The Lebanon Branch had several trains traveling on it such as Lebanon's local trains Nos. 21 (southbound) and 22 (northbound), along with the mail and express train, the "Flamingo", and freight trains. The line stayed this way until passenger service ended in the 1950s. After this, freight trains occupied the line with coal trains from the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Kentucky. The line continued under this operation until the 1980s, when the Lebanon Branch and the rest of the L&N system came under control of the Seaboard System Railroad. The L&N and Seaboard merged, and later, Seaboard and the Chessie System merged to create CSX. With multiple branch lines through the area, the decision was made that the Lebanon Branch was to be abandoned and taken up.