In the early ’90s, when Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow first took office, he remembers Norfolk Southern breaking the news that the rail company was going to close a section of rail from Corinth to Haleyville. With energetic pushback came the formation of a shortline to Red Bay to serve the needs of Sunshine Mills, but the rest of that rail has laid abandoned ever since.

That could be about to change.

“The property has just been sitting there,” said Morrow – but he has recently spokes with Norfolk Southern and other officials “to begin discussion on what steps will need to be taken to transfer ownership of that property” and to turn the rails into trails.

A meeting at Hackleburg City Hall set for March 6 at 6 p.m. will bring together Bear Creek Development Authority representatives, several local mayors, including Red Bay Mayor Charlene Fancher, and Norfolk Southern representatives to propose turning the neglected railroad into a path that could be enjoyed by everyone from walkers and bikers to those on horseback. Morrow plans to present the BCDA as potential overseers and caretakers for the property.

“Trails are becoming huge all over America,” Morrow pointed out. He sees the opportunity as a chance to assist economic development in the area. “It’s going to require a lot of people pulling together.”

BCDA Chairperson Tricia Montgomery said she is personally in favor of the project.

“This corridor could and should be developed for multipurpose trails, recreation, education, access for first responders and an evacuation route in case of natural or manmade disasters,” Montgomery said. “I do hope and believe this endeavor would also be a catalyst for economic recovery in the communities of Franklin, Marion and Winston counties.”

Montgomery said although she wouldn’t speak for the BCDA board as a whole, “I do know that each one would do what they could to support economic development and safety.”

Haleyville, Hackleburg, Hodges, Vina and Red Bay would all potentially be affected by the proposed trail, Morrow said.

From discussions Morrow has had to this point with Norfolk Southern, he said they think favorably of the idea.

“They’re not going to give (the property) away because it’s an asset they have, and they are a for-profit corporation … but they have assured me they will assist us in applying for grants and working with grant officials to secure the funding,” Morrow said.

As with all projects, money will be the driving – or suffocating – force.

With all the tornado recovery efforts in Hackleburg, plus the economic hit of the closing of the nearby Colbert steam plant in 2016, Morrow said he thinks the proposed site is “somewhere that grant evaluators would look at very positively” for grant approval. Additionally, “TVA has told us because of economic stress brought about by closing that plant, they are going to help us recover.” Rails to Trails Conservancy grants and ADECA grants are also options. “There are all kind of possibilities out there for federal funding.”

More than 30 miles of abandoned rail lies between Red Bay and Haleyville to potentially become a trail – with the one hitch, Morrow said, being the trestle between Hackleburg and Haleyville that Norfolk Southern tore down when they close the rail.

“Obviously we’re not going to build it back. Anyone using the trails would have to either walk down and up the ravine or have that be the termination of the hiking or biking,” Morrow explained.

Morrow envisions Hackleburg serving as “headquarters” for the trail. Interested walkers, bikers or horse-riders could begin in Hackleburg and travel east or west along the developed route.