L&N: Louisville & Nashville Overview

Blake Donnelly posted

 

West Florida Railroad Museum posted
1959 map highlighting L&N, Atlantic Coast, & Clinchfield Railroad lines

Daniel Cassidy: What's interesting about this map is that Atlantic Coast Line controlled this entire system. ACL had a controlling interest in Louisville & Nashville (and Monon) and Clinchfield. After the ACL merged Seaboard Air Line becoming Seaboard Coast Line the whole system became a part of "Family Lines".

Matthew Cole: Black and slightly less black. That’s not confusing at all. [In fact, they look the same on my monitors.]

Wesley Meiss shared

Craig Myers posted
From a Railway Progress Magazine in 1955.
[Several comments point out errors and omissions in this map.]

Jerry L. Fox commented on Craig's post
In 1926 C&EI signed a run-thru agreement with the L&N and NC&StL and called it The Dixie Route to Atlanta.

1930+2009 US-90 and 1902+1925 L&N Rigolets Bridges near Slidel, LA

1930 US-90: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter)

2009 US-90: (Satellite)

1902 L&N: (Bridge Hunter)

1925 CSX: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

1930 US-90 Bridge

2009 photo by Bob Davis via BridgeHunter_1930

2009 US-90 Bridge

Street View, Feb 2023

Massman
"This Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development project consists of a 5,400-foot post-tensioned, precast concrete girder bridge with more than a mile of roadway approaches. The bridge is a high rise structure with 63 bents. The cast-in-place concrete deck rises more than 70 feet above the water at the center of the pass. Thirty-four bents are constructed on land and 29 bents on the water."

Massman

This is the best photo I saw of the ringer crane.

Massman

1902 L&N Bridge

BridgeHunter_1902
"Replaced by a new bridge after a hurricane"

1925 CSX/L&N Bridge

Photo by Irene Kato via BridgeHunter_1925, cropped

HistoricBridges, cropped

David Wilkinson posted two photos with the comment: "I took these pictures riding an L&N caboose headed to Gentilly,La yard in 1978. The name of the bridge is Rigolets. I was 24 years old. 😄"

1

2

CSX/L&N Bridge over Apalachicola River near Chattahoochee

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Andrew Waldo posted three photos with the comment:

Apalachicola River, Florida: Bridge No. 154 over the Apalachicola River, Louisville & Nashville Railroad. This impressive set of bridge types crossing the Apalachicola River, known collectively as L&N’s Bridge No. 154, included Pile Trestle approaches, a 275’ Thru Draw Span, 2 Pony Truss Spans at 115’ 9” each, and a Thru Truss Span at 154’ 5”. Although the Bridge Tender’s House was not photographed, the Pile Trestles supporting its platform are pictured here. When these photographs were taken on 20 February 1917, Bridge No. 154 included sections built/rebuilt in 1882, 1886, 1894, 1908, 1909, 1913, and 1917.

Credit: National Archives & Records Administration, ICC Engineering Field Notes, Louisville & Nashville Railroad, Florida. Digital Image Collection of Andrew Waldo.

All photos and Documents from these records were hand-scanned at the Archives from the originals by, and are in the Digital Image Collection of, Andrew Waldo. For high-resolution scans in archival .tif format, PM me.

Bill Husband: Located near Blountstown, Florida (from Explore Rail History research)

1

2

3

Jeff Morgan commented on another post (share) of the first two photos above and part of the description.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Bill's comment
It looks like it is a lot closer to Chattahoochee, https://maps.app.goo.gl/g9oFNGuB2P6oesP49. 1954/67 Tallahassee topo map with a scale of 250,000.

Bill Husband: Dennis DeBruler I asked Google.Gemini (AI) what was closest!

