GC29T80 Watch for Ghost Trains (Traditional Cache) in Alabama, United States created by L&N Railroad

This cache has been archived.

L&N Railroad: At least for now I'm backing off on my cache activity and so I'm archiving my caches. View my profile if there are any questions.

GC29T80 ▼

A cache by L&N Railroad Message this owner

Hidden : 6/5/2010

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

This is a nano cache that will bring you to where a railroad once ran.

This cache is very small. You'll need a pen or pencil with a fine point to sign the log. Forget the fat markers, stamps and stickers on this cache.

The north/south road near this cache was once a railroad right of way. Today the rail line runs parallel to the road, about a half mile to the west.

The first railroad came to Alabama in the Eighteen-Thirties, built to bypass Muscle Shoals, a major impediment to navigation on the Tennessee River. In the years leading up to the Civil War several rail lines were built in the region. The original line in Alabama was expanded to link Memphis and Chattanoga. Additional lines linked Louisville and Nashville, Nashville and Chattanooga, and Chattanooga and Marthasville. (A railroad official renamed Marthasville as Atlanta because it was a railroad gateway between the west and the Atlantic coast, and because Atlanta was also quicker to send by telegraph.)

Nashville and Decatur were linked by a series of connecting smaller roads that ran from Nashville to Mt. Pleasant via Columbia, Columbia and the state line, and the state line and Decatur. These railroads were combined to form the Nashville & Decatur Rail Road after the Civil War. The road running north from this cache was once part of that railroad.

Looking south from the cache you can see a depressed area where the track continued south into the wood. At the north end of this road it's hard to tell where the line ran, viewed from the ground.

If you go to Google Maps and look at the area around the cache with the satellite view you will see a lot more. Looking north you'll see where the road ends; if you continue north you'll see where the old railroad line turned northwest and joined the present line. The line south is even more obvious from above. You'll also see where the line turned southwest to join what is now Norfolk Southern's line across the river.

Both railroads share a bridge across the Tennessee River. CSX uses the Norfolk Southern bridge in Decatur in an arrangement that dates from before the Civil War. (In a similar arrangement from the same era NS uses CSX tracks to cross the Tennessee River at Bridgeport, AL, and uses CSX tracks into Chattanooga from Stevenson.)

Over the years railroads are relocated for a variety of reasons. One of the most common is a poor choice of route in the original construction. The priority was often to get a railroad running quickly, and once a company started making money the lines could be rebuilt as needed to avoid steep grades, sharp curves and restrictive tunnels.

After only a few years of operation, the N&D was leased by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Part of the deal made by James W. Sloss (founder of Sloss Furnaces) of the N&D was that in exchange for control of the N&D the L&N would continue construction of a rail line to the area south of where Birmingham is now located. At the time there was not a Birmingham; the city was created in the Eighteen-Seventies by local industrialists such as Sloss and with a large amount of support from the L&N. The L&N eventually extended its line through Montgomery and Mobile to New Orleans.

Much of the N&D was replaced by a new main line built just before the U.S. entered World War One. The new line ran from Athens, AL to Brentwood, TN, passing through Lewisburg, TN. This relegated most of the N&D to secondary status. The portion a few miles north of Athens to the south side of Pulaski, TN was abandoned in the Eighties, and the rest of the line in Tennessee south of Columbia was sold to a short line, the Tennessee Southern Railroad. The portion abandoned in Alabama is now the Richard Martin Walking Trail, home to many caches. (If you're interested in these trail caches I have a bookmark list; just visit my Geocaching profile.)

In the Eighties the L&N was merged with the Seaboard Coast Line to form the Seaboard System. Seaboard System was merged with the Chessie System to form CSX.

The N&D continued as a seperate corporation, controlled by the L&N, until the Eighties. It was merged out of existance shortly before portions of the line were sold or abandoned.

This is not the only place where you can drive on what was once an L&N line between Nashville and Birmingham. Much of U.S. 31 in the Blount Springs, Alabama area is built on the original alignment of the L&N. Also, Railroad Street in Hartselle, Alabama doesn't get its name from its proximity to the railroad; the street is built on the old railroad alignment. (You can follow the line south of the street's end on Google Maps satellite view.)

This road also takes you behind what was originally built as part of GM's Saginaw Steering Gear Division. It was later split off to become Delphi. The plant was closed as a result of Delphi's bankruptcy. You can get a good view of the rear of the plant, including the rail line that served the plant, from the road. (The road is poorly maintained so take the railroad crossing on this road at a very slow speed; your car's suspension will thank you.)

If you want to see the current main line drive north from the cache to the end of the road and turn west. Harris Station Road crosses the CSX main line near the north end of Harris Siding. This is a single track railroad, with regular passing sidings that allow trains to pass. Harris Station takes its name from the Harris Plantation.

There is a shooting range in the area so there is no need for concern if you hear distant gunfire.

FTF was by shadow rider11 and Gran07.