Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway
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| Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway | |
|---|---|
  Alabama & Gulf Coast SD40-2 #4058 leads a train. |
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| Reporting mark | AGR |
| Locale | Mississippi, Alabama, Florida Panhandle |
| Dates of operation | September 22, 1997–Present |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 81⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Length | 425 mi (684 km) |
| Headquarters | Monroeville, Alabama |
The Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway (reporting mark AGR) is one of several Class III short-line railroad companies owned by RailAmerica, Inc. It currently operates more than 425 miles (684 km) of trackage from its rail yard at Pensacola, Florida and north across much of south central and western Alabama into its northwestern terminus of Amory, Mississippi, using trackage rights over the BNSF Railway between Columbus, Mississippi and Amory, Mississippi. The railroad also has a branch to Mobile, Alabama using trackage rights along the Norfolk Southern line from Kimbrough, Alabama.
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[edit] Overview
[1]The Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway LLC (AGR) is headquatered in Monroeville, Alabama and is owned by RailAmerica Inc. of Jacksonville, Florida. The AGR begain operations on September 22, 1997 from Pensacola, Florida to Kimbrough, Alabama after its parent company StatesRail purchased the line from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. On September 11, 1998 the AGR extended their operations to Columbus, Mississippi with the purchase of additional trackage and with trackage rights to Amory, Mississippi from the BNSF. The AGR also purchased trackage from BNSF in and around Mobile, Alabama to the end of the line at then M&T chemicals north of Axis, Alabama. This also required the AGR to file for trackage rights over Norfolk Southern from Kimbrough, Alabama to Mobile, Alabama. The AGR operates approximatly 412 miles of mainline trackage and operates a fleet of 23 locomotives and several hundred freight cars (mostly boxcars and some woodchip hoppers) along with two ex BN cabooses used as shoving platforms. The AGR's main engine shop and fuel pit is located at Fountain, Alabama ; the AGR also operates eight yards to include Pensacola and Cantonment, Florida (located within the International Paper mill complex), Fountain, Mobile, Magnolia, Demopolis, and Aliceville, Alabama and Columbus, Mississippi. The top track speed in 40 mph, but normally averages below 30 mph due to track conditions. The AGR currently carries over 60,000 carloads annually consisting of primarly pulp, paper, lumber, woodchips, chemicals, aggregates, steel/iron, scrap metal, and cottonseed. The AGR offers a variety of places to railfan and the crews are quite friendly (but please always respect the property and do not interfere with operations). The AGR/CSXT overpass in Atmore, Alabama is one of the most significant places for railfans to see along the AGR. Other places include areas in and around the wide open fields of Walnut Hill, Florida, Huxford, Alabama, and Frisco City, Alabama (especially in the late summer and fall during cotton picking season). Also railfans find the shops at Fountain and yard at Magnolia to be of intrest (again please be respectful). Areas around the yard a Mobile should be avoided due to security concerns with the local authorities.
[edit] Connections
- Alabama Southern Railroad at Columbus, Mississippi
- BNSF Railway at Amory, Mississippi
- Canadian National Railway at Mobile, Alabama
- Columbus and Greenville Railway at Columbus, Mississippi
- CSX Transportation at Mobile, Alabama, Linden, Alabama and Cantonment, Florida
- Golden Triangle Railroad at Columbus, Mississippi
- Kansas City Southern Railway at Columbus, Mississippi
- M&B Railroad at Linden, Alabama
- Norfolk Southern Railway at Mobile, Alabama, Kimbrough, Alabama, Demopolis, Alabama and Boligee, Alabama
- Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks at Mobile, Alabama
[edit] History
The Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway (AGR) can date it history back to before the civil war with the vast importance of the deep water ports at Pensacola, Florida. Several railroads operated in and around the port that was used for the export of cotton and naval stores. After the civil war the Pensacola and Mobile Railroad and Manufacturing Company opened a line in 1870 from a connection with the Florida and Alabama Railroad at Cantonment, Florida to mill and logging areas five miles west to Muscogee, FL (near present day Cantonment). In 1874, the Pensacola and Perdido Railroad was formed operating five miles from the yards and ports at Pensacola to the mill town of Millview located on the Perdido River. The railroad owned five locomotives, seventy five freight cars and one passenger car. In 1892, the Pensacola and Perdido Railroad combined with the Pensacola, Alabama and Tennessee Railroad and extended its line from Millview to the Muscogee Lumber mill at Muscogee, Florida. The railroad was later renamed Gulf Port Terminal Railway.
