumberland Valley. Jon Roma+1
U.S. Geological Survey. Historical topographic map collection and TopoView portal for the Harlan quadrangles. Useful for tracing yard footprint and changes through time. National Geological Map Database+1
National Archives. Guide to ICC railroad valuation records and valuation maps, which include detailed engineering plats for the L&N in Kentucky. National Archives+1
Official Guide of the Railways, multiple editions available via Timetable World, for stations and services on the L&N Cumberland Valley. Timetable World
RailPictures.net. James Gentry, “CSX GRMS 2 at Loyall, Kentucky,” May 23, 2025. Notes removal of most yard tracks. RailPictures
Robert M. Rennick. “Harlan County Post Offices.” Confirms Shonn post office opening on Sept. 2, 1922 and change to Loyall on May 1, 1932. Morehead State University
Kentucky Atlas and Gazetteer entry for Loyall. Summary of town naming traditions and incorporation window. Kentucky Atlas
“Of Late, I Think of Loyall.” Railroads Illustrated, Feb. 17, 2017. Overview with 1921 build date for the yard. Railroads Illustrated Annual
“Loyall Yard, KY.” The Tunnel Diaries blog. Describes historic roundhouse, turntable, and floodwall. Blogging the Railroad Tunnels