Port Royal & Augusta Railway Chartered in 1856, the Port Royal Railroad was completed from Port Royal, on the South Carolina coast, to Augusta in 1873. It soon came under the control of the Georgia Railroad, which had guaranteed its bonds and later acquired much of its stock. It was sold in 1878 and renamed the Port Royal and Augusta Railway. In 1881, the Central of Georgia gained control of the line, largely to keep it out of the hands of any competitor who might use it to threaten the Central's lines in Georgia and its seaport interests at Savannah. South Carolina forced the Central to give up the line along with its other holdings in that state in the early 1890s. It was subsequently reorganized as the Charleston and Western Carolina Railway. In the 1894 edition of The Official Railway List, the PR&A reported operating 112 miles of railroad with 12 locomotives, 12 passenger cars, and 150 freight and miscellaneous cars. The Atlantic Coast Line gained control of the C&WC in 1897. It was not, however, until 1959 that the smaller road was merged into ACL. 1870 map (240K) 1882 timetable (60K) 1886 map (188K) 1895 timetable (120K)   RailGa.com. Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage. © Steve Storey Railroad History | The Depot List | Locomotives On Display | Odds & Ends | Sources & References | Home