The Pensacola and Mobile Railroad (Muscogee Lumber Company) was the railroad of the Pensacola and Mobile Railroad and Manufacturing Company. The railroad operated a 19 mile 4’ 8 ½” gauge logging railroad with one locomotive from the connection at Cantonment to the Muscogee Lumber mill and surrounding area. By 1907, Muscogee Lumber had become Southern States Lumber who had extended the track some 68 miles from its mill to logging camps in southern Alabama near Local (present day Huxford). The primary commodity on the line was large virgin hardwood, pine and cypress logs. By 1910, the railroad had taken control of the Pensacola and Mobile Railroad and extended its track to some eighty eight miles. It owned seven locomotives and its large mill at Muscogee had a maximum annual capacity of around 150,000 board feet.
On February 06, 1911, the line was purchased by the Gulf, Florida, and Alabama Railway Company, also known as “The Deep Water Route”. The president of the Gulf, Florida and Alabama Railway (GF&A) was Mr. Roy C. Megargal. In the railroads interest to expand its markets of prime timber to other parts of the world it began a rail extension to the deep water port of Pensacola. This extension from Cantonment to the Port of Pensacola was completed on January 01, 1913. In that same year the GF&A also completed the line extending deeper into the backwoods of Alabama to a logging camp at Broughton, Alabama (present day Mexia). Sometime during late 1913 or early 1914, the GF&A began an even north extension to the Southern Railway interchange at Kimbrough, Alabama. This section of the railroad was built to very low standard. The section between Broughton and Hybart, Alabama has several seven and eight degree curves, some being back to back with .8% grades. There is also a short 1.24% northbound and 1.06% southbound grade north of Barrineau Park, Florida. On April 14, 1914, the US Secretary of War authorized the construction of a 584 foot steel swing span; the center section was 292 feet and weighed a massive 870,000 pounds, over the Alabama River south of Kimbrough, Alabama. The bridge had a 2,814 foot wooden north approach span. The bridge was so precisely built that if a man was to stand on one end while it was open it would not close properly. The bridge was completed in 1915 by the American Bridge Company and still is operational to this day. The bridge is always lined to the railroad and opened when called by boats that require the necessary clearance. Initially, the bridge was always manned by a dedicated bridge tender. The Pensacola to Kimbrough line was completed in late 1915.
Many small stations and towns began to spring up around the railroad, most of which were vital to providing timber for the use in lumber and naval stores. Agricultural products such as cotton and vegetables were also early exports. These small stations and towns included Pensacola, Goulding, Muscogee, Barrineau Park, and Walnut Hill in Florida; also as was Atmore, McCullough, Local (Huxford), Megargal, Jones Mill (Frisco City), Broughton (Mexia), Hixon (Fountain), Bells Landing (Hybart), and Kimbrough, Alabama.
The 1920’s saw the most change and created what is the AGR today. On April 22, 1922, the GF&A was purchased by the Muscle Shoals, Birmingham and Pensacola Railroad (MSB&P). On July 7, 1925, the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (SLSF or Frisco) took control of the MSB&P. The SLSF railway immediately considered the options and advantages of a deep water gulf port and in December 1926, construction began on a connecting line. This new line was one of the largest projects ever undertaken by the SLSF railway and was the largest of any since the end of the First World War. The line would connect the SLSF line at Kimbrough, Alabama with its southern most line at Aberdeen, Mississippi. This new line would be referred to as the “New Line”, “A-Line” or “Mud Line”. The line was completed May 14, 1928, and the first train left Aberdeen on June 26, 1928 and arrived in Pensacola, Florida on the night of June 27, 1928.
The 1930’s on saw the continued growth of the SLSF railway with daily freight and passenger trains along the line. Timber and other exports were shipped south to the Port of Pensacola and vegetables such as peas, potatoes, corn and strawberries were shipped north. During the 1930’s strawberries were shipped from the Moffet State Farm near Huxford to Chicago. A daily passenger train traveled between Pensacola, Florida and Amory, Mississippi until service was discontinued on February 01, 1955. The 1960’s and 1970’s saw the advent of the paper mills and chemical plants that make up the majority of its rail traffic today.
The SLSF railway maintained solid control over the line for almost 50 years until November 29, 1980, when the SLSF railway merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad (BN). The BN lasted until its merger with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) in 1995 to form BNSF. On July 23, 1997, BNSF decided that the line to the Pensacola was no longer a profitable asset and in a major restructuring effort sold the original Kimbrough to Pensacola line to short line holder States Rail Incorporated. On September 22, 1997, the newly formed Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway (AGR) began operations from Pensacola to Kimbrough using GP30 locomotives. On September 11, 1998, BNSF further sold most of the new line from Kimbrough to Columbus, Mississippi to the AGR, along with its isolated line from Mobile, Alabama to the former M&T Chemical plant near Axis, Alabama. With this also came trackage rights over Norfolk Southern Railway from Kimbrough, AL to Mobile, AL and trackage rights over BNSF from Columbus, MS to Amory, MS.
