For many years, Southern/NS served Lafayette (and until 1982, Roanoke) with a turn out of Opelika. By 1994, the NS had ceased keeping power in Opelika, so the turn originated in Columbus, GA. A few months after this photo was made, NS spun-off the line to Pine Belt Southern, which operated for about 5 more years before losing what little traffic that was left to trucks. The train in the photo is a bit unusual by virtue of the GP60 (GP38s were the norm) and the covered hopper (virtually every train by this time consisted solely of logs and chips).
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.
