Tuscumbia-Courtland-Decatur Railroad

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Tuscumbia-Courtland-Decatur Railroad
Image:DCTMAP.gif
Locale	North Alabama
Dates of operation	1829 – 1850
Track gauge
Headquarters

Completed in 1836, the Tuscumbia-Courtland-Decatur Railroad (TCDR) was a railroad in Alabama, the United States.

The Tuscumbia-Courtland-Decatur Railroad runs from Decatur in Morgan County through the northern half of Lawrence County through Courtland, then into Colbert County and ends in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

Construction began in mid-1829, the first segment between Tuscumbia and Leighton was completed in November of that year. Traffic between those two cities began at the day of completion. The second segment between Leighton and Decatur was completed in June 1830.

Construction was speedy because of the large cotton industry in North Alabama. Barges could not pass through the rapids caused by the Shoals along the Tennessee River between Florence, and Decatur. The Shoals Canal was congested and the state pursued funding for a railroad between The Shoals and the calmer waters in Decatur.

In 1850 it was incorporated into the Memphis and Charleston Railroad which eventually merged into the Southern Railway, a predescessor of Norfolk Southern. The line is still in operated by Norfolk Southern Railway and serves as a vital railroad link between The Shoals, and the city of Decatur.

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