Memphis and Charleston Railroad

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The Memphis and Charleston Railroad , completed in 1857, was the first railroad company in the USA to connect the Mississippi River with the Atlantic Ocean with its railway line . It was founded in 1846 and ran from Memphis via Corinth (Mississippi) and Huntsville (Alabama) to Stevenson (Alabama) . From Stevenson, it led over the tracks of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad to Chattanooga (Tennessee) . There was a connection to Charleston (South Carolina) via Atlanta . Like most of the other railways in the south, it was also a broad gauge line with a gauge of 1524 mm.

Between Tuscumbia and Decatur (Alabama) the route ran over existing tracks of the Decatur-Courtland-Tuscumbia Railroad, which was taken over in 1850 . This railway was the first company to open a line west of the Appalachian Mountains .

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, the railway line became strategically important as it was the only continuous east-west link between the Confederates and the Mississippi. It was particularly important during the Battle of Shiloh . On the morning of April 11, 1862, Union troops under General Mitchel captured Huntsville, making the railway unusable for the Confederates.

The Memphis and Charleston Railroad merged with the Southern Railway, founded in 1894 . The line is still in operation today and belongs to its successor company, the Norfolk Southern Railway .

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