The Jesup Subdivision is a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line owned by

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

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

. The line runs from Jesup to Folkston where the

Folkston Funnel The Folkston Railfan Platform is located in Folkston, Georgia along CSX Transportation's Nahunta Subdivision, and provides a location where railfans can safely view and photograph trains. With the help of a $30,000 state grant, the city built the ...

railfan A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter ( Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems. Rai ...

area is. The total length is 72.7 miles. At its north it continues south from the

Nahunta Subdivision The Nahunta Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Florida and Georgia. The line runs along CSX's A Line from Ogeechee, Georgia, to Dinsmore, Florida, for a total of . At its north end it continues south from the Savannah ...

and at its south end it continues south as the

. In Waycross it also has a wye with the eastern terminus of the Thomasville Subdivision and southern terminus of the

Fitzgerald Subdivision The Waycross Air Line Railroad, chartered in 1887, was an air-line railroad in Georgia. It began operations between Waycross and Sessoms in 1890. In 1901, the railroad had extended as far as Fitzgerald, Georgia, at which time its charter ...

History

The Jesup Subdivision from Jesup to Waycross was originally a segment of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad, which extended from

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

to Bainbridge. The line was built in 1859 just before the start of the

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

though it wouldn't be completed to Bainbridge until 1867. The Atlantic and Gulf Railroad went bankrupt in 1877 and was bought in 1879 by

Henry B. Plant Henry Bradley Plant (October 27, 1819 – June 23, 1899), was a businessman, entrepreneur, and investor involved with many transportation interests and projects, mostly railroads, in the southeastern United States. He was founder of the Plant S ...

and became incorporated into his

Plant System The Plant System named after its owner, Henry B. Plant, was a system of railroads and steamboats in the U.S. South, taken over by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The original line of the system was the Savannah, Florida and Wester ...

. It would be the main line of Plant's Savannah, Florida and Western Railway. In 1880, Plant chartered the Waycross and Florida Railroad to run from Waycross south through Folkston into Florida. The line was completed by 1881. Waycross would become a busy railroad junction with many trains running along the eastern seaboard having to pass through. Plant would then build the Folkston Cutoff directly from Jesup to Folkston for trains to bypass Waycross. After the death of Henry Plant in 1899, the

was bought 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 Coas ...

. The Atlantic Coast Line would designate the Folkston Cutoff route as their mainline (which is now CSX's

) instead of the route through Waycross as Plant did. The Atlantic Coast Line would become part of CSX by 1986.

References

{{Reflist CSX Transportation lines Rail infrastructure in Georgia (U.S. state)

History

See also

References