Middle Tennessee & Alabama Railroad

The line left Fayetteville from a small rail yard where a wye was used to turn trains. The line roughly followed what is now US Hwy 64 to Old Elkton Pike and then to Old Railroad Bed Road. The line basically followed the Elk River from Fayetteville, crossing the river at Sumners Bend, to Cold Water, TN. At Cold Water, the line turned south toward Taft.

Once in Alabama, the line proceeded south with several whistle stops or flag stops. At Clark (Clarkdale), about 4 miles south of Jeff (Harvest), the line varied from what is today Old Railroad Bed Road. The railroad line more closely followed Copperrun Branch, a small stream in the area. The line terminated on what is now Dupree-Worthy Road, near the intersection with Capshaw Road. Presently the Capshaw Baptist Church is located about where the Capshaw depot was located.

• Fayetteville
• Harmes
• Tillman
• De Ford
• Sumners Bend
• Hobbs
• Cold Water
• Blanche
• Taft

• Akers
• Elkwood Section
• Bobo Section
• Ready Section
• Madison Crossroads (Toney)
• Jeff (Harvest)
• Clark (Clarkdale)
• Lax (Capshaw)

The line was only nine miles from the Memphis and Charleston Railroad near Belle Mina, AL. However, the L&N already had a mainline that ran to Decatur from Nashville, through Franklin and Lewisburg. There was also a branch line that ran from Decherd, TN to Huntsville, AL. The line into Fayetteville was a branch off the Huntsville Branch, so the MT&A was a branch of the Huntsville Branch. There was little to no value for the NC&StL to continue to MT&A to Belle Mina.

The line was about 37 miles long at its greatest length. The NC&StL applied on July 21, 1928 to discontinue service along the MT&A railroad. By March 8, 2929, the Interstate Commerce Commission granted permission. It was on April 20, 1929, that the last train to use the line rolled into Fayetteville, bringing with it all the rolling stock and other equipment used along the line.

The first thing is the right of way, or at least most of it. Old Railroad Bed Road in Tennessee and Alabama follows the old right of way. The road does vary from the original right of way south of Clark (Clarkdale) and proceeds south down the county line to Madison, AL.

The second thing that still exists is the Madison Crossroads Depot. It still stands in Toney, AL, along Old Railroad Bed Road. There also a few builds just north of the depot that may have been there at the time the railroad was operating.

The third thing that still exists is a rock wall. This wall was built by the railroad at the intersection of Dan Crutcher Road and Old Railroad Bed Road. It was used to pool water at the spring there so that the locomotives could take on water for their journey. There are rumors of a robbery that occurred near the spring and that there could be gold from the robbery deep in the cave from which the spring rises.

The forth thing is a bridge across the Elk River that has stood for many years as well. I have seen pictures of the bridge from as late as the 1940s. It appears that the bridge still exists today, in 2025, near Fayetteville, TN. It could be visible from River Dr.

The depot at Lax (Capshaw) stood for many years after the railroad was abandoned. In the 1980s the volunteers of the North Alabama Railroad Museum took down the depot and stored it. My understanding is that after many years of storage, the depot wood was no longer useable and was discarded.

There was a tell-tale that existed for a number of years according what I have been told. I believe it was near Sumner Bend and the bridge that crossed the river there.

I have heard stories, but cannot confirm, that some buildings were moved from the rail line after the railroad abandoned the right of way.

From what I can find, the MT&A survived by carrying freight and passengers. The primary freight was agricultural material, mostly cotton, and logging material, logs from the forest to the sawmill. Other freight included less-than-car-load (LCL) traffic, supplying the businesses along the line, or in some cases directly to the residents of the area. Most trains included a passenger car to carry people on the daily voyage of the train from Capshaw to Fayetteville and back.

The train would stop overnight at Capshaw with daily trips to Fayetteville.