Georgia Southwestern Railroad, "The New Reliable Railroad"

The Georgia Southwestern Railroad is a 234-mile shortline based out of Dawson, Georgia. The railroad may be labeled technically as a Class III carrier but it is the third largest rail operation in the state behind Norfolk Southern and CSX! The GSWR’s operates trackage that was owned by both the Seaboard Air Line and Central of Georgia (the railroad even has a few of its locomotives painted in CoG-inspired livery), dating back to the latter 1800s. When the GSWR began operations in 1989 it was a subisidary of the South Carolina Central railroad. However, today it is owned by Genesee & Wyoming, Inc., a company which specializes in the operation of shortline railroads all across the country. With the railroad having a diversified traffic base and interchange points with both of the eastern Class I systems, the company's future looks very good.

Georgia Southwestern SD9 #1901 works to put together its train at Dawson. Today, the venerable six-axle EMD units (#1900 and #1901) are no longer on the property.

As mentioned before the lines that make up the Georgia Southwestern Railroad system are comprised of two former Class I systems, the SAL and Central of Georgia. The Seaboard's trackage was originally built by the Americus, Preston & Lumpkin of 1884 to connect its namesake cities. The company's line was completed by 1887 and a year later was renamed the Savannah, Americus & Montgomery Railroad. In 1895 the company again went through a name change as the Georgia & Alabama Railway. At its peak the G&A connected Montgomery, Alabama with Lyons, Georgia (which was located west of Savannah). In 1896 the G&A took control of the Columbus Southern Railway which had been built in 1890 connecting Albany with Columbus. In 1900 the G&A came under the control of the SAL.

The final railroad that was eventually leased by the SAL in 1928 was the Georgia Pine Railway, which was chartered in 1895 to build a line north from Bainbridge. Three years later in 1898 the railroad had a 28-mile line in operation to Damascus. After the railroad was renamed as the Georgia, Florida & Alabama Railway in 1901 it soon began building north and south eventually reaching Richland, Georgia that same year (and a connection with the Seaboard Air Line) and Tallahassee, Florida a year later in 1902.

Georgia Southwestern GP38 #3801 performs switching work at local industries in Dawson on December 12, 2008. The shortline wears a livery inspired by the Central of Georgia.

The other part of the Georgia Southwestern Railroad's system was built by the Central of Georgia, a Southern Railway predecessor. There were two sections. First was the CoG's secondary line between Columbus and Americus, which was soldby NS to the GSWR in 1995. The second line originally connected the CoG to Montgomery, Alabama and NS leased the property to shortline Georgia & Alabama Railroad between between Cuthbert, Georgia and White Oak, Alabama in 1989. In 1995 the GSWR purchased the G&A and the track remains in use by the railroad today.  The Georgia Southwestern Railroad’s most well known freight is peanuts (of all things!) but it does have a traffic base in other commodities such as stone, chemicals, and forest products. The railroad also once used to haul excursion trips behind a pair of ex-VIA FP9s but this was discontinued after a change in contract negotiations with NS forced passenger trips off of the line (the FP9s are now used merely for freight service).

GSWR SD9 #1901 and GP40 #4005 have a westbound freight at Smithville. The lead SD9 began its career hauling ore on the Missabe Road while the Geep started out on the Katy as #200. Date unknown.

At its peak the railroad once owned 258.4 miles of track but after cutting back the line between Cuthbert and Columbus its system now includes only 234 route miles. The GSWR also has trackage rights to Albany via Norfolk Southern and Bainbridge and Saffold via CSX where it connects with another G&W owned line, the Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad. To learn more about the Georgia Southwestern Railroad please click here to visit their G&W web page. Also, a full GSWR locomotive roster is listed below.

Georgia Southwestern Railroad Diesel Locomotive Roster

Georgia Southwestern GP38 #3802 takes a break from its assignments at the yard in Cuthbert, Georgia on May 11, 2006.

The future sure looks bright for this line as its carloadings continue to increase by at least 1,000 annually. I guess the railroad’s slogan sure fits it well, “The new reliable railroad” (A slogan the Central of Georgia used for years). For more reading on shortlines like the Georgia Southwestern Railroad consider the book American Shortline Railway Guide from author Ed Lewis. The book has gone through several updated editions to keep up with the ever-changing world of the shortline industry. Today, the publication highlights almost 600 shortlines across the country with general background information about each. If you have any interest in shortlines you will very likely enjoy this book. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit the link below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.