I bet you didn’t even know that there was a Cincinnati subway system. In fact, I’d wager that most people in Cinci don’t know that there’s a subway system under their feet. Construction began on the 16-mile system in 1920. When work stopped in 1925, several miles of tunnels had been dug, and six stations had been built. In addition, there were several miles of surface line that were graded. No part of the system was ever brought into operation, though. No track was ever installed, and no cars were ever ordered.

There have been several attempts to bring the system online, but Cincinnatians, being the fine, red-blooded Americans they are, generally suspect that public transportation is an insidious communist plot, and have crushed these efforts like so many squirrels beneath their SUVs. If you’ve not spent much time in Cinci, consider this: Jerry Springer was once their mayor. Now consider this: he was one of their more distinguished political leaders. A more typical recent product is ethically challenged turd Bob Taft. Or Skeletor-impersonating second district congresswoman Jean Schmidt. But I digress.

There are two great sites with more information about the Cinci subway system. There’s an Infiltration-style site with beautiful pictures: IllicitOhio.com. Excepting for repeated misspellings of Cincinnati (e.g. ‘Cincinnatti’), it’s very well done.

And then there’s a Cincinnati-Transit.net, which covers the issue with admirable historical depth.

So what does this have to do with bluegrass? Ummm…. Cincinnati is a city on the Ohio river, which borders the State of Kentucky. Kentucky is known as the “Bluegrass State”. So there you go, I guess.