The Georgia Southwestern Railroad, "The New Reliable Railroad"

The Georgia Southwestern Railroad is a 327-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 history dates all of the way back to the old Central of Georgia and is unique (for a shortline, anyway) in having two Class I connections with both NS and CSX.

The 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. Once part of the large family of shortlines known as RailTex the parent was later purchased by RailAmerica (another large short line family) until being sold by a private owner in 2002 and is now a completely independent operation to the delight of railfans.

The Georgia Southwestern 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).

To give a brief history of the railroad's which make up the Georgia Southwestern, the Central of Georgia stretched from Atlanta to Albany, east to Savannah, and west into Alabama, with the farthest reach to Birmingham. In 1956 the Central 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, Wrightsville & Tennille, and the Savannah & Atlanta. Surprisingly, the Central of Georgia continues to survive under the Norfolk Southern banner, albeit only on paper.

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.

Much of what made the Southern Railway such a highly profitable railroad was its many fine business leaders. It began with Samuel Spencer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which expanded the company to much of how it looked when it merged with the N&W in 1982. Later Ernest Norris began dieselizing the company’s fleet of motive power and Harry deButts was able to understand the future economic growth of the South, and prepared the railroad accordingly.

#6308 - FP9: ex-VIA

#6302 - FP9: ex-VIA

#3801 - EMD GP38

#3802 - EMD GP38

Other units include four SD40-2s, two ex-Conrail B23-7s, a GP7, and a GP9.

The future sure looks bright for this line as its carloadings continue to increase by at least 1,000 annually (in 2007 they are expecting to move over 13,000 carloads). I guess the railroad’s slogan sure fits it well, “The new reliable railroad.”

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.