Eureka Coke Ovens
The map at the right [Cox, 1913, UA Archive] shows the rail lines, in general, in about 1913. Two lines have been added in color. The blue line shows the AB&A line to Coalmont, and the red lines show the old S&NA lines. The S&NA became the L&N, and the main line in this area was relocated by 1910 as part of a series of upgrades to the original S&NA alignment.
In Larry Goolsby's "Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast" we find that the AB&A (Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic) reached Birmingham on September 6, 1908. Initial access was via trackage rights on the L&N from Pelham, but eventually the line was completed to Bessemer, and then along the Jones Valley to Birmingham. The underpasses in Bessemer bear the date 1907, although service on the line likely was the following year.
Goolsby tells us that the AB&A did modify it's branch lines in this area. He states "in late 1914, the railroad built a 1.5 mile branch from Roebuck, near Helena, to reach coal mines at Coalmont, but apparently used the line only a short time. Then in 1916 AB&A acquired a one-mile branch to the Eureka Coal Company that extended from Falliston Junction, about three miles west of Pelham. The branch was operated until 1932. Helena had been an important coal mining and iron production center since the 1870's, but the L&N served most of the area's industries. The AB&A passed by on the north edge of the town and did not have a depot there." (Note that the AB&A was a subsequent name change for the AB&C.) Goolsby cites the Annual Report of the AB&A, 1916 and the 1932 report to the Interstate Commerce Commission in this discussion.
On the map at the right, each square shown is a quarter mile on a side, so that the heavy line squares about about one mile on a side. Thus, the 1.5 mile line from Roebuck to Coalmont would have extended from the location of Eureka No. 2 to the Coalmont Mine.
But it is harder to follow the notation regarding the one mile line from Falliston Junction. Was this the spur line shown that dead ends to the southwest of Falliston, or was it the line from Falliston to Roebuck. There was a mine at the end of the spur from Falliston, called the Wadsworth Red Ash Co. mine in 1915.
Another aspect of this puzzle is that there were no less than four "Eureka" coal mines. Mr. Penhale indicates that at least two of these were operating at the same time, in the early years. The mines seem to be located such that the higher the number, the further to the southwest the mine is found. The locations for No. 2 and No. 3 were taken from TCI plat pages. These plats were originally prepared around 1907 for TCI's land holdings in the Birmingham District. It is interesting that for all the detail that they provide, they do not show the Eureka coke ovens.
It should be noted that there were apparently many, many mines in this area. Well over a dozen mines, many unnamed are indicated on the TCI plat pages for this general area.