L & N Station (1960)

The L & N Station (1960) was a small passenger station constructed for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad after it gave up the former Union Station for construction of the new Bank for Savings Building. The two-story station featured an air-conditioned and brightly-lit passenger lobby with piped-in music. The exterior had a large tile mosaic mural depicting historical L&N locomotives.

The 1960s saw continued deterioration of passenger service. In 1969 the L&N actually discontinued its Hummingbird at Birmingham, in mid-run from Cincinnati to New Orleans. The 14 passengers continuing to Louisiana did so by bus.

That station was taken over by Amtrak in the 1970s, servicing the Crescent and Gulf Breeze routes, the second of which ended in 1995. The Birmingham Amtrak Station remained in use until it was moved to a smaller office adjoining the tracks at 18th Street North until the completion of the Birmingham Intermodal Facility in 2015.

References

• Berman, Irving (June 22, 1959) "Skyscraper to replace L&N railroad station" The Birmingham News
• Kincey, Bob (July 19, 1960) editorial column. The Birmingham News
• Key, Lyle. "Union Station/L&N Station" in Marvin Clemons and Lyle Key (2007) Birmingham Rails: The Last Golden Era from World War II to Amtrak. Birmingham: Red Mountain Press. ISBN 9780615143538