The Southern Alabama Railroad was a shortline railroad formerly operating between a connection with CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

 at Troy

Troy, Alabama

Troy is a city in Pike County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,003. Troy experienced a growth spurt of over 4,000+ people since 2000. The city is the county seat of Pike County....

 to Goshen, Alabama

Goshen, Alabama

Goshen is a town in Pike County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 300.-Geography:Goshen is located at .According to the U.S...

, about 15 miles (24.1 km). The railroad currently exists as the Conecuh Valley Railroad

Conecuh Valley Railroad

The Conecuh Valley Railroad connects with the CSX at Troy, Alabama, and travels to Goshen, Alabama. This short line railroad was created after 2001 from the former Southern Alabama Railroad and is currently owned and operated by Gulf and Ohio Railways....

 subsidiary of Gulf and Ohio Railways

Gulf and Ohio Railways

Gulf & Ohio Railways is a holding company for seven different short-line railroads in the Southern United States, as well as a tourist-oriented passenger train, and locomotive leasing and repair service through Knoxville Locomotive Works...

.

The railroad was controlled by Richard Abernathy, the owner of several shortlines in the South. The Southern Alabama railroad operated only at Troy, with the remainder of the line to Goshen embargoed for the majority of the shortline's operational history.

History

Originally constructed by the Mobile and Girard Railroad (later Central of Georgia) from Columbus to Searight between 1870 - 1891, the line eventually connected with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad

Louisville and Nashville Railroad

The Louisville and Nashville Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.Chartered by the state of Kentucky in 1850, the L&N, as it was generally known, grew into one of the great success stories of American business...

 at Andalusia, Alabama

Andalusia, Alabama

Andalusia is a city in and the county seat of Covington County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 8,794.According to the 2007 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 8,705...

. The Central of Georgia became part of the Southern Railway

Southern Railway (US)

The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894...

 in 1963, and the Southern Railway became part of the Norfolk Southern Railway

Norfolk Southern Railway

The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...

 in 1990.

The line between Goshen and Gantt

Gantt, Alabama

Gantt is a town in Covington County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 241.-Geography:Gantt is located at . According to the U.S...

 was abandoned September 13, 1982. The segment between Troy and Goshen was then sold to the Abernathy Group on October 31, 1988. Abandonment of the Hurtsboro

Hurtsboro, Alabama

Hurtsboro is a town in Russell County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 592. It was founded in 1857 as Hurtsville and named for Joel Hurt, Sr....

to Troy portion by Norfolk Southern occurred March 8, 1989, leaving CSX in Troy as the only other railroad connection to the Southern Alabama railroad.

The railroad was sold to Gulf & Ohio Railways and renamed the Conecuh Valley Railroad on November 7, 2001.