On November 15, 2006, the AGR’s parent company RailAmerica was sold to Fortress Investment Group. There were many doubts as to what would happen with the AGR, but not a lot changed. The housing boom saw an increase in building products and aggregates, but in 2007-2008, the bubble burst. As the price of diesel sky rocketed upward, the AGR was forced to find ways to offset cost by lowering track speeds and combining many of its daily trains. The biggest problem faced by the AGR today is the closing of some of its largest customers, primarily lumber and newsprint mills.
Starting in 2009, the AGR began to see an influx of FEC locomotives from its sister company as it began sending most of their leased CEFX locomotives to other railroads. In early August 2009, RailAmerica was able to move out from under Fortress Investments and again be publicly traded.
[edit] Trains
Train operations on the AGR vary depending on amount of overhead traffic, commodity, and availability of personnel and equipment. Although the AGR operates three basic types of trains; General Merchandise freight (Operating between two points with minimal stops), Road Switchers (Operating between two points while switching various industries or interchanges) and Yard Jobs (Operating within a yard are designated area).
The AGR also uses a variety of calls signs for its trains, which can make for difficult following. The most common call signs used are either train numbers or locomotive numbers, with an (N) designation of northbound and (S) for southbound. The AGR also uses Alphabetic type names for trains, but those are possibly only used for management purposes.
Train operations vary, so the following trains may or may not actually exist currently.
Merchandise Freight
The AGR operates up to seven dedicated merchandise freight trains almost daily. These trains usually handle dedicated haulage freight between two points and can make up some of the largest trains on the AGR.
AGR trains #208 and #209 are new CSXT dedicated trains that operated between Cantonment, Florida and Magnolia, Alabama. #208 is the northbound train with #209 being the southbound. It is said that operational schedules for these two trains work something like this #209 operates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and #208 operates Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. This job was created to due to an increase of CSXT interchange freight on AGR trains #212, #230, and #231
Other dedicated trains include AGR trains #210N/S which acts as dedicated BNSF interchange trains between Aliceville, Alabama and Amory, Mississippi; with the section between Columbus, Mississippi and Amory, Mississippi as trackage rights from BNSF only. This train maybe combined with AGR train #211N/S which operate between Magnolia, Alabama and Aliceville, Alabama, which also handles interchange traffic to and from Norfolk Southern at Boligee, Alabama.
Two other very important merchandise trains are AGR trains #410 and #411 which operate between Magnolia, Alabama and Mobile, Alabama with the track between Kimbrough, Alabama and Mobile, Alabama as trackage rights from NS only. This train is hauling all freight to and from Mobile, Alabama. #410 is the northbound train and #411 is the southbound, and this train primary operates with SD40's.
One final merchandise train is that of AGR train #212N/S. This train operates between Fountain, Alabama and Magnolia, Alabama with the purpose of moving freight to and from the large Alabama Pulp mill complex and points south of Fountain, Alabama to include interchange traffic from AGR trains #208 and for #209.
Recently the AGR picked up a dedicated BNSF unit grain train that will run between Amory, MS and Mobile, AL, and may run up to three times per week. The AGR also acquired through a lease with Citi Financial (CEFX) four SD60 locomotives of SOO Line heritage. These new motors will be primary used on this new train. I is unknown what its number may be or when it will begin running at this time.
Road Switchers
The most common type of train found on the AGR is the road switcher. These are the life line of any short line railroad. The AGR operates up to eight trains daily.
The first train is AGR train #130N/S with operates from Pensacola, FL to Cantonment, FL and has a primary responsibility of working the yard and various industries in and around the Pensacola area.
Trains #231N/S operate between Fountain, Alabama and Atmore, Alabama and occasionally meet AGR train #230N at Atmore to perform what is commonly called the "Atmore Shuffle" in which each train swaps cars or entire crews. This may or may not still happen on a regular basis as AGR trains #208 and #209 handle primarily all CSXT direct freight. AGR train #231's primary responsibly is to switch the various industries between Frisco City, Alabama and Atmore, Alabama; these industries include agricultural products at Frisco City, telephone poles at Huxford, cotton seed at McCullough, and petroleum products (molten sulfur and mineral spirits) at Atmore and Frisco City. AGR train #230's primary responsibility is to switch the yard at Cantonment, FL and shuttle freight between Cantonment, FL and Atmore, AL. AGR train #230 may also work between Cantonment, Fl and the yard at Pensacola, FL; primary moving aggregates. Four axle GP units are primarily used on these two trains due to the overall track conditions between Pensacola, Florida and Fountain, Alabama.
