Pine Belt Southern Railroad
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The Pine Belt Southern Railroad was a
shortline railroad A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the former, railroads are ...
formerly operating on two disconnected track segments in east central Alabama. Upon its start in 1995 the railroad ran over a branch from Nuckols to
Hurtsboro, Alabama Hurtsboro is a town in Russell County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 553, down from 592 in 2000. It was founded in 1857 as Hurtsville and named for Joel Hurt, Sr. (whose son, Joel Hurt, was an important developer ...
. In 1996 a second branch was acquired, extending from Roanoke, Jct., near
Opelika Opelika (pronounced ) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of Opelika is ...
, to
Lafayette, Alabama LaFayette ( , ) is the county seat of Chambers County, Alabama, United States, northwest of Columbus, Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 3,003. History Chambers County was formed in 1832. The newly elected county ...
. Together the lines totaled and the railroad was controlled by Richard Abernathy. Both track segments were abandoned beginning with the Hurtsboro segment in 2002 and the Lafayette line in 2003.


History


Between Nuckols and Hurtsboro

The twenty-five miles of track operated by PBRR in Russell,
Bullock Bullock may refer to: Animals * Bullock (in British English), a castrated male cattle, bovine animal of any age * Bullock (in American English), a young bull (an uncastrated male bovine animal) * Bullock (in Australia, India and New Zealand), an o ...
, and Macon Counties was constructed as part of the Mobile & Girard Railroad in the mid-19th century. In 1850, Alabama was granted a right of way across US government lands from
Girard, Alabama Girard, Alabama was a city in the far north-east corner of Russell County, Alabama across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus, Georgia. History Named after Philadelphia-based banker Stephen Girard, who had purchased much of the Muscogee ter ...
(across the
Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...
from
Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...
) to
Mobile Bay Mobile Bay ( ) is a shallow inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. T ...
. By the outbreak of 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 ...
, the line had been completed from Girard to Union Springs. The line was completed to
Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
in 1870 and later as far as
Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
.
Docket No. AB 601 Pine Belt Southern Railroad Company, Inc.; Abandonment; Between Nuckols and Hurtsboro in Russell, Bullock, and Macon Counties, Alabama; Notice of Exemption; Dated May 1, 2002
In 1879, the
Central of Georgia Railroad The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was constr ...
expanded into Alabama with the purchase of the Montgomery & Eufaula Railroad. Several Alabama shortlines were thereafter acquired, including the M&G. The Central of Georgia became part of the Southern Railway in 1963; Southern and
Norfolk & Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...
merged for form
Norfolk Southern 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 ...
in 1982. NS gradually abandoned the former M&G line. First from Andalusia to Goshen in 1986, and then from Troy to Hurtsboro in 1988. PBRR purchased the remaining line from the NS interchange at Nuckols ( Milepost S-304.00) to Hurtsboro (Milepost S-329.00) on July 27, 1995. Traffic on the line was 95% sand (US Silica Company west of downtown Hurtsboro), 4% logs, and 1% inbound finished lumber. After the sand distributor that accounted for the overwhelming majority of traffic on the line lost its key rail supplied customer, the line was found to no longer be economically viable. The last train operated over the line in 2000. On May 1, 2002, PBRR filed a Notice of Exemption with the
Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is an independent federal agency that serves as an adjudicatory board. The board was created in 1996 following the abolition of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and absorbed regula ...
for abandonment of the line. Though the Macon County Commission was granted a public use condition by the STB to explore acquisition of the right of way for public use, the line officially abandoned on June 1, 2003. The ties and rails were removed though the roadbed remains.


Between Roanoke Junction and LaFayette

The PBRR also operated a 17.4 mile long branch line from Roanoke Junction (milepost T-322.40) near
Opelika Opelika (pronounced ) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of Opelika is ...
to LaFayette (milepost T-339.66). The line was a portion of the East Alabama Railway which operated in the late 19th century. The East Alabama Railway was later bought by the
Central of Georgia Railroad The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was constr ...
subsequent to 1895. The route from Opelika to
Roanoke Roanoke may refer to: Places *Roanoke Colony, a former English colony that mysteriously disappeared *Roanoke Island, the location of the Roanoke colony in present-day North Carolina *Roanoke River, flowing through Virginia and North Carolina and ...
was known as the “Johnney Ray Train” and the “Roanoke Rocket”. The northern portion of the line from LaFayette to Roanoke was abandoned in 1982. Central of Georgia corporate successor Norfolk Southern sold the line to PBRR on August 9, 1995. One customer shipping pulp wood and wood chips was served by the branch line at the time of the sale. The PBRR branch had interchange agreements with both CSX and Norfolk Southern. PBRR also had
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 CSX from downtown Opelika (interchange with NS) to Roanoke Junction northeast of Opelika. The line serviced the East Alabama Lumber company and the Langly Wood Yard in LaFayette. The tracks ended at 2nd Avenue North in LaFayette.
Docket AB_601_1_X; Pine Belt Southern Railroad Company, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--In Lee And Chambers Counties, Al; Letter; Filed on 01/12/2004; Filed for Pine Belt Southern Railroad Company Inc.
In 2001, East Alabama Lumber filed for bankruptcy and sold to a company that was a user of trucks for transportation and elected not to continue to use rail to serve the East Alabama Lumber facility. Additionally, Langly Wood Yard switched to truck to supply pulp wood to the
paper mills A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...
. A group of local governments consisting of Lee County,
Chambers County Chambers County is the name of two counties in the United States: * Chambers County, Alabama * Chambers County, Texas Chambers County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 46,571. The county seat is ...
, and the City of LaFayette, led by the City of Opelika intervened in the STB hearings in an attempt to establish a
Rails to Trails A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corridor with active railways, ligh ...
multi-use path to be known as the Johnny Ray Trail. Despite the intervention before the STB, the efforts failed and the line was formally abandoned in 2004 after not operating since 2001.
Service Date - July 16, 2004; Surface Transportation Board Decision STB Docket No. Ab-601 (Sub No. 1x); Pine Belt Southern Railroad Company, Inc.–Abandonment Exemption– In Lee And Chambers Counties, Al; Decided: July 15, 2004


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pine Belt Southern Railroad Defunct Alabama railroads