2011 photo by Ben Tate via BridgeHunter

Christa Berit, May 2025

FG&A/CSX/L&N Bridge over Blackwater River at Milton, FL

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

FG&A =  Florida, Gulf and Atlantic

Street View, Jun 2013

Andrew Waldo posted three photos with the comment:

Milton, Florida: Pile Trestle/Draw Span Bridge 15 over Blackwater River and Bridge Tender’s House, Louisville & Nashville Railroad. With approaches and Draw Span included, Bridge 15 SB (east) out of Milton was about 604’ in total. Primary construction took place in 1899 for this bridge, with major maintenance occurring in 1909, 1910, and 1913. The Bridge Tender’s House at north end of Bridge 15 was estimated built in 1882. The photographs of the bridge draw span were taken on 14 February 1917 and of the Bridge Tender’s House on 25 February 1917.

Credit: National Archives & Records Administration, ICC Engineering Field Notes, Louisville & Nashville Railroad, Florida. Digital Image Collection of Andrew Waldo.

All photos and Documents from these records were hand-scanned at the Archives from the originals by, and are in the Digital Image Collection of, Andrew Waldo. For high-resolution scans in archival .tif format, PM me.

Derek Reuben: Today, The Florida, Gulf And Atlantic Railroad Operates, This Trackage (Former L&N/CSXT Railroad) 2025

1

2

3

jessie.whittle Flickr, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)

The Blackwater River railroad trestle. Taken from around the middle of the bridge, facing east. My dad worked on this bridge when they still used gas lanterns to light it at night, and he took us out on it to show us how it works.

Good timing, too, as the bridgetender told us that they are going to start building a new bridge in January [2009]!

The Island Kings Flickr of the span in the opened position

It doesn't look like it got replaced in 2009.

2012 Photo taken by Calvin Sneed via BridgeHunter

About half of the contemporary photos show it open, so both boats and trains go through here.

Andrew Denton, Mar 2025

I wonder how much longer the boats had to wait for the train to finally arrive.

Jon C, May 2013

I've seen road bridges with fancy lighting, but this is the first railroad bridge I've seen lit up this well. 

Jon C, Dec 2014

Jon C, Jul 2016

CSX/L&N #188 Bridge over Tensas River near Mobile, AL

(no Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

The major CSX/L&N bridges in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta are:

#188 over Tensaw River

#193 over Mobile River

#196 over Big Bayou Canot (Amtrak wreck)

#198 over Bayou Sara

#199+#200 over Chickasaw Creek

Andrew Waldo posted four photos with the comment:

Tensas River Bridge 188 and Bridge Tender's House, Mile 654, Louisville & Nashville Railroad. Moving south, L&N's crossing of the Mobile-Tensas Delta in Lower Alabama begins with Bridge 188. The cylinder piers and abutments were constructed in 1870 (Mobile & Montgomery Railroad), the remaining portions in 1900 and 1912. The Bridge Tender's House, estimated to have been built in 1891, is on the east end of the bridge.

Bridge photographs were taken on 25 January 1917. The Bridge Tender's House photograph was taken on 28 January 1918. (For those wondering, Bridge Notes inventories and Building/Non-Carrier Property Notes inventories were most often made by separate survey teams at different times.)

Credit: National Archives & Records Administration, ICC Engineering Field Notes, Louisville & Nashville Railroad, Alabama. Digital Image Collection of Andrew Waldo.

For high-resolution scans in archival .tif format, PM me.

1

2

3

4

CSX/L&N #199+#200 Bridge over Chickasaw Creek in Mobile, AL

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

The major CSX/L&N bridges in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta are:

#188 over Tensaw River

#193 over Mobile River

#196 over Big Bayou Canot (Amtrak wreck)

#198 over Bayou Sara

#199+#200 over Chickasaw Creek

Street View, May 2022

David Copeland, Jan 2024

When was the girder span replaced by today's truss span?
Andrew Waldo posted three photos with the comment:

Chickasaw Bogue, Mobile-Tensas Delta, Bridge(s) 199 & 200 and Bridge Tender's House, Mile 666, Louisville & Nashville Railroad. This series of spans and approaches appears to have been the longest among L&N's bridges across the Mobile-Tensas Delta. The North Approach was 84 spans and 1056'10" long. The Swing Span, built in 1899 by LB&I Co, was 196' long. The South Approach was 36 spans and 463' long. The Engine House contained a horizontal, gasoline-powered Fairbanks, Morse & Co 15 HP water-cooled engine to operate the swing span. The bridge photographs, showing the swing span in two different positions, were taken on 27 January 1917.

NOTE: This Bridge Tender’s House photo should not have been posted with Bridge 198 over Bridge Sara in my previous post. I have made a separate post with the correct Bridge Tender’s House for Bridge 198. The Bridge Tender’s House for Bridges 199/200 is repeated here to place it with the correct bridge.

Credit: National Archives & Records Administration, ICC Engineering Field Notes, Louisville & Nashville Railroad, Alabama. Digital Image Collection of Andrew Waldo.

For high-resolution scans in archival .tif format, PM me.

1

2

3

L&N had a few draw bridges in the Mobile, AL, area. But I think this is the only one with a truss swing span. I cannot figure out how the car got in that position. It looks like the span is open. But they won't turn the span if there is a car halfway on it.

Michael Stamey posted
Train wreck - Mobile, Ala. One of the trains of the crack Louisville & Nashville R.R. - Pan American Ltd. - Bound from New Orleans to Cincinnati. Half over draw bridge.

Stan Bentley: Reminiscent of the Amtrak derailment there in the early 90’s.

1905 Artemus-Jellico/Southern/Cumberland Railroad Bridge over Cumberland River at Artemus, KY

(B&T; Satellite)

Street View, Sep 2024

Street View, Sep 2024

Street View, Sep 2024

Bridges & Tunnels posted three photos with the comment:

A railroad built with ambition, abandoned in struggle.

Chartered in 1902, the Cumberland Railroad once served Knox County’s coal mines but struggled financially, leading to its abandonment by 1953. Today, little remains except for a repurposed bridge, still in use after 120 years, standing as a quiet relic of Kentucky’s rail history.

📸 Read on in "Remnants of a Bygone Era in Kentucky: Discovering the Cumberland Railroad in Kentucky": https://bridgestunnels.com/.../remnants-of-a-bygone-era.../

📸 More photos + history of the railroad: https://abandonedonline.net/loc.../artemus-jellico-railroad/

Tim Shanahan shared

1

2

3

Map via AbandonedOnline
In 1902, the Cumberland Coal Co. reorganized itself as the Cumberland Railroad Co. because "under Kentucky law, railroads could more easily obtain rights-of-way than coal companies." By 1905, the railroad was built. However, it soon had financial difficulties, and Southern bought the stock because the L&N showed little interest. (Thus the labels rrLaN and rrSou because Southern owned it, but L&N was its connection to the outside world. Southern had plans to extend the line, but they never came to fruition.) "A hard-surfaced road running parallel to the railroad line was completed in 1939." Consequently, passenger service was discontinued in 1941. In 1952, the last coal mine closed and the railroad was abandoned.
The bridge had a 210' (64m) truss and an 89' (17m) approach trestle.

Loch Mary Dam on Clear Creek at Earlington, KY

(Satellite)

2025 TVA Flood: See Pickwick Lock_2025 for information about the weather event.

Jim Pearson Photography posted

Our area has got a lot of rain this winter and February 17th, 2022, was one of those days when one of the winter storms dropped a lot of rain on the region over a 24-hour period. Here I caught an empty grain train, CSX G438, as it made its way past a flooded area around the house track at Earlington, Kentucky as it heads north on the Henderson Subdivision.

Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 290mm, f/5.6, 1/160, ISO 450.

https://fineartamerica.com/.../csx-g438-northbound...

Dennis DeBruler: Does this pint, https://maps.app.goo.gl/YVGbTNUsuRP7WqtE8, mark the turnout in the photo?

This is the western part of the earthen dam that is upstream of where the above flooding occured.

Street View, Mar 2021

This is the eastern part of the earthen dam.

Street View, Oct 2023

This CSX route had been an L&N route.

1954/58 Earlington Quad @ 62,500

I wonder how high the water got above the spillway crest during this flood event.

lpm