Georgia Southwestern Railroad: Serving Southern GA Since 1989

Last revised: September 1, 2024

The Georgia Southwestern Railroad is a 234-mile shortline based out of Dawson, Georgia. The railroad may technically be a Class III carrier but it is the third largest rail operation in the state, behind only Norfolk Southern and CSX.

The GSWR’s operates trackage that was owned by both the Seaboard Air Line and Central of Georgia (the railroad's original livery even paid tribute to the Central of Georgia) with a heritage dating back to the latter 1800s.

When the GSWR began operations in 1989 it was originally a subsidiary of the South Carolina Central railroad (SCRF). This system was a 1987 startup utilizing sections of former SAL and Atlantic Coast Line trackage between Bishopville and Florence situated near the Palmetto State's eastern border.

Today, both the SCRF and GSWR, which were later acquired by RailAmerica, joined Genesee & Wyoming in 2012 when that company purchased RA.

Today, G&W is the nation's largest short line conglomerate with a network of more than 100 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom.

The Georgia Southwestern's traffic base is quite diversified and currently includes chemicals, plastics, agriculture, food products, minerals, and aggregates.

Photos

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. Doug Kroll photo.

History

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 formerly predominantly runs north-to-south (Columbus to Cusseta via Fort Benning and from Cuthbert to Bainbridge) while the latter comprises its east-to-west main line from Smithville to White Oak. In both cases these lines were located at the western end of each railroad's network.

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.

The line reached Richland, Georgia that same year (and a connection with the Seaboard Air Line) and Tallahassee, Florida a year later in 1902.

While the Seaboard is often remembered as a north-south road linking Richmond with southern Florida and predominantly staying along the coast it did serve the interior. Just like rival Atlantic Coast Line, SAL reached both Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama.

However, following the formation of CSX Transportation, components of both the ACL and SAL were siphoned off (either sold or abandoned) in an effort to create a more streamlined network.

The success of this tactic (also carried out on its northern lines) is debated to this day. Whatever the case, it did form numerous short lines, which included the Georgia Southwestern.

System Map

A present-day system map of the Georgia Southwestern Railroad. Note that aside from CSX and Norfolk Southern, all other railroads highlighted are properties of Genesee & Wyoming. Author's work.

The other component of the Georgia Southwestern system was built by the Central of Georgia, a Southern Railway predecessor.

There were two sections; the first was CoG's secondary line between Columbus and Americus, sold by NS in 1995 as it, too, looked to pare down its network via the company's so-called Thoroughbred Shortline Program.

The second line originally connected the CoG to Montgomery, Alabama; NS originally leased this property to short line Georgia & Alabama Railroad between Cuthbert, Georgia and White Oak, Alabama in 1989.

However, in 1995 the GSWR purchased the G&A. Today, the corridor remains in use. The Georgia Southwestern’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 hosted excursions behind a pair of ex-VIA Rail FP9's. Alas, this was discontinued after a change in contract negotiations with NS forced passenger trips off of the line in 2006.

The units remained in freight service until 2008 and were then sold to Larry's Truck & Electric (LTEX) in early 2011.

Logo

The Georgia Southwestern Railroad's logo prior to the Genesee & Wyoming acquisition. Author's work.

The Central of Georgia was always a regional road with a heritage tracing as far back as 1834.

At its peak the CoG's system stretched some 2,700 miles (including all subsidiaries and leased lines) and radiated in all directions away from Macon reaching Savannah, Albany, Athens, Atlanta, Dothan, Montgomery, Chattanooga, and Birmingham.

Despite its relative small size in comparison to the ACL, SAL, Southern, and Louisville & Nashville it did provide key connection points for these roads, particularly in relation to the L&N and parent Southern for through passenger trains.

Until 1948 the CoG was under the control of Illinois Central and proved an important eastern extension for "The Maine Line Of Mid-America."

The Southern took control in 1963 and from that point slowly integrated the company into its network. In 2012 the CoG was recognized by Norfolk Southern with its classic livery applied to ES44AC #8101.

