Georgia Railroading and Railfanning In "The Peach State"

Georgia railroading is best known for its stiff grades in the west and flat, coastal operations in the east. Whether you are interested in high-speed freight and passenger trains or local, backwoods shortline operations the Peach State offers a little bit of everything with nearly 5,000 route miles of railroad!

Georgia railroading has its beginnings dating back to the industry’s infancy when the Central Rail Road & Canal Company of Georgia, the beginning of the state’s legendary Central of Georgia Railway, was organized when Savannah businessmen feared that Charleston’s (South Carolina) new South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, which was anticipated to reach Augusta, would severely hurt their city port’s shipping business.

In the years to follow Georgia would become home to the South’s most famous railroads. These include the Southern Railway, Seaboard Air Line, Atlantic Coast Line, and of course, the Central Railway of Georgia that owned most of the 7,000+ miles of railroad once covering the state. For a more in-depth look at Georgia’s rail mileage throughout the years please refer to the chart below.

To give a brief history of Georgia's most well-known fallen flag systems, after emerging from receivership in the early 1930s the Atlantic Coast Line would live out the rest of its life upgrading its equipment and infrastructure. By 1955 the railroad had totally dieselized its motive power fleet, purchasing locomotives from EMD, GE, and Alco. Also by the 1950s the railroad had upgraded its infrastructure substantially. By that time most of its main line was double-tracked between Florida and Virginia, and it had put in Centralized Traffic Control and automatic block signaling to more efficiently handle train movements (especially on its signal-track segments, where CTC is predominantly used). The railroad had also become a high-speed highway and freights were flying up and down the coast averaging 50 mph.

The Atlantic Coast Line also had a thriving passenger business for years, once again due to its well-positioned north-south routing. Because the railroad served literally the entirety of Florida the ACL handled a number of trains coming from all different directions as travelers flocked to the state's sunny, tropical beaches. Because of its strategic position of handling so many Florida-bound trains, coupled with its own passenger fleet the railroad enjoyed the very rare privilege of the passenger business being profitable, even into the 1950s and 1960s when many railroads were bowing out of the market. The ACL was so successful that it even continued to build new stations and depots into the 1960s!

The Seaboard Air Line was essentially a smaller version of the ACL as both railroads competed in almost every major market with one another. The Seaboard’s transition into a major southeastern competitor began after it fell into receivership following the Great Depression (it emerged following WWII as the Seaboard Air Line Railroad). The railroad began to aggressively upgrade its system and reduce expenses by purchasing new locomotives (including new diesel-electrics) and equipment, and adding Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) to its single-track main lines.

By the 1960s the railroad was a premier southern Class I system and fiercely competed with the Atlantic Coast Line for both passengers and traffic (its “Air Line” named referred to the shortest distance and fastest delivery between two points). By its latter years the Seaboard had a quite diverse freight traffic base which included agriculture, aggregates, cement, perishables, and iron ore. The railroad likewise was one of the first to champion the trailer-on-flat-car (TOFC) concept in 1950 (it also holds the distinction of being one of the relatively few railroads to name its premier freight trains).

The modern Southern Railway was formed in 1894 when the Richmond & Danville and East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia railroads merged. After this initial merger the new Southern Railway began to grow through consolidations with other smaller roads. During the Southern Railway’s final form the railroad stretched from Richmond to Florida and west to Memphis and New Orleans and would be made up of some 125 smaller railroads. The railroad’s most important main line stretched from Atlanta to Washington, D.C. and was entirely double-tracked.

Last, of course, is the Central of Georgia Railway. At its largest the Central stretched from Atlanta to Albany, east to Savannah, and west extending into Alabama, with the farthest reach to Birmingham. In 1956 the Central of Georgia would lose its independence forever when it was taken over by the Frisco. The Frisco remained in control of the railroad until it was forced to divest it by the ICC in 1963 at which point it was purchased by the Southern Railway and had its name changed to the Central of Georgia Railroad when it was merged with the Georgia & Florida, the Wrightsville & Tennille, and the Savannah & Atlanta. Surprisingly, the Central of Georgia continues to survive under the Norfolk Southern banner, albeit only on paper.

Today, freight rail service is mostly provided by CSX and, of course, Norfolk Southern. However, Georgia railroading also includes a host of shortlines. These include the Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway, Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad, Georgia & Florida Railway, Georgia Central Railway, Georgia Northeastern Railroad, Georgia Southwestern Railroad, Golden Isles Terminal Railroad, Great Walton Railroad, Hartwell Railroad, Sandersville Railroad, Savannah Port Terminal Railroad, historic St. Marys Railroad, and Valdosta Railway.

Georgia railroading currently only includes transit service in the form of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, MARTA, which operates a 47-mile system around the Atlanta area. Amtrak, however, also serves the state at Toccoa, Gainesville, Atlanta, Savannah, and Jesup with five different trains; the Crescent, Silver Meteor, Palmetto, Silver Star, and Meteor.

Passenger and freight railroading aside, Georgia is also home to numerous railroad museums and tourist lines. These include the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, Roundhouse Railroad Museum, Georgia Southwestern Railroad (it also operates excursion trains), SAM Shortline Excursion Train, the Southeastern Railway Museum, the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad, Misty Mountain Model Railroad, and the Thronateeska Heritage Center.

All in all, Georgia railroading has plenty to choose from for either the railfan or vacationer simply looking for something interesting to see and do. So, remember to have fun and enjoy that fine Southern hospitality!