L&N’s principal facilities in Montgomery included Union Station downtown, the wonderful Victorian/Romanesque Revival-styled, two-storied brick and stone structure with its 600’-long trackside shed that served L&N, ACL, the West Point Route and Amtrak trains from 1898 until 1979. The station is now home to the Montgomery Visitors’ Center and its rare and historic shed remains a landmark on the riverfront. Next to the station complex was a companion freight station with office building and handling sheds and, to the north, the S&N Yard, a flat switch freight train yard with adjacent mechanical facilities, including (in steam days) a large coaling tower and small roundhouse. Over the years, L&N was to expand and greatly modernize the S&N Yard.

Charles B. Castner retired in 1988 after a long and full career with CSX Transportation and the former L&N. During much of his almost 27-years in railroading, Charlie helped edit the L&N Magazine and Family Lines as well as handle media and community relations assignments. Those duties took him across the CSXT and L&N systems, and much of that travel was on trains. Since retirement, Charlie has served as a volunteer consultant at the University of Louisville Archives, assisting staff there in organizing a large collection of L&N-related records. His articles and entries have appeared in Trains, Railroad Magazine and in several other books and periodicals. His book on the NC&StL was published in 1995, and since then he has co-authored three books on the L&N, Louisville & Nashville Railroad: The Old Reliable, Louisville & Nashville Diesel Locomotives, and Louisville & Nashville Passenger Trains: The Pan-American Era, 1921-1971, all published by TLC Publishing, Inc. Charlie is past-president of the L&N Historical Society, and he and his wife live in Louisville.