The Georgia Midland Railroad was a

shortline 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 ...

that operated several lines in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

that it acquired in 2004 from the initial operations of

Ogeechee Railway Ogeechee may refer to: * Ogeechee River The Ogeechee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 26, 2011 blackwater river in the U.S. state of Georgia. It head ...

. In 2009 the Georgia Midland was purchased by

Pioneer RailCorp Pioneer Lines (formerly Pioneer Railcorp) was a holding company for a number of American short-line railroads. Other subsidiaries offered locomotive and freight car leasing to its own railroads and to third parties, and also freight car cleaning ...

from Atlantic Western Transportation Company, the holding company for the

Heart of Georgia Railroad The Heart of Georgia Railroad is a shortline railroad created in 1999 to lease and operate of track owned by the Georgia Department of Transportation between Mahrt, Alabama and Vidalia, Georgia, in the United States. The railroad has since expan ...

. Pioneer renamed the railroad as the

Georgia Southern Railway Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of peo ...

. Hauling an average of 5000 carloads per year of aggregate sand, stone, farm products and wood, the Georgia Midland Railroad connected with the

Norfolk Southern Railway 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 ...

. Initially the Georgia Midland operated three

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

s, all within Georgia, connecting

Roberta Roberta is a feminine version of the given names Robert and Roberto. It is a Germanic name derived from the stems *hrod meaning "famous", "glorious", "godlike" and *berht meaning "bright", "shining", "light". People with the name *Roberta Achtenbe ...

through Fort Valley to

Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

through Statesboro to

Metter Metter is a city and the county seat of Candler County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,130 at the 2010 census. In 2020, its population was 4,004. History Metter was founded in 1889. In 1914, Metter was designated seat of the newl ...

, and Ardmore to Sylvania. Subsequently the Ardmore-Sylvania line was returned to Ogeechee Railroad, which now operates it. In 2006 the Georgia Midland was named

Short Line Railroad of the Year ''Railway Age'' is an American trade magazine for the rail transport industry. It was founded in 1856 in Chicago (the United States' major railroad hub) and is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. History The magazine' ...

by railroad industry trade journal

Railway Age ''Railway Age'' is an American trade magazine for the rail transport industry. It was founded in 1856 in Chicago (the United States' major railroad hub) and is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. History The magazine ...

References

* Georgia (U.S. state) railroads {{GeorgiaUS-transport-stub