Alabama Southern Railroad
Reporting marks	ABS
Locale	Columbus, Mississippi to Birmingham, Alabama
Years of operation	November 6, 2005 – Present
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm)
Headquarters	Pittsburg, Kansas

The Alabama Southern Railroad is one of several short line railroad companies owned by the Watco Companies. It operates 85 miles of track between Columbus, Mississippi and Birmingham, Alabama, with trackage rights over Kansas City Southern/CSX between Brookwood, Alabama and Birmingham, Alabama. The line interchanges with the Kansas City Southern at Columbus, MS. It also interchanges with the Norfolk Southern at Tuscaloosa, Alabama and with CSX at Birmingham, Alabama. This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... The following are reporting marks assigned by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) to rail carriers operating in North America and the companies (railroads and rail equipment owners/operators) to which they were assigned. ... Columbus is a city located in Lowndes County, Mississippi. ... Nickname: The Magic City, Pittsburgh of the South Location in Alabama Founded  -Incorporated 1871 1871  County Jefferson County Mayor Bernard Kincaid Area  - Total  - Water 393. ... Rail gauge is the distance between two rails of a railroad. ... A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a metre. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... Pittsburg is a city located in Crawford County, Kansas. ... A short line is an independent railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance. ... Columbus is a city located in Lowndes County, Mississippi. ... Nickname: The Magic City, Pittsburgh of the South Location in Alabama Founded  -Incorporated 1871 1871  County Jefferson County Mayor Bernard Kincaid Area  - Total  - Water 393. ... A union station or union terminal is a train station where tracks and facilities are shared by two or more railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently between them. ... Categories: Railway companies of the United States ... Categories: Companies traded on NYSE | Railway companies of the United States | Alabama railroads | Connecticut railroads | Delaware railroads | Florida current railroads | Georgia railroads | Illinois railroads | Indiana railroads | Kentucky railroads | Louisiana railroads | Maryland railroads | Massachusetts railroads | Michigan railroads | Mississippi railroads | New Jersey railroads | New York railroads | North Carolina railroads | Ohio railroads | Pennsylvania... Nickname: The Magic City, Pittsburgh of the South Location in Alabama Founded  -Incorporated 1871 1871  County Jefferson County Mayor Bernard Kincaid Area  - Total  - Water 393. ... Categories: Railway companies of the United States ... Norfolk Southern Corporation (AAR reporting mark NS) (NYSE: NSC) is a US publicly-traded stock corporation based in Norfolk, Virginia. ... Tuscaloosa is a city in west central Alabama, on the Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa County. ...

The tracks were leased to Watco Companies by the Kansas City Southern effective November 6, 2005, resulting in the formation of three railroads; the Arkansas Southern Railroad, Louisiana Southern Railroad, and the Alabama Southern Railroad. The Alabama Southern consists of the Kansas City Southern's Tuscaloosa Branch, which includes the Tuscaloosa Subdivision east of Columbus, Mississipi to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the Warrior Branch between Tuscaloosa and Fox, Alabama, and the Brookwood Branch from Brookwood Junction to Brookwood, Alabama. Tuscaloosa is a city in west central Alabama, on the Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa County. ... Brookwood is a town located in United States. ...

History

The entire line from Columbus, MS to Brookwood, AL was formerly operated by the Kansas City Southern with the Columbus and Greenville Railway (AAR reporting mark CAGY), having trackage rights over the line. Categories: Railway companies of the United States ... The Columbus and Greenville Railway (AAR reporting mark CAGY) was founded in 1975 to operate divested Illinois Central trackage across the state of Mississippi. ... Categories: Organization stubs | Rail transport | Industry trade groups ... The following are reporting marks assigned by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) to rail carriers operating in North America and the companies (railroads and rail equipment owners/operators) to which they were assigned. ...

The line was originally constructed by the Mobile and Ohio Railroad which was purchased through a foreclosure sale by the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad (GM&O) on August 1, 1940. The GM&O merged with the Illinois Central on August 10, 1972 resulting in the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio ( AAR reporting mark GMO) was a railroad carrier in the central United States, with its primary routes from Chicago to Mobile, Alabama and Kansas City, Missouri. ... August 1st is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Categories: Rail stubs | Defunct railroad companies of the United States | Defunct companies | Illinois railroads | Iowa railroads | Louisiana railroads | Missouri railroads | South Dakota railroads | Wisconsin railroads ... August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad (AAR designation ICG) was the result of the merger between the Illinois Central (IC) and the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio (GM&O) railroads. ...

On March 31, 1986, the MidSouth Rail Corp. (AAR reporting mark MSRC), purchased 373 miles of track, which included this line, from the Illinois Central Gulf. On January 1, 1994 the Kansas City Southern bought out Midsouth Rail. March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining, as the final day of March. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Categories: Organization stubs | Rail transport | Industry trade groups ... The following are reporting marks assigned by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) to rail carriers operating in North America and the companies (railroads and rail equipment owners/operators) to which they were assigned. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

Sources

• Press Release Announcing Alabama Southern Railroad July 20, 2005 [1]
• The Historical Guide to North American Railroads - 2nd ed., (Kalmbach Books, 2000) for info on the Class I mergers.
• 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.

See also

• List of United States railroads
• List of Alabama railroads

There are approximately 150,000 miles (240,000 km) of railroad track in the United States, nearly all standard gauge. ... Current common carriers Alabama and Florida Railway Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway Alabama Railroad Amtrak (AMTK) Bay Line Railway (BAYL) Birmingham Southern Railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) Conecuh Valley Railroad CSX Transportation (CSXT) Eastern Alabama Railway Georgia Southwestern Railroad Huntsville and Madison County Railroad Authority Jefferson Warrior Railroad...

External links

• Official Page
• Route Map