Rick Corman, operator of Midway's rail line, dies after a long battle with cancer; he was a friend to the town

Rick Corman, whose R.J. Corman Railroad Group is a defining fixture of Midway, died today after battling multimple myeloma cancer for 12 years. He was 58. His 40-year-old company is a diversified railroad service firm that operates in more than 21 states.

Corman often sent his "Old Smoky" steam engine to Midway for events, set up a deep red caboose near the old depot building (now the bank) and wanted to establish a dinner train that would run between Lexington and Midway and perhaps on to Frankfort. That plan was thwarted when CSX Transportation, which leases the line to Corman, wouldn't go along. Corman recently started a dinner train on his line to Versailles, which the company owns. The lack of a dinner train in Midway probably scotched Corman's plans to lay a parallel track through town.

The visitation and funeral will be held in Hangar 1 on the company headquarters property at 101 R. J. Corman Drive, Nicholasville. Visitation will be Sunday, Aug. 25 from 1 to 8 p.m.; funeral services will be Monday, Aug. 26 at 4 p.m. The front gate will be open at 2:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, friends may make donations to the Richard Corman Research Fund in Multiple Myeloma, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, PO Box 849168, Boston MA 02284-9168.