Birmingham Mineral Railroad

The Birmingham Mineral Railroad (BMAL), Birmingham Mineral Branch, or the L & N Mineral Railroad was a railroad line opened in 1884 by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad on Red Mountain above the city of Birmingham. It was a branch of the North & South Alabama Railroad. The line ran northeast from Bessemer on the mountain's north slope and crossed 18th Street South at Red Mountain Gap, where it continued along the southern slope of the mountain toward Ruffner Mountain and Trussville, and then continuing to Oneonta. The railroad's primary purpose was to connect Red Mountain's ore mines and nearby coking ovens to the furnaces in the valley.

Construction of the line began in the early 1880s. It was opened for business in 1884 with extensions continuing to be added as late as 1912. Beginning in the 1930s, the railroad ceased to operate and sections of the line were dismantled. A former bridge abutment is visible on the east side of 18th Street. The western section of the railbed, beginning at Vulcan Park, was re-surfaced, beginning in 2003, as Vulcan Trail, a walking trail with views of the city.

Sections of the rail bed further to the west are planned to be re-used as walking trails in the proposed Red Mountain Park.

Stops

• Birmingham Mineral Railway Station, between Alice Furnace and the Birmingham Rolling Mill
• mile 3: Magella
• mile 6: Newton
• mile 9: Alice
• mile 10: Woodward
• mile 12: Sloss Mines

References

• "Vulcan Trail: Walking Where Ore Trains Ran." at Birmingham Rails - accessed August 29, 2007
• MacFarlane, James (1890) "An American Geological Railway Guide." 2nd. edition. New York, New York: D. Appleton & Company.