I recently have been riding the Chief Ladega Rail-Trail in east Alabama. The major small town on the line is the one-time mill town of Piedmont. The trail is on the old SAL right-of-way; Southern also ran through the little town.

Sitting adjacent to the now abandoned ex-Southern mainline is a preserved depot and a now-landlocked SRR caboose. A ratty sign in the circa 1880s station window says this is a railroad museum. However, in all of my visits, I have never found the facility open. (The rear hub of the town's tourist activities are around the rail-trail welcome center.)

It seems sad that the town's railroad enthusiasts did not figure out how to integrate their operation to attract the growing rail-trail visitors. (If you are thinking that the rail-trail folks should either not exist, or should have done the railroad group's marketing for them --- well, don't even go there!)

Anyway, does anyone know what this Museumn contains? It is a sad sight, seeing an organization apparently wither on the vine, its assets unviewed, its facility falling apart.

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