Southern' ex-CofG Birmingham-Columbus, GA main was loaded up with GP38s and GP38-2s in the early 1970s when I first started hanging around the tracks. Other models showed up regularly, but the bo... (more)

A westbound Southern train heads through the Western Railway of Alabama crossing as SCL Hamlet-NOLA run-through train - with an unusual-for-this-train SD35 leading - waits. That GP9 in the lead o... (more)

GP30s lead a westbound around the big curve at First Avenue. Think the MofW guys missed those little trailers when the companies started putting them up in hotels/motels?

In 1973, you rarely had to wait long to see railroad action in Opelika. There were lots of local rail customers, Southern and Western Railway of Alabama interchanged daily, and a Southern branch ... (more)

CSX freight passes behind the largest textile mill in Opelika. A major source of jobs and city revenue for decades, it doesn't have much of a future, even in 1987. I do not think anything remain... (more)

Crew members grabbed Cokes from the machine in the depot before starting their work on the Western Railway of Alabama interchange. This scene is so reduced, simplified and sterilized in 2021 that... (more)

The Lafayette turn has just left the former CofG branch and is running on rights toward Opelika via CSX. Won't be long until NS spins this line off and it becomes the Pine Belt Southern.

The grade out of Opelika may be imperceptible to the naked eye but, believe me, it's tough. Four old geeps and a newer GP40 on train 208 are proving that to the doubters. The driver of that Econ... (more)

Today's 45 - the westbound long-range local - is a big one, so three units have been assigned, including 2656, a GP30 that following a wreck was rebuilt to GP30 mechanical standards, but with a sp... (more)

After a painfully slow trip down the decrepit former Southern/CofG from Lafayette, the Pine Belt Southern crew waits for the go-ahead from CSX to run a couple miles down their former WofA main int... (more)

Southern 2544 leads five more GP30s, plus a GP35 and a GP38 on an eastbound train.

The guys are pushing to get to the point where the first eastbound train - just minutes away - can get safely through the wreck site. Checxk the date and you'll see an even bigger reason for thei... (more)

GP30 and GP38 2771 power the westbound local - with lots of pulpwood flats, as usual - out of Opelika.

Once upon a time, Opelika generated enough traffic that most freights would at least make a quick pick-up/set-out. That has just happened in the photo, and 135 is again underway for Birmingham, w... (more)

A GP7 and GP35 team up to roll the local west. Think wood products are an important part of the traffic mix? Just ahead is the long, high fill at North Auburn.