Alphabet File page 308
Simultaneously with the foregoing growth in freight traffic, there occurred a national decline in passenger traffic as Americans by the millions fell in love with autos and airlines. Thus in 1958 there began on the NO&M a steady succession of train consolidations, cutbacks, and discountenances. In April 1958, the southbound Piedmont Limited and Pan-American and northbound Pan-American and Crescent Limited were combined. The last of the New Orleans commuter trains, Nos. 9 and 12, which had served patrons between Ocean Springs and New Orleans for decades, began operating only as far as Pass Christian, Miss., May 2, 1959.
The Azalean discontinued service south of Montgomery on August 8, 1959, and the commuter service ended entirely May 6, 1964. By late 1966 only four passenger trains remained in the timecard of the NO&M, two in either direction: Nos. 37 (Humming Bird/Crescent Limited) and 99 (Piedmont Limited/Pan-American/Crescent Limited) northbound. On October 29, 1967, they were designated Nos. 17, 9, 6, and 8. Finally, in January 1969, Nos. 7 and 6 were discontinued, leaving only one train in either direction. Here, L&N showed a touch of class, allowing its last passenger train to carry the same banner as its oldest named train - the Pan-American.
On April 30, 1971, the day before Amtrak began, the northbound Pan-American made its last revenue run across the NO&M with Conductor C.B. Green and Engineer W.E. Harper in charge of ex-Frisco E8's 785 and 786; on May 1, its southbound counterpart, with Conductor A.R. Fayard and Engineer R.P. Evans, headed for NOUPT for the last time behind E7's 779 and 780. Later that day, this crew dead-headed the empty equipment back to Mobile, closing a century of passenger service on the NO&M.
On September 9, 1965, Hurricane Betsy had taken out 33 miles of track, communications, and signals. In addition, some 1200 feet of the Bay St. Louis drawbridge was damaged. Especially hard hit were 227 track panels, some of which had been shifted from 2 to 4 feet out of line at 14 locations. The draw-span engine house, control unit, and related equipment were destroyed, and a standby power unit swept overboard.
Restoration work was slowed at many points by debris from shattered houses as well as huge mats of marsh grass. At one point, a bell buoy and a barge loaded with pipe straddled the tracks. As in all previous cases, the L&N rushed in repair crews to work nonstop; on September 30, just 20 days after the disaster, the first through train ran over the new roadbed. Prior to Hurricane Betsy, L&N had petitioned the ICC for permission to dismantle the automatic train stop signaling system on the NO&M. Betsy had helped the road's cause by destroying 33 miles of it and so, not surprisingly, the petition was approved the day after the line reopened.
After the debacle of Hurricane Betsy, the L&N decided to completely rebuild the 2-mile long Bay St. Louis drawbridge which had been severely damaged and repaired so many times. The road's civil engineers realized that, even though the teredo's (shipworm) ravages had long since been beaten by modern scientific preservation methods, the days of the timber pile trestle were about over, hence it was decided to construct a hurricane-proof structure using the contemporary technology of prestressed concrete.
The new bridge consisted of 163 spans resting on 642 piles; there were also seven motor-car (or safety) setoffs. To provide extra protection against future tidal waves, the base of the rail was 21 feet above sea level, 12 feet higher than on the old structure. A new 500-ton swing span was fabricated in Birmingham and shipped to Mandeville, La. on Lake Pontchartrain for assembly. It was then barged to the site and installed on July 5, 1967. Finally, the 16-month construction project was completed and, at 9:35 a.m. on August 2, the northbound Humming Bird glided smoothly across the new structure. That afternoon, hotshot No. 74 moved the first revenue freight across this bridge, which L&N knew would have been able to withstand any previous Gulf Coast hurricane.
In one of the most bizarre twists of fate in the annals of railroading, the seemingly impregnable Bay St. Louis bridge was the target of an historic hurricane of Herculean dimensions only two years (plus two weeks) after it was opened. On Sunday, August 17, 1969, Camille, packing 200-mile winds and driving a tidal wave as high as 31 feet, struck the Mississippi Coast. It was labeled by the National Hurricane Center as "the greatest storm of any kind that had ever affected this nation." Slamming ashore just before midnight, it destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and left many entire cities in ruins. By morning, all communications had been lost except for amateur radio operators who were able to penetrate the area, and martial law was placed in effect. More than 200 persons lost their lives in this disaster.
Heaviest damage to the NORM occurred between Pascagoula and Chef Mentor (80 miles), but extensive restoration was also necessary on 23 miles of track in the Louisiana marsh, along with signal and communications equipment in this area. In addition, several smaller bridges were stripped of their track structure. The two-mile fill between Pascagoula and Gaiter was also washed clean of all track. The tidal wave had covered the Biloxi Bay bridge with debris, destroying the drawhouse on the swingspan.
Track and ballast were swept completely from the new Bay St. Louis bridge; eight of the concrete spans were damaged to the extent they had to be replaced; a 150ton girder was shifted out of line by almost 8 feet! Nearly half of the 163 spans were shifted to some extent; one motor-car setoff was destroyed, and the drawtenders' house on the swingspan was damaged.
The reconstruction project was organized by the L&N in three work areas, which were subdivided into seven smaller areas. To get equipment to many remote sites, construction barges were floated to islands at Pearl River and Rigolettes, using the remains of facilities installed four years earlier after Hurricane Betsy. Repair forces working from north and south met near Pearl River and opened the track for the first train on the night of September 3. Full freight service was resumed on September 8, passenger service several days later.
When the NO&M wasn't fighting for its life against hurricanes or struggling to reopen mainline trestles damaged by fires or runaway barges, a steady influx of new technology was being injected into the railroad. For example, mainline trackage was upgraded with welded rail, and a number of secondary tracks were eliminated. Mobile terminal trackage was improved by eliminating the rigid crossing (south of Sibert Yard) with the Alabama State Docks Railway as well as through the installation of a two-mile section of double track between Sibert and Choctaw yards.
In New Orleans, operations were consolidated at Gentilly Yard, where extensive improvements were made to classification trackage; in 1985 a new intermodal terminal was constructed at this site.
As more than half of its mainline trackage traverses rapidly expanding cities and towns, the NO&M has, since the 1960s, been hampered by numerous grade crossings and speed restrictions. Thus, a considerable effort has been made in recent years to construct highway overpasses or install automatic crossing protection.
The L&N corporate banner was lowered along the NO&M on January 1, 1983, when the Seaboard System was born; at the same time, the Mobile Division (known prior to 1971 as the Montgomery, New Orleans & Pensacola Division), which included all L&N trackage south of the Alabama capital, was enlarged to include the ex-L&N main line into Boyles Yard, Birmingham, as well as the former West Point Route (Western Railway of Alabama and Atlanta & West Point) to Atlanta. In December 1985, consolidation of the Seaboard System and the Chessie System conglomerate (B&O-C&O) introduced yet another name - CSX Transportation.