The Pine Belt Southern's Opelika-Lafayette operation of a former NS (Southern/C of G) line lasted from 1996 until 2003. The Lafayette end was pretty simple - work the woodyards then head for Opelika. In Opelika, things were much more complicated, as the necessary switching took the PB crew onto the NS main, which required ok from NS, and also across the CSX/NS crossing, which required CSX ok. CSX ok was also needed for operation over a two-mile segment via CSX between downtown and a spot called Roanoke Junction. All that meant a lot of waiting for the big roads to respond, and really got tricky on those days when PB's train was too long to fit on the connector between CSX and NS. This image shows the two-man crew moving west on NS and across CSX.
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.
