The First Railway in Alabama-The Tuscumbia Courtland and Decatur Railroad

The First Railway in Alabama-The Tuscumbia Courtland and Decatur Railroad. . During the early 1800s, the Tennessee River was the fastest way to travel and transport goods through the South. While much of the river was deep and easy to navigate, the area between Tuscumbia Landing and Decatur was riddled with a series of shallow rapids or shoals. It was impractical to transport goods by road, so moving the goods by raft became the only option., The City of Tuscumbia also faced a problem. The roads to the new Tuscumbia Landing have at some points proven to be precarious. The solution came in the form of the first railroad west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Tuscumbia Railway Company was formed in 1830 and constructed two miles of railway track from the town to the landing. The railroad used teams of horses to haul trains of cotton and other crops, atop rails of steel-plated wood., Even before the completion of the original Tuscumbia railway, a group of delegates from several local towns met in Courtland on October 8, 1831, to discuss the extension of the railway from Tuscumbia to Decatur. This would solve the time-consuming process of moving goods through the shoals, by circumnavigation them, and by proxy bringing quick transportation to the farmers of the area. This meeting was created by the Tuscumbia, Courtland, and Decatur Railroad Company. Construction commenced the following year and would reach Leighton in 1833. The railroad would reach Courtland in 1834; at this same point, the first steam locomotive for the line would arrive. It was named the Fulton and was constructed in England and delivered to Tuscumbia that June. It became the first locomotive west of the Appalachian Mountains and certainly proved themselves to be much more efficient than horses. With this success, three more locomotives were purchased., During the panic of 1837, the railroad was forced into bankruptcy. After reorganization in 1848, the railroad was sold to David Deshler. He renamed it the Tennessee Valley Railroad Company. One year later, in 1849, The Governor of Tennessee came to North Alabama to announce plans to connect the Tennessee Valley, Georgia, and the South Carolina railroads to create a railroad that ran from Memphis, Tennessee to Charleston, South Carolina. The appropriately named Memphis and Charleston Railroad was established in January 1850, and the Tennessee Valley Railroad was officially purchased in June 1851. This purchase marked the official end of the first railroad in Alabama.