Birmingham Train Webcam – See the Sloss Furnaces Diamond

The Birmingham Train Webcam looks west from Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark across the CP GATE diamond, where the CSX Boyles Terminal Subdivision crosses Norfolk Southern’s line on the east side of downtown Birmingham, Alabama. Signal gantries stand over the junction, a curve of track swings in from the left, and the office towers of downtown line the horizon, with the Shipt sign on the tallest of them. Live Trains counts 50 to 60 trains a day at this crossing: CSX freights of every kind, Norfolk Southern locals, transfer runs and coal trains, BNSF intermodal trains and Amtrak, which uses a connecting track here to reach the city’s station. A second tab in the player carries the operator’s movable camera on the same site, which pans across the wider junction.

About Sloss Furnaces and the Birmingham Rail Junction

Colonel James Withers Sloss formed the Sloss Furnace Company in 1881, and the first iron ran in April 1882. The plant made 24,000 tons of pig iron in its first year and kept producing until 1971. Its two blast furnaces stand 18 meters (60 feet) tall and 5.4 meters (18 feet) across, on a site of 50 acres (20 hectares) at First Avenue North and 32nd Street. Designated a National Historic Landmark on May 29, 1981, it was one of the first industrial sites in the United States to be preserved for the public, and it is the only blast furnace to get that treatment. Today it runs as a museum of industry, a metal arts school and a concert and festival venue.

Railroads are the reason the city exists at all. Birmingham was founded on June 1, 1871, when the Elyton Land Company sold lots near the planned crossing of the Alabama and Chattanooga and the South and North Alabama railroads. Growth was so fast between 1881 and 1920 that it earned the names the Magic City and the Pittsburgh of the South. The city sits at 182 meters (597 feet) above sea level and counted 200,733 residents in the 2020 census.

The fixed camera covers the diamond itself. CSX sends a wide mix across it, while the Norfolk Southern side sees mostly local work and coal. BNSF intermodal trains come off the CSX line, and a BNSF transfer job works the 27th Street interchange nearby. In the foreground, the arched metal roof of a site building and a parking lot fill the bottom of the frame, a highway viaduct crosses the middle distance, and a rust-streaked industrial structure stands on the right. The grounds also keep a Frisco 2-8-2 steam locomotive and a Baldwin DS 44-660 diesel on display. The movable camera in the second tab can turn a full 360 degrees, and Live Trains puts traffic across the whole junction at 70 to 80 trains a day.

Weather and Climate in Birmingham, Alabama

Summers are long and hot. July averages highs of 32.8 C (91 F) and lows of 22.3 C (72 F), and the nights stay warm. Autumn stays warm well into October, which averages 24.4 C (76 F) by day and 12.2 C (54 F) at night, and the trees along the tracks hold their green into the season. Winters are mild: January highs average 12.5 C (54.5 F) with lows of 1.6 C (34.9 F), and the city sees only about 3.6 centimeters (1.4 inches) of snow in a typical year, so a white frame is a rare event worth catching.

Spring warms quickly, with April averaging 23.9 C (75 F) by day and 11.2 C (52 F) at night. Birmingham lies in the tornado region known as Dixie Alley, and the area was hit by F5 tornadoes in 1977 and 1998 and an EF4 in 2011. Rain is generous, at 1,438 millimeters (56.6 inches) a year, so the camera often shows wet rails and low cloud over the towers.

Things to Do Near Sloss Furnaces

Start at the furnaces. Admission is free, and the site opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm and on Sunday from noon to 4 pm. Guided tours run for a small fee, and special tours are scheduled through the year. The metal arts program teaches classes in iron casting and metal fabrication, and the site hosts the biennial National Conference on Cast Iron Art, which draws nearly 500 artists and students. Festivals held on the grounds include Furnace Fest, the Magic City Art Connection, Taco Fest, Festa Italiana and Dia de los Muertos.

Pepper Place lies about 650 meters (0.4 miles) south, where the Market at Pepper Place runs every Saturday from 7 am to noon, rain or shine. Railroad Park, a 19 acre (7.7 hectare) green space that celebrates the city’s industrial heritage, is about 2.3 kilometers (1.4 miles) southwest. For the view from above, head about 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) south to Vulcan Park and Museum on the summit of Red Mountain, where a 17 meter (56 foot) statue of Vulcan, the blacksmith of the Roman gods, overlooks downtown. It is the largest cast iron statue in the world.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Birmingham Train Webcam located?

The camera is at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, at First Avenue North and 32nd Street on the east side of downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The camera faces west, toward the office towers of downtown.

What can you see on the Birmingham Train Webcam?

The fixed view shows the CP GATE diamond where CSX and Norfolk Southern cross, with signal gantries, curving track, a highway viaduct and the downtown skyline behind. The second tab is a movable camera that sweeps the wider junction.

Which railroads run past Sloss Furnaces?

CSX and Norfolk Southern cross at the diamond. BNSF intermodal trains run on the CSX line, and Amtrak uses a connecting track at the junction to reach the Birmingham station.

How many trains a day pass the Sloss Furnaces diamond?

Live Trains counts 50 to 60 trains a day at the diamond and 70 to 80 across the whole junction, including manifest freight, coal, intermodal, grain, auto racks and passenger trains.

What is the weather like in Birmingham, Alabama?

Hot, humid summers with July highs near 32.8 C (91 F), mild winters with January highs around 12.5 C (54.5 F), and about 1,438 millimeters (56.6 inches) of rain a year. Snow is rare, averaging 3.6 centimeters (1.4 inches).

Is Sloss Furnaces free to visit?

Yes. Admission is free, Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm and Sunday from noon to 4 pm. Guided tours cost a small fee.

Why is Birmingham called the Magic City?

The name comes from how fast the city grew between 1881 and 1920, after it was founded in 1871 at a planned railroad crossing. The same boom earned it the name the Pittsburgh of the South.

Source: LIVE Trains