Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad

Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad
Reporting mark	ATN
Locale	Alabama
Dates of operation	1897–January 1, 1971
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)

The Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad (reporting mark ATN) was a short line railroad operating within the state of Alabama. It was founded in 1897 as the Carrollton Short Line Railway to link the city of Carrollton, Alabama with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad at Reform, Alabama. Through mergers, acquisitions and the building of track, the railroad eventually reached the port of Mobile, Alabama. In 1948, the railroad was purchased by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (the "Frisco"), who operated it as a separate entity until 1971, when it was absorbed into the parent company.

History

In 1897, the Mobile & Ohio Railroad chose to route through Pickens County, Alabama by way of Reform, Alabama — rather than the county seat of Carrollton — since the Reform route would be faster. Having failed in their appeal to the M&O, leading citizens of Carrollton set up a corporation to connect their city with the railroad; this was chartered by the State of Alabama as the Carrollton Short Line Railway in June 1897. John Taylor Cochrane, who had constructed the Tuscaloosa Belt Line, began building this new railroad.

References

• Drury, George H. (ed.) (2000). The Historical Guide to North American Railroads: 160 Lines Abandoned or Merged Since 1930. Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 0-89024-356-5. 
• Osborne, John. "Alabama, Tennessee & Northern Railroad". Railroad Yesterdays. Archived from the original on 2005-07-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20050717093549/http://www.demopolis.ws/Frisco_Lines/AT&N.htm. Retrieved 2005-12-30. 
• Lutzenberger, Mike. "Alabama, Tennessee & Northern Railroad Company History". Frisco Railroad Library. http://www.frisco.org/vb/showthread.php?t=1181. Retrieved 2007-09-29.