Midway Heritage Day will start with a steam engine, end with the latest edition of Midsummer Nights in Midway

Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Steam Engine No. 2716 is scheduled to be on display in Midway from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Saturday, January 27, is Midway Heritage Day, a festival centered around the visit of a historic locomotive that hasn’t visited the region in more than 60 years.

The City of Midway, Midway Renaissance and the Midway Business Association are sponsoring the day in conjunction with the morning arrival of Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad steam locomotive No. 2716. The event will include live music, food vendors, historical displays and walking tours, including a look at the massive engine.

The 400-ton locomotive is scheduled to be on display in Midway from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The schedule is subject to change. It is scheduled for display in Lexington from 3 to 6 p.m. A full schedule of events and public display locations is available at www.kentuckysteam.org.

The engine is being moved from the Kentucky Railway Museum at New Haven to be restored at the new Kentucky Rail Heritage Center in Estill County, a project of the nonprofit Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp. The locomotive’s move is a mobile kick-off for the project. The journey will end with a ceremony in Ravenna at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Collaborators are CSX Transportation, which owns the railroad bed, and RJ Corman Railroad Group, which leases it. “Working with Midway is always a pleasure, and their willingness to host this unique and fun event brings us even more excitement for the move,” Corman President Ed Quinn said.

A photo of the Midway scale model before restoration

The engine will be accompanied by two other pieces of CSX heritage, both recent special projects of the company's locomotive shop in Huntington, W.Va. The train will be led by a 1948 Clinchfield 800, an F-7 diesel-electric locomotive that was restored and repainted by CSX and is operated by the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum. The train will have a 50-year-old caboose that was donated to Kentucky Steam earlier this year after a complete restoration in Huntington.

Displays will include a 1950s scale model of Midway that Reaves and others have been restoring for several months.

Engine 2716 was built in 1943 and visited the Bluegrass Region frequently until its retirement in 1956. It was one of the largest locomotives to ever run on the line between Louisville and Ashland. After being retired, it was donated to the Railway Museum. Kentucky Steam Heritage leased it in 2016 with plans to run it on excursions and use its operation as an educational tool in Ravenna.

Saturday will also be one of Midway Renaissance's "Midsummer Nights in Midway," with entertainment and vendors from 6 to 10 p.m. Renaissance President Christy Reaves said the news of the locomotive’s visit prompted the idea of Midway Heritage Day to revolve around the history and culture of Midway, Kentucky's first town created by a railroad.

Both nonprofits will have booths at the event, promoting rail tourism on both sides of the state. For more info about the Kentucky Railway Museum, visit www.kyrail.org. Further information on Midway Renaissance is at http://MidwayRenaissance.com.