NS CofG Alabama Division Main

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Yesterday I was up in Inverness on business and ran over to Leeds for a look at the ongoing work on the trestle. Nothing new, but, I found something I hadn't seen before. Some of you NS guys might can help with this. I found an old roadbed of a spur that branched off of the CofG main just a few feet East of the East end of the trestle. It went steeply down the hill between the main and Hwy. 25 and then crossed Hwy. 25 at a sharp angle. In fact, there are rails just a few feet off of the pavement that looks to be paved over now as it runs up to the side of the road. The roadbed then turned slightly and paralleled Hwy. 25 up to the now closed brick building several yards up from where the crossing was. There is still a "Danger, Close Clearance" sign on the chain link fence in fact. What business was this and when was the spur abandoned? Also, there was a spur that ran right up under the far East end of the CofG trestle perpendicular to the CofG main above on the trestle. This line I assume was worked by the Southern. It looks like it probably worked the Oil Company that's very close to the intersection of Hwy. 25 and Hwy. 78. Did it also work any other businesses? Dale E. Burns Webmaster, Dale's Alabama Rail Pic's http://StagmiesALRailpics.homestead.com/Home.html Owner/Moderator of ALrails Yahoo! Group Post Message: alrails@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: alrails-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: alrails-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com List Owner: alrails-owner@yahoogroups.com MP 362.2 NS CofG Alabama Division Main Yahoo! Messenger ID: Stagmie

-- Dale E. Burns (burns186@bellsouth.net), February 26, 2003

Answers

The branch line you're speaking of left the mainline on the tunnel side of the Highway 78 bridge and crossed Highway 25 to serve an industry located on Highway 25 near the 423.5 signal. Today it's a metal fabrication plant. The line reversed and allowed C of G to work the cement plant and the old steel plant located on Highway 78 by crossing back under the original bridge. The tracks are still there and visiblle since NS cleared the right of way to build the new bridge.

-- Jerry Voyles (jerryvoyles@yahoo.com), February 15, 2005.

The following from the railroad's annual report ending December 31, 1926. "Revision of grades and change of alignment on the Birmingham District, between Columbus, Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama mentioned in previous reports, has been completed. Work was commenced in May, 1924, and new line finished for complete operations on September 22, 1926. The construction limits were between Phenix City, Alabama, and just west of Sterrett, Alabama, a distance of 122.75 miles. Also a fill-out yard was constructed at Dunnavant, (Winburn), Alabama.

The work consisted of the construction of 56.26 miles of main line on new location and 26.76 miles of main line raised or lowered on old location. The improvements reduced the maximum gradient eastbound from one and one-quarter per cent to one-half of one per cent and reduced the distance four and eight-tenths miles. The change also eliminated eighty-nine curves, a total of 3,538 degrees of curvature; 1,044 feet of rise and fall; forty highway crossings; two railroad grade crossings, and 3,300 feet of pile frame trestles.

Three reinforced concrete overhead structures were erected; a viaduct 545 feet in length over the Southern Railway at Childersburg, Alabama, an overhead bridge 117 feet in length over the A. B. & A. Ry., at Arkright, Alabama and an overhead bridge eighty-two feet in lenght carring a highway near Alexander City, Alabama. Seventeen creosoted highway bridges were erected, totaling 1,692 feet; five reinforced concrete underpasses totaling, 320 feet and seven steel plate girder span bridges on concrete piers, totaling 2,770 feet, over Little Sandy Creek, Big Sandy Creek, Chattasofkee Creek, Tallapoosa River, Hatchett Creek, Shirtee Creek, and an underpass near Jackson's Gap, Alabama. There was a net increase of 13.41 miles in the passing and side track mileage due to the change."

-- Steve Riley (jriley1002@aol.com), February 26, 2003.


The Bham-Cols line upgrade was 1924-25, according to info I have - possibly some bridges were done a few years later, though.

-- Larry Goolsby (lgoolsby@aphsa.org), February 26, 2003.

Dale,

Don't know what the siding was, but wasn't there an upgrade of the whole C'bus - B'ham line sometime about this time frame? Don't have the date in front of me, but I am thinking about the upgrade when all the bridges were converted to reinforced concrete with those distinctive flares at the top. Old 280 overpass at Smiths Station, Viaduct at Childersburg over SR, AB&C trestle... I think these were all rebuilt during the same upgrade.

CofGa probably upgraded that Hwy 78 overpass, too. I don't remember if the approaches are flared reinforced concrete at Hwy 78, but if so it would indicate some of the work was done then.

Ron. Wright

-- Ron. Wright (ron@cofg.org), February 26, 2003.


Sorry about this, by my above question brought up another one in my feeble mind that I forgot about.

The CofG trestle in Leeds that is fixin' to be rebuilt with steel has a plate on the only metal part of the bridge with the build date of 1928. This is on the truss over US Hwy. 78 that runs perpendicular under the trestle. My question here, is 1928 the build date of the metal truss or of the whole trestle? I tend to believe that the former is true. I theorize that US Hwy. 78 wasn't as wide when the trestle was built as it is now. As Hwy. 78 got more traffic with bigger vehicles and trucks, I figure that the opening through the trestle had to be widened and heightened. This probably happened in 1928. I believe that's what also happened with the concrete trestle in Childersburg over Hwy. 76. If I'm not mistaken, there was at least one concrete support taken out to allow a widened Hwy. 76 to pass through. I do not know the date here.

-- Dale E. Burns (burns186@bellsouth.net), February 26, 2003.



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