Tracking the memories of a Yale Railroad Man

With his gasoline lantern in hand, Bud Hunt stands along the railroad tracks in front of his home just east of Salt Lick, in Midland, Ky and remembers the days he spent working for the Licking River Railroad.

When most of us look out over Cave Run Lake today, we see a place to enjoy boating, fishing or swimming, but at one time there was a small community known as Yale that existed below the water.

We will have a feature story on the history of Yale in a future edition of Around Town.

This week the subject of our story is the late Samuel Rudolph Hunt, who lived, worked and reared a family in a small village that still exist in the minds of those who once lived there.

Born Nov. 9, 1882, to Joseph Gill Hunt and Mary Ethel Williams Hunt, Samuel married Julie Mynhier and their children were Roxie, Mason, Calvin and Allie.

Some of his grandchildren’s fondest memories are the stories told to them by their grandfather.

His grandsons, Jerry,Tom, Steven and Jeffery along with his granddaughter, Debbie Hunt Cochran shared some of their favorite stories.

“Our Grandfather loved trains. Not many knew him by his given name, everyone that knew him called him Bud or uncle Bud, and his grandchildren affectionately referred to him as Poppie.

He lived at Yale and raised a tobacco crop each year on his farm. He also raised and sold watermelons. I think he sold them for about 50 cents each.

When Poppie was a young man, he worked for the Licking River Railroad, which hauled lumber from Yale to Salt Lick. He did several different jobs for the railroad. One of his jobs was brakeman. He would have to walk the length of the top of the train cars, climb down and set the brake, then climb up the end of the next car, etc. He was working as brakeman one day when the train was going down a hill and something happened that caused a "runaway train" situation. He had to run the tops of the train cars and set the brakes as quickly as possible to prevent a train wreck at the bottom of the hill.

The engineer was laughing because he scared Grandpa half to death!

Jeffrey said, “the situation was, according to Poppie, the engineer kept pouring the steam to the train going downhill. At the bottom of the downhill grade there was a curve, then an uphill grade. As the train went down the hill, Poppie realized the engineer wasn't slowing down so he started setting the brakes on the rail cars. After Poppie got the brakes set, he jumped from the train! The train slowed enough to make the turn without wrecking and drug to a stop on the uphill climb. After picking himself up and dusting himself off, Poppie caught up with the train, climbed back on the cars, loosened the brakes, and they proceeded to complete their run to Salt Lick. Poppie said before all that happened he could pinch with his toes nearly as hard as he could with his fingers. He said when he hit the ground, it knocked the pinch out of him.

Another story was when a drunk shot up the train. The sheriff took him away and the Judge left it up to Grandpa as to what to do with him. Grandpa told the judge that he was a pretty good fellow and he was sure he wouldn't do it again. The old guy told me himself back in the late sixties, "Bud Hunt didn't have to do that, but I'm glad he did".

There was a time when the railroad company wanted Poppie to move to New York to work for them. "Poppie also worked in the engine house. He was a mechanic, and he worked on the steam engines. As a result, he would always have a great love for railroads. When the LRR took up their tracks and were returning to New York, they asked Poppie to go with them, as he was the best mechanic they had. Poppie, always a homebody, couldn't bear the thought of leaving the only home he'd ever known, which was the area of Buck Creek and Yale. He turned down their offer and stayed at home, making his living from farming and logging. He also made and transported cross ties to Salt Lick for use in railroad construction."

Poppie was injured as a young man when he was working for the railroad. He was working between two of the railroad cars when a coupling flew loose and hit him in the ribs, resulting in a couple of broken ribs. The doctor who attended him bound his ribs so tightly that after they healed, he always walked stooped over, Debbie recalled.

Steve Hunt went on to add, “I remember once when a railroad rail broke in front of Poppies house. He was out there, probably with that same lantern flagging down big diesel locomotives. They were slowing down too! They were taking it serious.He was out there when they came to change the rail. Watching every move.”

Jeffrey said, “another story poppie used to tell me was, there were several people wanting to go to Blackwater one day. Sometimes if there were enough passengers they would hook to a passenger car and make a special trip to take them where they wanted to go. So this particular day after everyone paid enough money to make the run to Blackwater they set out for Morgan County. Upon arriving there the sheriff or town Marshall, or whoever, came out and informed poppie and the engineer that Mr. Hubbard, The owner of the railroad, had not paid his property taxes in Morgan County for the last year and therefore would hold the train until the taxes were paid. They had no money on the train so they were going to be forced to spend the night on the train. The sheriff brought a chain and a lock and wrapped the chain through the wheel and around the rail. Well, as darkness fell, Poppie was getting pretty anxious because he didn't want to spend the night away from home. As everyone in the community was going to bed the engineer told Poppie to fill the firebox and keep the fire hot. After it was dark and everyone had made their way back to the train, Poppie said the engineer slowly opened the valve and rocked the train forward tightening the chain in the wheel.The engineer looked at poppie and said, Bud, are you ready to go home? Poppie said before he could respond, the engineer yanked the throttle wide open in reverse, snapped the chain, and headed back down the tracks toward Yale, wide open in reverse, blowing the whistle all the way home! The next day Mr. Hubbard sent money by someone to pay the taxes in Morgan County, and all was forgiven”.

Poppie passed away on Nov. 2, 1973, but his his memories of a gentle, kind and caring man who loved trains will live on forever in the hearts of his family.

The next time you visit Cave Run Lake, stop for a minute as you look over the water, and maybe, just maybe, the echoes of an old train whistle can be heard in the wind as a reminder that the community of Yale once was a striving town in that very location.