Other primary road switchers are #110N/S, #121N/S, and #150N/S. Train #110 operates between Aliceville, Alabama and Columbus, Mississippi and its primary responsibility is to switch industries between these two points to include lumber and agricultural products at Pickensville, Alabama and Sodium Chlorate and Hydrogen Peroxide produced by Eka Nobel at Whitbury, Mississippi. It is also task with interchanging with KCS and CAGY at Columbus, Mississippi. Train #121 operates between Magnolia, Alabama and MacMillian, Alabama and its primary responsibly are to switch cars for the International Paper mill at MacMillian. This train may also operate to and from Fountain, Alabama caring woodchips for the Alabama River Pulp mill there from the Norfolk Southern interchange at Kimbrough. Also it should be noted that the workload for this job may have decreased some as Weyerhaeuser has announced the closing of its MacMillian mill. Finally train #150 operates between the yards at Mobile, Alabama to the end of the line at Arkema Chemical just north of Axis, Alabama. #150's primary responsibility is to switch industries between these two points to include trans-loader and warehouses in Chicksaw, Alabama, coal at Satsuma, Alabama, petroleum products near Creola, Alabama and chemical additives produced by Arkema Chemical near Axis, Alabama.
There are two other road switcher jobs that may or may not operated on a regular basis, these being #101N/S and #131N/S. #101 should operate between Magnolia, Alabama and Demopolis, AL with responsibility for lumber products and interchange with MBRR at Linden, Alabama. #131 use to operate between Fountain, Alabama and Mexia, Alabama with the primary responsibly to lumber products and woodchips from Rocky Creek Lumber at Mexia. The woodchips would be taken for use at the Alabama River Pulp mill complex. This train would primarily use four axle GP units due to track conditions between these two points.
Yard Jobs
The AGR operates only a couple of dedicated yard jobs due to the fact of a lack of large yards. Most yard switching and train building is done by the crews of the various jobs as needed. However, there are references to two jobs #120 that handle local switching and interchange with Norfolk Southern at Demopolis, Alabama and #140 that handles local switching and interchange with the Terminal Alabama State Docks Railway at Mobile, Alabama. There may also be a dedicated yard job at Magnolia, Alabama due to the amount of traffic through this yard.
[edit] Equipment
The Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway's locomotive roster started out with a small fleet of older EMD GP30M's when the company was first founded, but these were sold off in 2004 after RailAmerica's acquisition of the railroad.[2] The current locomotive fleet now mostly consists of power from other RailAmerica shortlines assigned to the system; many of which are still painted in their own subsidiary’s image scheme or older RailAmerica colors, as opposed to the current red, white, and blue color scheme. In addition to the corporation roster, RailAmerica is also leasing engines from companies such as Helm Leasing and Progress Rail for use on the AGR.
[edit] Locomotive Roster
| Model | Railroad | Quantity[3] | Acquired | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EMD GP40 | Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway | 2 | 2003 | 4027-4028 |
| EMD SD40-2 | Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway | 2 | 2005 | 4058-4059 |
| RailAmerica Power:[4] | ||||
| EMD GP38-2 | Central Oregon & Pacific | 1 | 2003 | 3828 |
| EMD GP38-2 | Georgia Southwestern | 1 | 2003 | 3858 |
| EMD GP40 | Florida East Coast | 5 | 2009 | 443-447 |
| EMD SD40-2 | Florida East Coast | 6 | 2008 | 707, 712-713, 717-719 |
| EMD GP40 | New England Central | 1 | 2009 | 4049 |
| EMD SW1200 | Minnesota Northern Railroad | 1 | 2003 | 1208 |
| Leased Power:[5] | ||||
| EMD SD40-2 | CIT Corporation | 4 | 2004 | 3917, 3962, 7075, & 7080 |
| EMD SD60 | CIT Corporation | 4 | 2009 | 6003, 6005, 6008, 6019 |
| EMD SD40R | Helm Leasing | 2 | 2008 | 6335 & 6338 |
| EMD GP40-2 | RailCar Limited | 2 | 2004 | 6407 & 6411 |
| EMD GP40-2W | RailCar Limited | 3 | 2003 | 9420, 9610, & 9645 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ [1] – RailAmerica-AGR info
- ^ The Unofficial AGR Railfan Site – Former A&GC Engine Roster
- ^ The Unofficial AGR Railfan Site – AGR-owned Locomotive Roster
- ^ The Unofficial AGR Railfan Site – RailAmerica-AGR Engine List
- ^ The Unofficial AGR Railfan Site – Alabma & Gulf Coast's Leased Units
[edit] External links
- [2] – RailAmerica Official Website
- The Unofficial Alabama & Gulf Coast Railfan Site – An unofficial web page on the Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway.
- Railroad Picture Archives – Photographs of the Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway.
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Coordinates: 31°35′35″N 87°24′37″W / 31.59304°N 87.41031°W
