The substantial brick station (which they painted white for some reason) at the north end of the yard gives an idea of the onetime importance of Sumter, SC to the ACL, which ran in five directions from the town. After merger with SAL - which had a single minor branch into the small town - created SCL, Sumter began to fade. The branchlines had been losing vitality for years, and now the former SAL main to Atlanta offered SCL a much better alternative to the old ACL's path from Florence, SC through Sumter to Augusta, GA, then across to Atlanta via the ACL-affiliated Georgia Railroad.
