I have always thought of railroad shop complexes as being the heart and soul of railroad companies. Though they were not the places where major corporate decisions were made, without them the railroads couldn’t run. Especially on small railroads like the Western of Alabama, they were a kind of "home place" where employees of all kinds gathered in larger numbers to get the railroad ready to run. The WofA Shops (then the Montgomery RR Shops) were first located on the oldest of the railroad’s property (now the location of Sabel Steel) and later moved across North Court Street to their current location. Over time, these shops, figured significantly in maintaining the company’s locomotives and rolling stock to the highest, most up-to-date standards, especially during the steam era. They were the primary military objective of Union forces in Montgomery as they swept through the state only days after General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House. During the first half of the 20th century they represented a lean and efficient operational anchor for the West Point Route and a western maintenance terminus for the Central of Georgia Railway.

The Early Years (1835-1865)

Evidence of Montgomery RR shop and maintenance practices in the earliest years of the railroad has not yet been uncovered. City records indicate that the first parcel of land was deeded to the Montgomery Rail Road by John Scott (one of the founders of Montgomery) in 1837 and that purchases continued through the 1845-50 period. The purchase of the land east of North Court Street upon which the current Shops reside had been completed by 1856, even though the move to this site happened only years later.

We do not know what the antebellum shops looked like, but reports of various fires at the site over time chronicle a transition from wooden to brick facilities. Throughout the antebellum period, the railroad used slave labor to a large extent in grading for the right of way and for unskilled labor in building these facilities.

Because the (now) Montgomery & West Point RR insisted on using standard gauge trackage (4’8-1/2"), contrary to nearly all other southern railroads (5’0"), their locomotives and rolling stock remained relatively intact throughout the Civil War, in spite of occasional Union raids. Thus, at the time of Lee’s surrender, the relatively strong condition of the M&WP represented a compelling objective for General Wilson’s cavalry. Montgomery surrendered to Wilson’s forces without a battle following the destruction of Selma in April 1865. After a couple of days’ occupation, Union forces completely destroyed the M&WP shop facilities and proceeded northeast up the tracks, pulling up and bending miles of track. At Opelika, the forces split up, some going to West Point, others to Columbus, where the very last battles of the Civil War were fought. M&WP equipment was almost completely destroyed in these operations.

Rebuilding (1865-1900)

From around 1870 through the 1880’s, the (now) WofA’s Montgomery Shops expanded across North Court Street, straddling that thoroughfare during this period. The company purchased new machine tools and built a new roundhouse, machine shop and several other facilities during this period. However, labor unrest in the late 1880’s and early 1890’s resulted in some deterioration of the facilities. A pictorial map of Montgomery from around 1880 gives a good impression of the shops at this time, and the accompanying photograph is of the WofA office surrounded by very high floodwaters.

In July of 1897, a fire completely destroyed the roundhouse on the west side of North Court Street and prompted a new initiative on the current property.