Southern Railway
|
Southern Railway was chartered in 1894 as successor to the Richmond and West Point Terminal Railway and Warehouse Company, a holding company which owned or controlled several rail lines in the South, including In 1895, Southern bought the 105-mile Atlanta and Florida Railway. In 1896, Southern leased the 100-mile Georgia Midland Railway. Southern Railway gained control of the South Carolina and Georgia and the Augusta Southern in 1899. (The Augusta Southern was sold to the Georgia and Florida in 1917.) |
the 
| Baldwin ten-wheeler built for Southern in the early 1900s. |
|
Southern acquired the Central of Georgia Railway and the Georgia and Florida in 1963. (The G&F was merged into the Central in 1971.) In 1966, Southern acquired the Georgia Northern and the Albany and Northern. In 1971, Southern purchased the Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia Railway. Also in 1971, Southern merged its South Georgia Railroad and Live Oak, Perry and Gulf Railroad to form the Live Oak, Perry and South Georgia Railway, running from Adel, Georgia to Perry, Florida. In 1972, Southern merged the Albany and Northern, the Georgia, Ashburn, Sylvester, and Camilla, and the Georgia Northern into a single subsidiary. In 1980, Southern and Norfolk & Western announced an agreement to merge into a combined system encompassing over 17,000 miles of track. On June 1, 1982, the merger was completed and the Norfolk Southern Railway was born. |
| Southern's Palm Limited passenger train. (From: Railway and Locomotive Engineering, June 1906). |
|
Abandonments: For later abandonments, see Norfolk Southern. See also subsidiary railroads such as Georgia & Florida, Georgia Northern, and Central of Georgia. |
| Baldwin mallet articulated compound engine built around 1911 for Southern. (From: Railway & Locomotive Engineering, June 1911.) |
|
Maps and Timetables: 1895 timetables 1897 map at Library of Congress 1901 map at North Carolina Maps 1917 timetables Chattanooga-Atlanta-Macon-Jacksonville-Brunswick 1922 map at North Carolina Maps 1929 map at North Carolina Maps 1909 and 1947 maps at University of Alabama Map Library |
|
Suggested Reading: Burke Davis. The Southern Railway; Road of the Innovators. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985. Maury Klein. The Great Richmond Terminal; A Study in Businessmen and Business Strategy. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1970. Sallie Loy, Dick Hillman, and C. Pat Cates. The Southern Railway. (Images of America series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2004. Sallie Loy, Dick Hillman, and C. Pat Cates. The Southern Railway: Further Recollections. (Images of Rail series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2005. Tom Murray. Southern Railway. (MBI Railroad Color History). Osceola, WI: Voyageur Press, 2007. More: Southern Railway in Georgia -- "family tree" More info at Southern Railway Historical Association Vintage photos of the Southern at hawkinsrails.net. |
RailGa.com. Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage. © Steve Storey
Railroad History | The Depot List | Locomotives On Display | Odds & Ends | Sources & References | Home