The Alabama Great Southern Railroad is a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

s of

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. It is an

operating subsidiary An operating subsidiary is a subsidiary of a corporation through which the parent company (which may or may not be a holding company) indirectly conducts some portion of its business. Usually, an operating subsidiary can be distinguished in that ...

of the

Norfolk Southern Corporation The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

(NS), running southwest from

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

(where it connects with the similarly owned

Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway The Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (abbreviated: CNO&TP; ) is a railroad that owns the Cincinnati Southern Railway from Cincinnati, Ohio, south to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and leases it to the Norfolk Southern Railway system. T ...

) to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

through

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and Meridian. The AGS also owns about a 30% interest in the

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, Trade name, doing business as CPKC (known as Canadian Pacific Railway Limited until 2023), is a Canadian railway holding company. Through its primary operating railroad subsidiaries, Canadian Pacific Railw ...

-controlled Meridian-

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

Meridian Speedway. In 1970 AGS reported 3854 million net ton-miles (5627 million net tonne-kilometers) of revenue freight and ; at the end of that year it operated of road and of track. (Those totals do not include Class II subsidiary Louisiana Southern.)

History

The AGS's oldest predecessor was the Wills Valley Railroad, chartered by the

Alabama Legislature The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the House of Representatives and Senate. It is one of the few state legislatures in which members of both cham ...

in February 1852 to extend from a point on the

Alabama and Tennessee River Railroad Alabama and Tennessee River Rail Road Company was incorporated under act of Alabama on March 4, 1848.Interstate Commerce Commission. ''Southern Ry. Co.'', Volume 37, Interstate Commerce Commission Valuation Reports, November 6, 1931, p. 213. Wash ...

northeast to the

state line. In January and February 1854, respectively, the Georgia and

legislatures authorized the company to continue its road to a point on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. The North East and South West Alabama Railroad was chartered in Alabama in December 1853 and

in February 1854, to extend from Meridian through Livingston, Eutaw,

Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

, and Elyton (

) in the direction of

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later Trucking industry in the United States, truc ...

, 37 Val. Rep. 1 (1931): Valuation Docket No. 974, The Alabama Great Southern Railroad Company et al.Thomas McAdory Owen
History of Alabama, Volume I (1921)
Alabama Great Southern Railroad Company, pp. 24-28 Both companies received

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

s through a June 1856 federal law, assigned by Alabama in January 1858 to the North East and South West from Mississippi to near Gadsden and to the Wills Valley from near Gadsden to Georgia. The two companies began construction from their termini outside Alabama. The Wills Valley opened the line from the Nashville and Chattanooga at Wauhatchie, Tennessee to

Trenton, Georgia Trenton () is a city and the only incorporated municipality in Dade County, Georgia, United States—and as such, it serves as the county seat. The population was 2,195 at the 2020 census. Trenton is part of the Chattanooga, Tennessee–GA Me ...

by December 1860, operating to Chattanooga via

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may c ...

over the Nashville and Chattanooga. The North East and South West began its line at Meridian, reaching a connection with the Alabama and Mississippi Rivers Railroad (later the Selma and Meridian Railroad) at

York, Alabama York is a city in Sumter County, Alabama, United States. Founded around 1838 after the merging of two communities, Old Anvil and New York Station, the latter a station on a stagecoach line. The rail came through in the 1850s and later, the "Ne ...

by 1860, and was leased to the latter company. Poor's Manual of Railroads
1868-69
p. 398 A group of Boston capitalists headed by John C. Stanton gained control of the companies after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, and the legislature passed a law in November 1868 to merge the two as the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad. (Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi renamed their portions in March 1869, February 1870, and May 1871, respectively.) The entire line was completed in May 1871, creating a diagonal link across Alabama. However, due to nonpayment of interest on state bonds, the state of Alabama seized the property in mid-1871, and it was operated by other parties (including the president of the connecting

New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad The New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad was a Class I railroad in Louisiana and Mississippi in the United States. The railroad operated of road from its completion in 1883 until it was absorbed by the Alabama Great Southern Railroad subsidia ...

