The Alabama Southern Railroad is a

class III railroad In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...

that operates in the southern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The ABS is one of several short line railroads owned by

Watco Watco Companies, L.L.C. (Watco) is a transportation company based in Pittsburg, Kansas, formed in 1983 by Charles R. Webb. Watco was composed of four divisions: transportation, mechanical, terminal and port services, and compliance. Watco is th ...

. The railroad operates an line leased from the

Kansas City Southern Railway The Kansas City Southern Railway Company is an American Class I railroad. Founded in 1887, it operates in 10 midwestern and southeastern U.S. states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and ...

(KCSR). It began operating in 2005.

History

The railroad began operating on November 20, 2005 on lines leased from the Kansas City Southern Railway. The line was originally constructed by the Mobile & Ohio Railroad which was purchased through a

foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

sale by the

Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illinois. From its two pa ...

(GM&O) on August 1, 1940. The GM&O merged with the

Illinois Central The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...

on August 10, 1972, resulting in the

Illinois Central Gulf Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A ...

. On March 31, 1986, MidSouth Rail purchased of track, which included this line, from the Illinois Central Gulf. On January 1, 1994, the Kansas City Southern bought out Midsouth Rail.

Lines

The Alabama Southern's line is composed of three Kansas City Southern branch lines totaling : *The Tuscaloosa Subdivision (Columbus–Tuscaloosa) *The Warrior Branch (Tuscaloosa– Fox, Alabama) *The Brookwood Branch (

Brookwood, Alabama Brookwood is a city in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, United States. It incorporated in September 1977. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town is 2,504 . History 2001 Mine Disaster On September 23, 2001, two separate explosions occurr ...

–Brookwood Junction). The line runs between Columbus and Brookwood, with trackage rights over the Kansas City Southern from Columbus to

Artesia, Mississippi Artesia is a town in Lowndes County, Mississippi. The population was 440 at the 2010 census. History Artesia was originally ''Artesia Junction'', a junction point on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. During the railroad's construction in the 1850s, a ...

. The railroad interchanges with the KCSR at Artesia,

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

in Brookwood, and the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

in Tuscaloosa.

References

Notes

Alabama Southern Rail Map

Trains.com
Information on MidSouth Rail * SPV's Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America – Southern States by Mike Walker (Steam Powered Publishing & SPV, 2001) Ownership and detail of rail line.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alabama Southern Railroad 2005 establishments in Alabama Alabama railroads Mississippi railroads Railway companies established in 2005 Spin-offs of the Kansas City Southern Railway Watco

History

Lines

See also

References

Notes

External links