At Gurnee Junction, the line connected with Southern Railway predecessor Brierfield, Blocton & Birmingham Railway over which L&N had trackage rights, allowing L&N to access the rich mineral resources of the Cahaba Basin, particularly coal.

[1][2] As the mines were exhausted and economic pressures mounted in the mid-1900s, the line was abandoned and the rails removed.

In 2008 the portion of the former rail bed in Helena between Appleford Drive and the operating CSX Lineville Subdivision was turned into an asphalt paved walking trail as part of the Hillsboro housing development.

[3] By 2010 the asphalt-paved trail had been extended further west along the former railroad bed to the site of the present Helena Middle School.

The trail runs primarily through new growth forest; the area was extensively mined for coal and timber cleared between the mid-19th and 20th centuries.