The Conecuh Valley Railway, L.L.C. connects with the CSX at

Troy, Alabama Troy is a city in and the county seat of Pike County, Alabama, United States. It was formally incorporated on February 4, 1843. Between 1763 and 1783, the area where Troy sits was part of the colony of British West Florida.The Economy of Bri ...

, and travels to Goshen, Alabama. This short line railroad was created after 2001 from the former Southern Alabama Railroad and is currently owned and operated by

Genesee & Wyoming Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom and formerly Australia. It operates ...

. Commodities include poultry feed, plastics, vegetable oil, assorted food products, and railcar storage, generating approximately 3,000 annual carloads. In April 2011, the Conecuh Valley Railway was named as one of the three railroads to be purchased by

RailAmerica RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it ...

from Gulf and Ohio for $12.7 million. In 2012, RailAmerica was purchased by Genesee and Wyoming.

History

Originally constructed by the Mobile and Girard Railroad (later Central of Georgia) from Columbus to Searight between 1870 - 1891, the line eventually connected with 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 t ...

Andalusia, Alabama Andalusia is a city in and the county seat of Covington County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 8,805. History Andalusia was first settled in 1841 after flooding of the Conecuh River and the surrounding lowlands ...

. The Central of Georgia became part of the Southern Railway in 1963, and the Southern Railway became part of 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 (3 ...

in 1990. The remainder of the original Mobile and Girard railroad was sold by the Southern Railway to the Southern Alabama Railroad on October 31, 1988, and was under the control of the Abernathy Group. The line was later sold by the Southern Alabama Railroad to Conecuh Valley Railroad ( Gulf & Ohio Railways) on October 22, 2001. The previous owner, the Southern Alabama Railroad, allowed the line outside of Troy to Goshen to deteriorate to the point that the line was no longer usable. In 2002 it was rehabilitated with funds obtained from the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

as well as the state in order to restore service to peanut producers in Goshen.

Locomotives

External links

Conecuh Valley Railway official webpage - Genesee and Wyoming website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conecuh Valley Railroad Alabama railroads Gulf and Ohio Railways