The Chattahoochee and Gulf Railroad was a

short line railroad A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the former, railroads are ...

operating from 2003 to 2006 between

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...

, and

Dothan, Alabama Dothan is a city in and the county seat of Houston County, Alabama, Houston County in the U.S. state of Alabama. A slight portion of the city extends into Dale County, Alabama, Dale and Henry County, Alabama, Henry counties. It had a population ...

, on former

Central of Georgia 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 constr ...

and

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

tracks. Initially the railroad was a subsidiary of Gulf & Ohio Railways. In 2006, the railroad was acquired by

Genesee & Wyoming Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom; and formerly in Australia. ...

and combined with the adjacent H and S Railroad out of Dothan to form the Chattahoochee Bay Railroad. Commodities include chemicals, forest products, food products, and feed, which generate approximately 5,500 annual carloads.

History

In 1900 the Chattahoochee and Gulf Railroad completed the construction of a line from Columbia to Lockhart, Alabama. The railroad was leased and operated by the

Central of Georgia Railway 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 constr ...

(CofG) until the line was abandoned from Lockhart to Hartford in 1940. The CofG became a subsidiary of the Southern Railway, which merged into the Norfolk Southern in 1982. On March 7, 2003 Norfolk Southern sold the line between Hilton and Dothan to the Chattahoochee and Gulf railroad, a Gulf & Ohio subsidiary. The railroad connected to another G&O subsidiary, the H and S Railroad, at Dothan. Another railroad group,

, expanded into the region in 2003 and 2005 with acquisition of the Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad and

Bay Line Railroad The Bay Line Railroad is one of several short line railroad companies owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. It operates between Panama City, Florida, and Dothan, Alabama, including a branch from Grimes to Abbeville, Alabama, reached via trackage right ...

, respectively. As the Chattahoochee & Gulf connected with both subsidiaries, G&W sought to fill the gap and purchased the C&G as well as the H&S in 2006. Both railroads were then merged into a single operation, named the Chattahoochee Bay Railroad. This gave Genesee & Wyoming a contiguous route from the paper mill at

Cedar Springs, Georgia Cedar Springs is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Early County, Georgia, United States. At the time of the 2020 census, the population was 75. Cedar Springs has a post office with ZIP code 39832. Georgia State ...

to the port of

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Route 98 in Florida, U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee and Pensacola, Florida, Pe ...

, allowing for more efficient operation under the unified carrier. The Chattahoochee Bay railroad totals and interchanges with

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, 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 trac ...

and the Bay Line Railroad at Dothan, as well as Norfolk Southern and the Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad at Hilton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chattahoochee Gulf Railroad Georgia (U.S. state) railroads Alabama railroads Gulf and Ohio Railways