Mobile & Ohio Railroad

nown as the route of the "Gulf Coast Special," the Mobile & Ohio Railroad was chartered in 1848 — early in Deep South railroading — by the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The primary purpose of the new road was to operate from the seaport of Mobile, Alabama, emerging shipping interests at the Ohio River in the region of Cairo, Illinois. The first section of track opened for service in 1852 between Mobile and Citronelle, Alabama. By 1882, with the purchase of the narrow-gauge St. Louis & Cairo, the M&O reached St. Louis, Missouri. During the Civil War, the line was hotly contested and was converted to military use: a role which left it in financial ruin after the conflict. Nevertheless, in 1896 the company chose to build a line from its Columbus, Mississippi, terminal eastward into Alabama. In June of 1898 a Tuscaloosa to Montgomery line opened, along with other short branch lines in the region. After 1902, the road was under the control of the much larger Southern Railway, who operated it until selling its bonds to parallel north-south operator Gulf, Mobile & Northern. On September 13, 1940, the M&O was merged with the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad to form the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad.