Now & Then - Here's a look at the ACL's FA Tower in Richmond, VA as seen on March 7, 1948 and August 14, 2016. Back 68 years ago this was the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's highly publicized double track mainline from Richmond to Jacksonville, FL. Today the same tracks are owned by CSX and part of their North End Subdivision between Richmond and Rocky Mount, NC. FA Tower controlled the interlocking between the original ACL mainline into Richmond and the 1919 Belt Line that bypassed the downtown area to the west. The letters "FA" was the telegraph code assigned to this junction and were derived from nearby Falling Creek. In the top photo we see Extra 1678 South coming off the "belt line" as it passes FA Tower on March 7, 1948. Contrast this scene to a shot I took this afternoon of Amtrak 89 solely for the purpose of recreating the 1948 image.