A storm in the mid-1990s caused enough damage to the former Central of Georgia main between Birmingham and Columbus, GA to require reroutes via Atlanta. When repairs were finished, NS decided to keep the reroutes in place, leaving just a long-distance local on CofG, and even that pair of trains did not use Central west of Childersburg, instead going through either Anniston or Wilton/Burstall, depending on traffic. This is westbound 345 (the 45 goes all the way back to Southern or even CofG days, but during the reroutes it became 345 - I guess because it was an inter-divisional train) dropping down the connection at Childersburg from the CofG to the Southern. At the bottom of the grade, it will turn NE toward Anniston and a connection with the Bham-Atl main, or SW to Wilton then on to the Bham-NOLA main near Bessemer. Thankfully, the detours didn't work as NS had hoped, so this fine line was not thrown away. There was always a rumor that some of the shenanigans were an attempt by NS to get out from under some crew arrangements that dated back to CofG days.
Photos taken in the Deep South--primarily Alabama and Georgia--from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Featured railroads include the ICG, the West Point Route, SCL, Southern, Frisco, and even KCS.
