Georgia Northern Railway
The Georgia Northern began in the early 1890s as a logging railroad running north from Pidcock, a logging community east of Boston owned by the Pidcock family. At about the same time, a group of area business men organized the Boston and Albany Railroad to
build a common carrier line along the route of the logging tracks.
Their company soon entered receivership and its assets were sold
in 1894 to the Pidcocks, who renamed the line Georgia Northern.
The line reached Moultrie in 1892 and was completed to Albany in 1905. Also in 1905, the southernmost four miles of the line was relocated to terminate at Boston.
In 1910, the Pidcocks acquired the Flint River and Northeastern, a line between Pelham and Ticknor. In 1922, they brought the Georgia, Ashburn, Sylvester and Camilla Railway into the Georgia Northern system, and in 1939, they gained control of the Georgia, Southwestern and Gulf, which connected Albany and Cordele.
In 1946, the Flint River and Northeastern was abandoned.
In May, 1966, Southern Railway acquired the Georgia Northern. In 1972, Southern merged it with the Albany & Northern (the former Georgia, Southwestern and Gulf) and the Georgia, Ashburn, Sylvester and Camilla, keeping the name Georgia Northern for the combined subsidiary. The GN also included the former Georgia and Florida Railroad line from Moultrie to Adel.
Abandonments:
Boston-to-Barwick abandoned 1971.
Ashburn-to-Sylvester (16 miles) abandoned 1971.
Barwick-to-Pavo abandoned 1976.
Sylvester-to-Bridgeboro (13 miles) abandoned 1982.
Pavo-to-Moultrie abandoned 1990.
Camilla-to-Bridgeboro (19 miles) abandoned in mid-1990s.
1895 timetable (18K)
1895 map (32K)
1906 timetable (46K)
1908 map (72K)
1918 timetable (97K)
1928 map (36K)
Photo of Georgia Northern locomotive no. 105 at Moultrie.
Photos and specs of Georgia Northern locomotives at hawkinsrails.net.
Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage. Copyright, Steve Storey.
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