) until November 1877, when it was reorganized as the Alabama Great Southern Railroad by Emile Erlanger and Company. Erlanger set up an English corporation, Alabama Great Southern Railway Company, Limited, to own the stock of the AGS. In 1881, this company gained control of the

, which continued north from Chattanooga to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. A second English corporation, Alabama, New Orleans, Texas and Pacific Junction Railways Company, Limited, was created in 1881 to increase the funds available to purchase associated lines. It bought the Alabama Great Southern Railway Company,

, Vicksburg and Meridian Railway, and Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad, but in 1890 control of the AGS was sold to the

East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railway The East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad (ETV&G) was a rail transport system that operated in the southeastern United States during the late 19th century. Created with the consolidation of the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad and th ...

and

Richmond and Danville Railroad The Richmond and Danville Railroad (R&D) Company was a railroad that operated independently from 1847 until 1894, first in the U.S. state of Virginia, and later on of track in nine states. Chartered on March 9, 1847, the railroad completed its ...

, which both became part of the Southern Railway later that decade. In April 1892, the AGS acquired the Gadsden and Attalla Railroad, a branch from Attalla to Gadsden, but in 1905 the AGS sold it to the Southern, retaining

. The AGS bought a half interest in the Woodstock and Blocton Railway from the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of ...

in July 1909, giving it access to

West Blocton West Blocton is a town in Bibb County, Alabama, Bibb County, Alabama, United States. The population was 1,217 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History It was built on land once owned by Uriah Smith, near the company town Blocton, ...

. The AGS incorporated the Wauhatchie Extension Railway in April 1914 to continue the line from Wauhatchie to a junction with the Southern subsidiary Memphis-Chattanooga Railway west of

Lookout Mountain Lookout Mountain is a mountain ridge at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southeastern Tennessee state line in Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain was the scene of the 18th-century "La ...

. The property became part of the AGS in February 1917 and was completed later that year, giving the AGS a new route into Chattanooga, via the extension,

over the Memphis-Chattanooga, and a lease of the Belt Railway of Chattanooga. By the summer of 1954, the AGS retired all of their steam locomotives. In January 1969, at the same time as the Southern gained total control over the AGS, it merged the

into the AGS. The AGS absorbed the Chattanooga Terminal Railway,

Louisiana Southern Railway The Louisiana Southern Railway Company (LS) was a railroad in southern Louisiana, chartered in 1897 as successor to several short lines which had operated along the Mississippi River, including Mississippi, Terre aux Boeuf, and Lake; New Orleans ...

, and New Orleans Terminal Company in August 1993.

Passenger trains

Southern Railway trains ran over the territory of the AGS. The '' Queen and Crescent'' ran on its territory until its termination in 1949. The ''

Birmingham Special The ''Birmingham Special'' was a passenger train operated by the Southern Railway, Norfolk and Western Railway, and Pennsylvania Railroad in the southeastern United States. The train began service in 1909 and continued, with alterations, after ...

'' ran on the AGS' Chattanooga to Birmingham segment until its discontinuance in 1970. The ''

Pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

'' also ran on its entire length, lasting to 1970. The '' Southerner'' ran on its territory southwest of Birmingham until its termination in 1970.Southern Railway timetable, October 30, 1966, Tables B, G, H http://streamlinermemories.info/South/SRR66-10TT.pdf Today,

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's ''

Crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hindu iconography, Hind ...

'' operates on its territory southwest of Birmingham.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alabama Great Southern Railroad Former Class I railroads in the United States Alabama railroads Georgia (U.S. state) railroads Louisiana railroads Mississippi railroads Tennessee railroads Predecessors of the Southern Railway (U.S.) Railway companies established in 1877 Rail lines receiving land grants 5 ft gauge railways in the United States American companies established in 1877