Locomotive Roster

Road Number	Model Type	Builder	Year Built	Notes
22	GP9	EMD	8/1955	Built as Northern Pacific #239. Later became Burlington Northern #1865 then LaSalle & Bureau County Railroad #1865. Sold to Cape Cod & Hyannis and numbered 22. Wrecked.
70	GP8	EMD	1/1957	Built as Illinois Central GP9 #9237. Rebuilt as GP8 #7704 in 1974. Acquired in 2010 from the Carolina Piedmont. Transferred to the Louisiana & Delta in 2013.
702	GP9	EMD	7/1955	Built as Southern #6246. Sold to the Columbus & Greenville and renumbered 702. Currently in service on the Bay Line Railroad.
904	SD40-2	EMD	7/1976	Built as Missouri Pacific #3220. Renumbered 6004 then became Union Pacific #3904. Currently in service at the Columbus & Greenville as #3312.
1208	SW1200	EMD	12/1954	Built as Milwaukee Road #2055; later became #607 then #703. Later worked on Dakota Rail as #1208 and then Minnesota Northern Railroad as #1208.
1339	GP40	EMD	4/1966	Built as Norfolk & Western #1339; joined NS with the same number. Renumbered 4026 and sold, circa 2013, to RailServe, Inc. of Longview, Texas.
1342	GP40	EMD	4/1966	Built as Norfolk & Western #1342; joined NS with the same number. Renumbered 4027 and sold to Alabama & Gulf Coast.
1351	GP40	EMD	4/1966	Built as Norfolk & Western #1351; joined NS with the same number. Renumbered 4028 and sold to Alabama & Gulf Coast.
1702	GP9	EMD	5/1955	Built as Rio Grande #5921; later worked as Kyle Railroad #5921, then San Diego & Imperial Valley #5911, and finally RailLink #5911.
1703	GP10	EMD	1/1955	Built as Illinois Central GP9 #9072; rebuilt as GP10 #8072. Sold to Valdosta Railway as #1284.
1900	SD9	EMD	4/1959	Built as DM&IR #161. Sold to the New England Central as #1750.
1901	SD9	EMD	4/1959	Built as DM&IR #168. Sold to the New England Central as #1901.
2013	B23-7	GE	9/1979	Built as Conrail #2013. Sold to Connecticut Southern.
2059	GP38-3	EMD	12/1963	Built as Texas & Pacific/Missouri Pacific GP35 #603. Acquired by Wisconsin Central and rebuilt as GP35m. Sold to GSWR, rebuilt as GP38-2 #3801. Repainted into G&W orange and upgraded as GP38-3 #2059.
2127	GP7u	EMD	5/1952	Built as Santa Fe GP7 #2733, rebuilt as GP7u #2127. (Sold)
2160	GP7u	EMD	5/1952	Built as Santa Fe GP7 #2729, rebuilt as GP7u #2760. (Sold)
2176	GP7u	EMD	5/1952	Built as Santa Fe GP7 #2730, rebuilt as GP7u #2776. (Sold)
2185	GP7u	EMD	8/1952	Built as Santa Fe GP7 #2739, rebuilt as GP7u #2185. Sold to Virginia Southern.
2207	GP7u	EMD	1/1951	Built as Santa Fe GP7 #2664, rebuilt as GP7u #2207. Acquired by the Dallas, Garland & Northeastern as #2207 then became Salt Lake Southern #2207. Sold by the GSWR to Virginia Southern.
2207	GP7u	EMD	1/1951	Built as Santa Fe GP7 #2664, rebuilt as GP7u #2207. Acquired by the Dallas, Garland & Northeastern as #2207 then became Salt Lake Southern #2207. Sold by the GSWR to Virginia Southern.
2880	GP38	EMD	6/1966	Built as Norfolk Southern (original) #2001; became Southern #2880, then Norfolk Southern #2880.
3309	SD40-2	EMD	7/1973	Built as Milwaukee Road #29, became Soo #6313. Later became EMD Leasing #6313.
3311/4002	SD40-2	EMD	3/1975	Built as Missouri Pacific #3184. Has worked for other G&W properties, including the Bay Line and Alabama & Gulf Coast.
3802	GP38	EMD	2/1970	Built as Southern #2795; became NS #2795. Acquired by Western Rail. Has worked for other G&W properties including the Three Notch Railroad and Central Oregon & Pacific.
3812	GP38-2	EMD	6/1969	Built as Southern GP38 #2739; became NS #2739. Rebuilt into a GP38-2 and worked multiple RailAmerica properties, including GSWR.
3813	GP38-2	EMD	11/1967	Built as Chesapeake & Ohio GP38 #3878; became CSX #3878. Rebuilt into GP38-2; worked multiple RailAmerica properties, including GSWR.
3837	GP38	EMD	7/1970	Built as Chesapeake & Ohio #4824; became CSX #2124. (Sold)
3858	GP38	EMD	8/1969	Built as Penn Central #7753; became Conrail #7753. Transferred to Alabama & Gulf Coast.
4005	GP40	EMD	8/1968	Built as Katy #200. (Sold)
4026	GP40	EMD	4/1966	Built as Norfolk & Western #1339, became NS #1339. Transferred to the Kiamichi Railroad.
4027	GP40	EMD	4/1966	Built as Norfolk & Western #1342, became NS #1342. Transferred to the Alabama & Gulf Coast.
4028	GP40	EMD	4/1966	Built as Norfolk & Western #1351, became NS #1351. Transferred to the Alabama & Gulf Coast.
4029	GP40	EMD	4/1966	Built as Norfolk & Western #1352, became NS #1352. Sold to Motive Power Resources.
4167	MATE	GE	11/1972	Built as Seaboard Coast Line MATE (Motors to Aid Tractive Effort) #3223. Upgraded by RailTex with GP9 dynamic brakes. (Sold)
6302	FP9	GMD	5/1958	Built as Canadian National #6533; acquired by VIA Rail. Sold by GSWR to Larry's Truck & Electric.
6308	FP9	GMD	3/1957	Built as Canadian National #6521; acquired by VIA Rail. Sold by GSWR to Larry's Truck & Electric.
6541	GP9	EMD	6/1957	Built as Baltimore & Ohio #6541. (Sold)

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

Today

At its peak the Georgia Southwestern owned 258.4 miles of track but after cutting back part of the line between Cuthbert and Columbus its system now includes only 234 route miles.

Today, this segment still runs as far south as Cusseta, just south of Fort Benning. The track is still in place for a few miles beyond this point but has essentially been abandoned.

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.

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).

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