Stevenson Railcam – CSX and Norfolk Southern at the Depot

The Stevenson Railcam looks northeast from the Stevenson Railroad Depot Museum in Stevenson, a small town in Jackson County, northeast Alabama, where two freight routes come together. A red caboose sits on display in the foreground, fenced in on both sides, with a track running past it on each side. According to Iron Rail Cams, which runs the camera, the track on the left is the CSX line coming in from Cowan and Nashville, Tennessee, and the track on the right is the Norfolk Southern line toward Memphis. Trains from both railroads join at this point to run the Chattanooga Subdivision, so a quiet frame of grass, ballast and signals can fill with a long freight train at any time. The stream also carries live scanner audio from the CSX and Norfolk Southern radio channels for the area.

About the Stevenson Railroad Depot

Stevenson was built around the railroad. Vernon K. Stevenson, president of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, and John F. Anderson bought land along the planned route and sold it off as town lots in the early 1850s, and the town took his name. The Nashville and Chattanooga line was finished in 1854, and the Memphis and Charleston Railroad met it here, making Stevenson a rail junction. The town had 1,955 residents at the 2020 census and sits at 199 meters (653 feet) above sea level, about 52 kilometers (32 miles) southwest of downtown Chattanooga in a straight line.

The first depot, from 1853, did not survive the Civil War era. The present brick building went up around 1872 as a joint project of the Memphis and Charleston and the Nashville and Chattanooga railroads, with Italianate details and a central second-story tower added in 1887. The Stevenson Hotel, a small brick hotel with eight guest rooms, was built at the same time about 9 meters (30 feet) away and was linked to the depot by a walkway. The depot closed in 1976, the same year the depot and hotel were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places, and it reopened as a museum in June 1982 after local residents raised money to save it.

The junction still matters. Between Chattanooga and Stevenson, CSX trains use the former Southern Railway main line, then turn off here onto the old Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis route toward Cowan and Nashville. During the Civil War the Union Army guarded the same junction with Fort Harker, an earthen redoubt 46 meters (150 feet) square with walls 4.3 meters (14 feet) high. Soldiers and freed slaves built it in the summer of 1862 on a hill about 400 meters (a quarter mile) east of town, and it was expanded in 1864.

Weather and Climate in Stevenson, Alabama

Stevenson has hot summers and short, mild winters. The nearest long-term NOAA normals come from Scottsboro, the county seat, about 28 kilometers (17 miles) to the southwest. There, July averages a high of 89 F (32 C) and a low of 68 F (20 C), while January averages a high of 50 F (10 C) and a low of 29 F (minus 2 C). Rain falls in every season and adds up to about 1,516 millimeters (59.7 inches) a year.

In spring and fall, April averages a high of 72 F (22 C) and October 74 F (24 C), with nights falling to around 46 to 48 F (8 to 9 C). The trees behind the tracks were still green in early October, and the leafy ones thin out over the winter. The stream shows the current temperature in its top-left corner and the local date and time, in Central Time, in its top-right corner.

Things to Do Near Stevenson

Start at the depot itself. The Stevenson Railroad Depot Museum is listed as open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with free admission, and its collection runs from railroad artifacts to items from Native American culture, pioneer life and the Civil War, along with class photos from the local high school. The old Stevenson Hotel stands next door. The remains of Fort Harker, the site of General William Rosecrans’s headquarters and the Stevenson Historic District are all in town and all on the National Register of Historic Places. The Depot Days festival fills the first full week of June with a street dance, live music, an auction and a fishing tournament.

About 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) north of the depot in a straight line, near Bridgeport, Russell Cave National Monument protects a cave where prehistoric people took shelter more than 10,000 years ago. It became a national monument in 1961. The Gilbert Grosvenor Visitor Center has exhibits and a short film, a short boardwalk leads to the entrance of the shelter, and a 1.9-kilometer (1.2-mile) nature trail climbs about 120 meters (400 feet) up the side of Montague Mountain through hardwood forest, limestone outcrops and sinkholes.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

If you like watching freight trains meet at a junction, these cams are worth a look next.

• Austell Webcam
• Tehachapi Webcam
• Toomer’s Corner Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Stevenson Railcam located?

The camera is at the Stevenson Railroad Depot Museum on West Main Street in Stevenson, Jackson County, in the northeast corner of Alabama. Stevenson is about 52 kilometers (32 miles) southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and about 28 kilometers (17 miles) northeast of Scottsboro, in a straight line.

What can you see on the Stevenson Railcam?

The camera faces northeast over a red caboose on display beside the depot. A CSX track runs past on the left toward signals and a road crossing in the distance, and a Norfolk Southern track runs behind an iron fence on the right, with trees, houses and low buildings beyond. Freight trains from both railroads pass through the frame.

Which railroads run through Stevenson, Alabama?

CSX and Norfolk Southern. Iron Rail Cams says the CSX line from Nashville and Cowan and the Norfolk Southern line from Memphis join at Stevenson and continue together toward Chattanooga.

Is the Stevenson Railroad Depot Museum open to visitors?

Yes. The museum is listed as open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and admission is free.

Can you hear railroad radio on the Stevenson Railcam?

Yes. The stream plays scanner audio from both the Norfolk Southern and CSX radio frequencies for the Stevenson area, so radio calls between crews and dispatchers can be heard along with the trains. The same audio is also published as a Broadcastify feed.

What is the weather like in Stevenson, Alabama?

Summers are hot, with July highs around 89 F (32 C), and winters are mild, with January highs around 50 F (10 C) and lows near 29 F (minus 2 C), based on NOAA normals for nearby Scottsboro. Rain is spread through the year.

Who operates the Stevenson train cam?

Iron Rail Cams, a railfan channel that runs live cameras at rail-watching spots in several towns, operates the camera. The Stevenson Railroad Depot Museum hosts the camera and gave permission for it to be installed there.

Source: Iron Rail Cams