The Brunswick and Birmingham Railroad (B&B) was a railroad in southeastern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Its main route ran from

Brunswick, Georgia Brunswick ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Glynn County, Georgia, Glynn County in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As the primary urban and economic center of the lower southeast portion of Georgia, it is the second-larges ...

to Sessoms (just east of Nicholls, Georgia).

History

The Brunswick and Birmingham Railroad was chartered on December 11, 1900. In 1902–03, it built a line from

to Offerman, Georgia and a line from Bushnell, Georgia to

Ocilla, Georgia The city of Ocilla is the county seat of Irwin County, Georgia, Irwin County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Its population was 3,498 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Ocilla is part of the Fitzgerald, Georgia, Fitzg ...

. The B&B purchased the Offerman and Western Railroad on July 1, 1902, and the Ocilla and Irwinville Railroad on February 19, 1903. The railroad ran into financial troubles and was purchased by the Atlantic and Birmingham Railway in April 1904. The Atlantic and Birmingham then became part of the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad (AB&A) when it took over the A&B network on April 12, 1906. The Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad was acquired by the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967, it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast ...

in 1926. The Atlantic Coast Line operated the AB&A network as the Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad (AB&C) until 1946, when they fully merged the AB&C into the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. This gave the Atlantic Coast Line a second line to Brunswick (their first route to Brunswick was the former Brunswick and Western Railroad). The segment of the line built between

and

Alma, Georgia Bacon County Courthouse Alma is a city in Bacon County, Georgia, United States, and the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,433. Alma is known as Georgia's blueberry capital, and hosts a Blueberry Festival ea ...

was abandoned by the

in 1953. The remainder of the line survived the 1967 merger of the ACL and

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

(SAL) to form the

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lin ...

, and the acquisition of the Family Lines ( CRR, L&N, GA, AWP) into the Seaboard System Railroad in 1982. The remaining segment was known as the Alma Subdivision.Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Florence and Atlanta Division Timetable (1982)
/ref> After the Seaboard System became

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

, the line between Sessoms and Alma was abandoned in 1986.Brunswick to Nichols (Abandoned Rails)
/ref>

Current conditions

The railroad's former headquarters are today the Ritz Theatre in the

Brunswick Old Town Historic District Brunswick Old Town Historic District is a Historic districts in the United States, historic district in Brunswick, Georgia. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 26, 1979 and includes an area bounded by 1st Street, ...

. A small segment of the line in Brunswick south of Southern Junction is still in service and is part of CSX's Brunswick Subdivision (which primarily uses the former Brunswick and Western Railroad north and west of Southern Junction).CSX Jacksonville Division Timetable (2005)
/ref> Much of the railroad's former right of way parallels State Route 32 and much of it is now a power line corridor.

Historic stations

References

External links

Brunswick & Birmingham Railroad
Steve Storey, Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage
Brunswick & Birmingham Railroad Office
Steve Storey, Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunswick Birmingham Railroad Defunct Georgia (U.S. state) railroads Railway companies established in 1900 Railway companies disestablished in 1904 Predecessors of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad