The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was constructed to join the Macon and Western Railroad at Macon, Georgia, in the United States, and run to Savannah. This created a rail link from Chattanooga, on the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other name ...

, to

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...

s on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. It took from 1837 to 1843 to build the railroad from Savannah to the eastern bank of the

Ocmulgee River The Ocmulgee River () is a western tributary of the Altamaha River, approximately 255 mi (410 km) long, in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the westernmost major tributary of the Altamaha.

at Macon; a bridge into the city was not built until 1851. During the Savannah Campaign of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, conducted during November and December 1864, federal troops tore up the rails and converted them into " Sherman's neckties." The company was purchased by the Southern Railway in 1963, and subsequently became part of Norfolk Southern Railway in 1982. Despite the similarity between the two names, the Georgia Central Railway has no ties with the Central of Georgia Railway.

Acquisitions

Over the years, this railroad steadily acquired other railroads by either lease or purchase: * Augusta and Savannah Railroad 1862 ** Augusta and Waynesboro Railroad 1857 * Eatonton Branch Railroad 1855 * Milledgeville and Eatonton Railroad 1855 * Milledgeville and Gordon Railroad 1855 * Mobile and Girard Railroad 1886 ** Girard Railroad 1857 * Savannah and Tybee Railroad 1890 * Savannah and Western Railroad 1890 ** Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus Railroad 1891 *** Rome and Carrollton Railroad 1887 ** Columbus and Rome Railroad 1888 *** Columbus and Atlanta Air Line Railroad 1879 **** North and South Railroad of Georgia 1877 ** Columbus and Western Railroad 1888 *** Savannah and Memphis Railroad 1880 ** East Alabama Railroad 1888 *** East Alabama and Cincinnati Railroad 1880 * Savannah, Griffin and Northern Alabama Railroad 1890 * Southwestern of Georgia Railroad 1869 ** Montgomery and Eufaula Railroad 1879 ** Muscogee Railroad 1868 **

Vicksburg and Brunswick Railroad Vicksburg most commonly refers to: * Vicksburg, Mississippi, a city in western Mississippi, United States * The Vicksburg Campaign, an American Civil War campaign * The Siege of Vicksburg, an American Civil War battle Vicksburg is also the name ...

1879 ** Southwestern Railroad 1869 * Upson County Railroad 1891 ** Barnesville and Thomaston Railroad 1860

Corporate history

Central of Georgia Baldwin locomotives 1907

In 1888, the Richmond Terminal Company, a Virginia

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

, gained control of the Central. The financial problems of the parent company forced the CofG into

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

, and it was sold at foreclosure three years later, being reorganized as the Central of Georgia ''Railway'' on November 1, 1895. In 1907 railroad magnate and financier E. H. Harriman gained a controlling interest in the railway, and in 1909 sold his interest to the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line al ...

, which he also controlled. In 1932, during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the CofG went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...

, from which it did not emerge until 1948. In 1956, the

St. Louis-San Francisco Railway ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

("Frisco"), seeking a route to Atlantic Ocean ports, gained control of the CofG, but the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to elimina ...

declined to approve a merger of the two roads, so the Frisco sold its CofG stock to the Southern Railway in 1963. At the end of 1956 the CofG operated of road and of track; that year it reported 3208 million net ton-miles of revenue freight and 73 million passenger-miles. Those totals do not include the Savannah and Atlanta, the L&W, the Wadley Southern or the Wrightsville and Tennille. The CofG became a Southern Railway subsidiary on June 17, 1963. In 1971 the Southern formed the Central of Georgia Railroad to merge the Central of Georgia Railway, the

Savannah and Atlanta Railway The Savannah and Northwestern Railway was a railroad in the U.S. state of Georgia. From 1906 to 1914, it was named the Brinson Railway after its owner, George M. Brinson, a businessman who had earlier built the Stillmore Air Line Railway. The ...

, and the

Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad Chartered in 1883, the Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad was founded to build a line from a connection with the Central of Georgia Railroad Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. ...

Passenger operations

Central of Georgia Railway Man O War 1951

The famous passenger train the '' Nancy Hanks II'' (1947-1971) ran from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

to Savannah, via Macon. It had the two added on the end to distinguish it from a short-lived train the Central sal in the 1890s. Another notable train was the ''Man o' War'' (1947-1970), a

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

route, via

Newnan Newnan is a city in Metro Atlanta and the county seat of Coweta County, Georgia, about southwest of Atlanta. Its population was 42,549 at the 2020 census, up from 33,039 in 2010. History Newnan was established as county seat of Coweta Cou ...

. Both of these trains were named after prize-winning racehorses. When

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

took control of the Southern Railway's passenger service in 1971, The Southern decided to discontinue the "Nancy Hanks II" but continue operating the "Crescent Limited" until 1977. Into the mid-1950s, the CofG, with the Alabama & Saint Andrews Bay Railroad, operated passenger trains headed for the Gulf Coast resort city Panama City, Florida. Long distance inter-state trains operated on Central of Georgia tracks as part of their itineraries: ''

City of Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

'' (Chicago-Miami), '' Southland'' (Chicago & Cincinnati to St. Petersburg), '' Flamingo'' (Cincinnati-Jacksonville) and '' Seminole'' (Chicago-Jacksonville). Well into the 1960s, CofG trains remained segregated, long after most Southern railroads abolished racial bars following a desegregation order by the

. The CofG only operated in Georgia, and some parts of Alabama, and was thus not engaged in interstate commerce.

In recent years

Today the Central of Georgia exists only as a

paper railroad In the United States, a paper railroad is a company in the railroad business that exists "on paper only": as a legal entity which does not own any track, locomotives, or rolling stock. In the early days of railroad construction, paper railroads ...

within the Norfolk Southern Railway group. of the CofG's former mainline are currently leased by the

Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway The Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway is a short-line railroad which is headquartered in LaFayette, Georgia, USA. The railroad operated of the Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia Railway (a.k.a. the TAG route) from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Kensingto ...

from the

State of Georgia Georgia is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina; to the northeast by South Carolina; to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean; to the south by Florida; and to the west ...

. On April 5, 2012, Norfolk Southern unveiled NS 8101, a GE ES44AC painted in the scheme found on Central of Georgia's diesel locomotives. It was the fourth of 20 units that NS painted in the colors of their predecessors.

Preserved historic sites

A number of former properties of Central of Georgia are preserved as historic sites. These include the following, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

: * Central of Georgia Depot (Andalusia, Alabama) * Central of Georgia Railway: Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities, in Georgia. It is currently the

Georgia State Railroad Museum The Georgia State Railroad Museum (formerly the Roundhouse Railroad Museum) is a museum in Savannah, Georgia located at a historic Central of Georgia Railway site. It includes parts of the Central of Georgia Railway: Savannah Shops and Terminal Fac ...

, and the

Savannah History Museum Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed is a former passenger depot and trainshed constructed in 1860 by the Central of Georgia Railway (CofG) before the outbreak of the American Civil War. This pair of buildings was declared a National Historic La ...

. * Macon Terminal Complex in Macon, Georgia is partially preserved, including the terminal head house, and the foundations of some of the Central of Georgia buildings there, including the original 1880s roundhouse. *The Central of Georgia Depot in Millen, GA has been preserved as yard offices for Norfolk Southern, the successor of the Central of Georgia.

Existing equipment

This list includes, but is not limited to the preserved engines and rolling stock of the Central of Georgia Railway. Locomotives: * Central of Georgia Railway 509 (2-8-0) Central City Park, Macon, Ga *Central of Georgia Railway 349 (4-4-0) Children's Hospital at Erlanger Chattanooga, Tn, on loan from the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum *Central of Georgia Railway 109, later W.T. Smith Lumber Co. 14 (4-4-0) Pioneer Museum Of Alabama, Troy, Al *Central of Georgia Railway 1 (SW-1) Georgia State Railroad Museum, Savannah, Ga *Central of Georgia Railway 223 (2-8-0) Georgia State Railroad Museum, Savannah, Ga *Central of Georgia Railway 109 (RS-3) Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, Chattanooga, Tn *Central of Georgia Railway 201 (SD7), currently painted as Southern Railway 197, at Virginia Museum of Transportation Rolling Stock: *Jim Crow Passenger Car(s) 606 and 607 built by the Pullman Company in 1911 To serve The Central Of Georgia's growing passenger demand and both are currently owned by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. *Passenger Car 660 built by American Car and Foundry for service on the ''Nancy Hanks II'' in 1947 and is currently on display in Meridian, Mississippi. *Passenger Car 661 built by American Car and Foundry for service on the ''Nancy Hanks II'' in 1947 and is currently owned by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. *Passenger Car 662 built by American Car and Foundry in 1947 for use on the ''Nancy Hanks II'' and is currently owned by the Southeastern Railway Museum (Currently on lease to TVRM). *Jim Crow Passenger Car 527 built by Pullman in 1924, later used on ''The Seminole.'' It is currently owned by the Southeastern Railway Museum. *Jim Crow Passenger Car 906 built by Pullman in 1924 as 623, later becoming 528. 528 served on the Man O'War as the only heavyweight, and was painted aluminium to match the lightweight cars from 1951-1954. It was later painted autumn harvest and used on ''The Seminole.'' Finally the car saw service on the Southern Steam Specials before coming to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. *Jim Crow Passenger Car 907 built by the American Car & Foundry. 907 was built in 1947 as 543 to serve The Central Of Georgia's growing passenger demand in the Post-War period as a lightweight. It is currently owned by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. *Caboose 31580, built by the company's own Macon, GA shops in 1937, currently resides at the

New Hope Railroad The New Hope Railroad , formerly and colloquially known as the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad, is a shortline and heritage railroad located in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Today, the railroad operates both steam and diesel powered locomotives and is ...

in New Hope, PA. *Caboose X-92. The wood caboose was built in 1916 as a ventilated boxcar, and the Central of Georgia converted the car into a caboose in 1942. On display at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, GA.

References

External links

Central of Georgia Historical Society"Central of Georgia Railway, ''New Georgia Encyclopedia''
*
Ulrich Bonnell Phillips, "Chapter VI: The Central of Georgia Railroad System," ''A History of Transportation in the Eastern Cotton Belt to 1860'', New York, Columbia University Press, 1908.