Memphis & Charleston Railroad
Memphis Yard in 1885
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| Locale | Southern United States |
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| Dates of operation | 1857–1894 |
| Successor | Southern Railway |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) |
| Previous gauge | 5 ft (1,524 mm) |
| Length | 311 mi (501 km) |
| Headquarters | Memphis, Tennessee |
The Memphis and Charleston Railroad, completed in 1857, was the first railroad in the United States to link the Atlantic Ocean with the Mississippi River. Chartered in 1846, the 311 miles (501 km) 5 ft (1,524 mm)gauge railroad ran from Memphis, Tennessee to Stevenson, Alabama through the towns of Corinth, Mississippi and Huntsville, Alabama. The portion between Memphis and LaGrange, Tennessee was originally to be part of the LaGrange and Memphis Railroad, chartered in 1838. From Stevenson, the road was connected to Chattanooga, Tennessee via the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. In Alabama, the railroad followed the route of the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad between Tuscumbia and Decatur, the first railroad to be built west of the Appalachian Mountains.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, this railroad became of strategic importance as the only east-west railroad running through the Confederacy. On the morning of April 11, 1862, Union troops led by General Robert Mitchell captured Huntsville, cutting off this railroad's use for the Confederacy.
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Wikipedia