Western Railway of Alabama

Company History: Also know as the 'Western of Alabama', The Western Railway of Alabama was formed in 1883 as a result of the reorganization of the Western Rail Road of Alabama and was converted from 5’ gauge to standard gauge in 1886. This pocket size Class 1 railroad linked Selma and Montgomery, Alabama with West Point just over the Georgia border 133 miles to the east. There they connected with their sister road Atlanta & West Point. The two roads together were referred to as "The West Point Route" and were closely affiliated with the Georgia Railroad. Locomotives from the three companies moved freely across each other’s lines.

WoA relied heavily on 4-6-0’s in the early part of the 20th century but would later build up a fleet of seven Mikados for freight service and four Pacifics for passenger service. The biggest power on the WoA consisted of five 4-8-2 mountains, three of which were former Florida East Coast engines that were repossessed by the bank during the Depression. WoA’s first diesels were switchers from Baldwin but it was EMD that would earn all of WoA’s road service locomotives until the end.

WoA hosted Southern Railway’s Crescent Limited between West Point and Montgomery for most of that train’s history.

Western of Alabama, Atlanta & West Point and Georgia Railroad were controlled jointly by L&N and Atlantic Coast Line (SCL after 1967.) As such, Western of Alabama was one of the "Family Lines." In 1983, all of the Family Lines roads were merged to form Seaboard System. Traffic was relatively heavy and the route continues today to be an important line in the CSX system.

Text Courtesy of Bluford Shops

Successor/Parent History: To be truthful the Family Lines System was never actually an operating railroad, it was merely a marketing tactic which brought together the allying lines of the Louisville & Nashville, Clinchfield, Seaboard Coast Line, and a number of other smaller road (such as the Georgia Railroad, Atlanta & West Point Railroad, and Western Railway of Alabama otherwise referred to as the West Point Route). With this came a new livery (not unlike the later Seaboard scheme) applied to all with sub-lettering stenciled under locomotive cabs identifying the specific company. This marketing scheme was also short-lived, lasting only from 1972 until 1982 when these railroads merged together formally to create the Seaboard System (itself operating for only a few years).

The three main components of the System were the L&N, Clinchfield, and SCL. The L&N (the first component) was a railroad synonymous with the southern states; it served major cities from New Orleans and Memphis to St. Louis, Atlanta, and later Chicago. The L&N is also one of the few classic fallen flags to never have had its original chartered name change at any point throughout its history, serving its home state and the southeast for over 120 years. As the L&N itself disappeared into the Seaboard System in 1982 just a few years later the Seaboard itself would disappear into CSX Transportation.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.