From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Alton and Southern Railroad was originally a merger formed on August 1, 1913, between the Alton and Southern Railroad Company (founded in 1910), the Denverside Connecting Railroad (founded in 1910), and the Alton and Southern Railway (founded in 1911). The company operated as a subsidiary of Aluminum Company of America (now Alcoa), primarily to serve the Bayer process bauxite-to-alumina refinery at Alorton, Illinois, until it was sold to the Missouri Pacific Railroad and Chicago and North Western Railway (CNW) in 1968. In 1972, CNW's share was sold to the Cotton Belt Railway. In 1982, Union Pacific Railroad (UP) took ownership of the Missouri Pacific share and then became full owner in 1996 with the Southern Pacific Railroad merger. The Alton and Southern is still a legally separate entity but is wholly owned by UP.
