General Historic Photographs

Included below are a few examples of historic photographs of the Birmingham Mineral Railroad.

NOTE:  Generally, clicking on an image will enlarge it for better viewing.

BMRR Crossing over Oporto Road
BMRR Crossing over Oporto Road
Credit: Birmingham Public Library Archives
BMRR Tracks Crossing Cahaba Road in English Village, March 1954
Source: Birmingham Public Library Archives
Red Gap Branch crossing over other tracks in Red Gap (Irondale)
Red Gap Branch crossing over other tracks in Red Gap (Irondale)
Red Gap (Irondale) looking west 1906 (Note steam engine on tracks in center of photo.) Source: Marvin Clemons
Red Gap (Irondale) looking west 1906 (Note steam engine on tracks in center of photo.)
Source: Marvin Clemons
Red Gap Branch crossing over other tracks in Red Gap (Irondale) 1925 Source: Marvin Clemons
Red Gap Branch crossing over other tracks in Red Gap (Irondale) 1925
Source: Marvin Clemons

Top photograph below is view of BMRR crossing over Old Montgomery Highway looking south toward Homewood in 1915.  Note streetcar tracks on right side of dirt street.

Top photograph: BMRR Crossing over Old Montgomery Highway below Vulcan Source: O. V. Hunt photo -- Hudson128
Top photograph: BMRR Crossing over Old Montgomery Highway below Vulcan
Source: O. V. Hunt photo — Hudson128
Streetcar tracks being installed below current Vulcan Park. Spring 1911. Concrete bridge support on left still exists. Source: Bobby Raffield
Streetcar tracks being installed below current Vulcan Park. Spring 1911. Concrete bridge support on left still exists.
Source: Bobby Raffield
BMRR looking east from near below current Vulcan Park. [not confirmed] January 1910. Source: Bobby Raffield
BMRR looking east from near below current Vulcan Park. [not confirmed] January 1910.
Source: Bobby Raffield

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BMRR looking east from near below current Vulcan Park. 1911. Source: USGS Geologic Atlas of the United States, Birmingham Folio, 1911. Courtesy of Tom Denney
BMRR looking east from near below current Vulcan Park. 1911.
Source: USGS Geologic Atlas of the United States, Birmingham Folio, 1911.
Courtesy of Tom Denney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The series of images and graphics shown in the pdf file below are presented here courtesy of www.bhamrails.info.  This is the street going over Red Mountain below present-day Vulcan Park, and these images show that the street originally was ABOVE the BMRR tracks with a road bridge over the tracks.  The street subsequently was lowered for streetcar clearance which then put the street BELOW the BMRR necessitating a BMRR trestle.

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BMRR at Sadler Gap (Roebuck area) formerly crossing over Highway 11 (Photo -- 1950s) Source: Tim Smith
BMRR at Sadler Gap (Roebuck area) formerly crossing over Highway 11 (Photo — 1950s)
Source: Tim Smith
BMRR train cars at Ruffner mine late 1880s or early 1890s Source: Horgan
BMRR train cars at Ruffner mine late 1880s or early 1890s
Source: Horgan
BMRR Trains at Ensley Furnaces circa 1906 Source: SHORPY 4a09958a
BMRR Trains at Ensley Furnaces circa 1906
Source: SHORPY 4a09958a
Birmingham L&N Station 1930 -- Was used by BMRR for its passenger service -- Roof structure and girders on platform continue in use today on the Amtrak platform. Source: BhamRails John Stewart
Birmingham L&N Station 1930 — Was used by BMRR for its passenger service — Roof structure and platform continue in use today as the Amtrak platform.
Source: BhamRails John Stewart
BMRR Bessemer L&N Passenger and Freight Depots Source: Bessemer Hall of History
BMRR Bessemer L&N Passenger and Freight Depots
Source: Bessemer Hall of History
One of two depots in Helena. This one was built in 1908. BMRR tracks are the ones on the left (closest to the building). Source: Ken Penhale
One of two depots in Helena. This one was built in 1908. BMRR tracks are the ones on the left (closest to the building).
Source: Ken Penhale
1872 Helena Freight House and Depot re-purposed as present-day restaurant.
1872 Helena Freight House and Depot re-purposed as present-day restaurant.
1872 Helena Freight House and Depot in use as a present-day restaurant with BMRR sign afixed.
1872 Helena Freight House and Depot in use as a present-day restaurant with BMRR sign affixed.
BMRR train cars at Cahaba Coal and Mining Company Source: Alabama Department of Archives and History digital archives
BMRR train cars at Cahaba Coal and Mining Company
Source: Alabama Department of Archives and History digital archives
Trussville Blast Furnace and Coke Ovens -- Postcard
Trussville Blast Furnace and Coke Ovens — Postcard

 

The first BMRR sign was installed across the street from the site of the former L&N Woodlawn Depot. The following photograph and information is from the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum website:

Woodlawn Depot

The oldest known photograph of the Woodlawn Depot
The oldest known photograph of the Woodlawn Depot taken July 14th, 1947. The building now housed a Paint, Roofing & Supply Co.

The Woodlawn Depot, built in 1904, was originally located at 6501 1st Avenue South, in Woodlawn, a community in the city of Birmingham, Alabama. The 1916 Birmingham city directory listed the location’s name as the East Lake Freight Station. Later, in the 1925 directory, it was simply called the L&N Freight Depot.

Records show that by 1947, the station had been converted to a Paint, Roofing and Supply Company. The photo shown of the building is the only known image from that time period.

It is now home to the Boone Library after having been moved from the Woodlawn community.

ADDITIONAL WOODLAWN DEPOT INFORMATION:

The following is a photograph taken by Lyle Key in 1996 before the depot was moved and restored.  As he indicates, this building may be the last surviving building from the Red Mountain route of the Birmingham Mineral Railroad.

Woodlawn Depot as it appeared in 1996. Source: Lyle Key
Woodlawn Depot as it appeared in 1996.
Source: Lyle Key

The following is a the restored Woodlawn Depot as it appears today at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera, Alabama, where it houses their archives and the Boone Library.

Woodlawn Depot as it appears today.
Woodlawn Depot as it appears today.