Locomotives - Atlanta, Birmingham And Atlantic Railroad Bee Line 4-6-0 Type Engine Number 1501 Wood Print

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"The Lord put the mountains between Birmingham and the sea, and the man who tries to bring them together undertakes heroic work." On September 6, 1908, such a railroad line was completed, and soon thereafter, Harry M. Atkinson, president of the Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic Railroad (AB&A), spoke these dramatic words at the dedication of his new railway. Piercing the mountains of eastern Alabama, the AB&A's workers created a link that eventually connected Birmingham and the Midwest to Georgia and Florida. The route was one of the last main rail lines constructed in the United States, thus it is comparatively well engineered. Despite the mountainous stretch in the middle of the route, all curves were held to a maximum of just six degrees. This translated into a mere restriction of 40 miles per hour for freight trains negotiating bends, even those chiseled into the jagged walls of the Appalachian Mountains. Traffic on this route increased in 1926 when the system was reorgani...