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The Saint Marys Railroad

The Saint Marys Railroad is, today, a Class III shortline based out of St. Marys, Georgia connecting the small town of Kingsland to the west, about 11 rail-miles away. Under its founder, Captain Lemuel Johnson, the operation had an ambitious plan (as most start-up railroads in those times) of expanding west, north, and south although funding could never be secured to see these dreams realized. Still, the railroad which was created remains in operation today although its small size and lack of customers makes its future uncertain at the present time. To its credit, however, the St. Marys' current owner has always wanted his own railroad so hopefully under the Boatright Companies' leadership the shortline can prosper.

The Saint Marys Railroad has had an interesting history over the years, especially considering that it has only served two small towns in southeastern Georgia since it was chartered. The railroad was originally known as the St. Marys & Kingsland Railroad and after the company had connected its namesake cities it was renamed as the Atlantic, Waycross & Northern in 1911. The point of this renaming was in hopes of extending the line to the north and west, notably to the town of Waycross. Unfortunately, funding for this route could never be completed but had it happened the AW&N would not have reached another larger city and acquired an additional interchange partner in the Atlantic Coast Line (the railroad already held an interchange with the Seaboard Air Line at Kingsland).

After the failure of the AW&N to extend the line and the death of its founder Lemuel Johnson in 1918 the railroad went through several name changes and ownerships. Soon after Johnson's death the shortline was sold to the Southern Fertilizer & Chemical Company of Savannah and over twenty years later was sold again to the St. Marys Kraft Corporation, a subsidiary of the Gilman Paper Company, in 1939. Gilman was a local company located near St. Marys and under its ownership the railroad was renamed as the Saint Marys Railroad. While the shortline did not really prosper under Gilman it did remain profitable, enabling it to purchase its first diesel locomotive in 1945, a General Electric 65-Tonner #500.

In 1955 the St. Marys Railroad saw its only considerable expansion when it constructed a 4.5-mile spur about two miles west of St. Marys along its main line to serve the United States Army Ammunitions storage terminal at Kings Bay. This allowed the shortline to expand its traffic base from what was essentially just outbound loads of paper via the Gilman's plant.

Unfortunately, the future looked bleak for the shortline after Gilman was sold to the Durango Paper Company in December, 1999 following the death of its founder, Howard Gilman. At this point the company was capable of producing 2.6 million pounds of paper per day and employed more than 1,000. Under Durgano's ownership the company was hit with numerous safety violations and by 2002 it was bankrupt and shut down the plant. Naturally, being the Saint Marys' largest customer it was a major blow to traffic losing the paper business.

Today, the railroad is under the ownership of the Boatright Companies, a multifaceted railroad business which offers rail car servicing, tie sales, Hi-Rail equipment, among other things. It is my understanding that St. Marys currently has a traffic base in coal, pulpwood chips, chemicals, along with the business it provides to the military base (this may not be entirely accurate, however, so if this incorrect please let me know). For more information regarding the Saint Marys Railroad please click here to visit their official website.

Currently the railroad’s roster includes only a GE and EMD switcher, although at point the St. Marys also had Alco RS3s. Information courtesy of Paul Pleasant:

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The Saint Marys Railroad Locomotive Roster

Builder	Model Type	Road Number	Date Built	Quantity
Alco	RS3	501	3/1951 (Replaced by #503)	1
Alco	RS3	502	1/1956 (Replaced by #504)	1
EMD	SW1500	503	6/1971 (Sold to Birmingham Southern in 2/07 and numbered BS #355.)	1
EMD	MP15DC	504	10/1974 (Sold to Watco in 6/06 and numbered WAMX #1504.)	1
EMD	MP15DC	505	5/1976 (Sold to Birmingham Southern 2/07 numbered BS #373.)	1
EMD	SW1200RS	506	1/1960 (Ex-CN #1270, Acquired 2/07.)	1
GE	65-Tonner	500	1945	1

For more reading on shortlines like the Saint Marys 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 (such as roster information, rail line history, radio frequencies, etc.). 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.

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